Tony, Rory, and Ben

This morning, Tony K. talked about the Congressional golf tournament held somewhere locally. The winner, Sergio Garcia, was so far ahead of everyone, that it was never in doubt. Instead, what was fascinating was the pairing of Ben Crane and Rory Sabbatini. Apparently, Sabbatini is a quick golfer. It takes him little time to make his shots. Crane, on the other hand, is interminably slow.

So slow, in fact, that the players were put "on the clock", which is something that happens when a group is not progressing fast enough. They are timed, and if they are too slow, the entire group is fined.

Apparently, Rory, unable to stand Crane's meticulous preparations, walks off in a huff. Announcers Nick Faldo (also notoriously slow) and Paul Azinger berate Sabbatini for poor sportsmanship.

The interesting part wasn't the golf, although, unlike many sports fans, I do enjoy watching golf from time to time. No, it was Ben's religion. Apparently, Ben Crane, like many Americans, is a fairly devout Christian. When interviewed, he put the blame squarely on himself for being so slow despite, being tied for second, and thus possibly justifying the second, third, and fourth guessing.

At one point, Andy Polley (or maybe Tony) mentions "God Squad". This is a humorous way to say that Crane is religious. Now, both Tony and Andy are (from all accounts) Jewish. The comment isn't particularly a Jewish, anti-Christian comment, as it is an anti-religious jokey comment. A non-religious person, such as myself, were I so clever, might use the term "God Squad" (but I lack such cleverness).

This started me thinking. Do Jews help create a better environment religiously in the US? For all the lip service that is paid to freedom of religion, there are those who believe that freedom of religion means being able to push religion down people's throats (a little harsh, I know). Freedom of religion also means freedom from religion.

Judaism is not a evagenlical religion. The goal, unlike Christianity, is not to get people to convert. Jews are pretty happy being the Chosen People. Jewish people are also, in general, reasonably successful. I believe this creates a society that's more likely to favor religious equality than not.

All this from listening to commentary from golf.