Excellent questions and mostly good answers. One candidate mentions Jesus by name more often and provides a reasonable answer to Question #4 on the church and government relationship. In 1963, the church failed miserably when the Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 in favor of Madalyn Murray O'Hair ruling that Bible reading and prayer in the public schools was unconstitutional. We see the results. The late Austrian intellectual, Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, loved America more than most US citizens. Erik often commented, "The great problem in America is that the half-educated are in charge of the education and the news." So, it affects all disciplines including the clergy. Erik traveled the globe seeking out the human condition. He found that Right is right and Left is wrong in all languages, including the Ural-Altaic or at least has that connotation. Likewise it is true in the Bible, see Ecclesiastes 10:2. Also, Jesus was not being a relativist placing the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Education has become so bad for so long that the Left is quite certain it is Right. The Left is quick to assert "separation of church and state" meant to silence Christian input. It works judging by some LCMS candidates answers.