"Getting" religion

I was raised as, in the words of a friend of my sister's, a "what the fuck" Jew. Although I went to a Jewish day camp for a while, and expressed some interest in "Harmonica" as a small child, it never turned into a lifelong religious commitment. I'd go to the occasional temple service and find my mind wandering. The whole thing just feels foreign to me. I know people find great solace and inspiration in their religious faith, but on an emotional level, I don't "get" the religion thing.

And I'm not alone. Many of us living in the Bay Area, and around the country are like this. Hollywood recognizes our experience as well. Remember when Contact came out several years ago? And remember the scene where Jody Foster's character loses the opportunity to go on a space mission? I watched the look of blank incomprehension on her face when committee members grilled her about her belief in G-d. She simply couldn't understand the relevance of the question or the desired answer.

Unfortunately, us Jody Foster types are now clearly outnumbered by people like those on the committee (and like the guy who was deemed sufficiently faithful to earn a place on the spaceship.) The result is that evangelicals helped return Bush to the White House through their energy and vast organization. Meanwhile, agnostics and "secular humanists" like me wonder if there's a place for us in America anymore.

I'll have more thoughts on this later.