Mitzvah vans and lawsuits

Monday night, on my way to Monkeytown in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, I stepped out of the Bedford stop to the sight of a large menorah in the back of a pickup truck. Lubavitcher Jews were mingling about asking people if they were Jewish. My response of “no” got me a “Happy New Year anway!” but those who are Jewish were offered information about improving their religious life. Or so I assume. Judaism is not exactly the most inclusive religion out there. They could have been sharing information about how to build tree houses or commit a heist for all I know. That’s why I was struck by the missionary-type zeal of the group. Of course, Chasidim are kind of known for that.


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Consumer religion

The New York Times reports on teenagers in Colorado Springs, Colorado, who attend multiple churches each week. It would be nice for the Times to consider the possibility that some evangelical Christians reside outside of the city limits of Colorado Springs, but I suppose we should be thankful that they are noticing this sizable group at all.


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Shameless self-promotion: back to work

I am back home from 10 days of travel near and far (I passed on buying the George W. Bush bobblehead doll in Crawford, Texas), which was hard since I enjoyed (or endured) varying degrees of Internet access. I don’t know how we are supposed to handle travel in the age of DSL, when things work great at home and zippo on the road. How do you folks handle it?


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The scandal of particular prayers

I can’t believe that I haven’t written about this yet, but here goes. Sunday’s Washington Post ran with an A3 story on the fight between members of the Indiana state House and a federal judge who ruled awhile ago that the daily prayers in the lower lawmaking chamber invoked the name of Jesus Christ too often and were illegal.


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Define anti-Mormon

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s likely bid for the Republican presidential nomination means we get to read lots of profiles about him. Saying absolutely nothing about his political positions, the man has got charisma and charm for days and certainly adds a nice new face into the never-ending campaign cycle.


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