After DH's father died he did the year of saying Kaddish every day and the Orthodox guys loved him for showing up to make a minyan all the time. Heck, sometimes he was the tenth man at the weekly Conservative minyan, and those were thriving congregations.

Many years ago I came across a long article about Jewish life in Alaska, where minyan-gathering involves plane flight logistics, and the nearest rabbi is a chaplain at an Air Force base.

Like on Northern Exposure!

Dear Big Boss, if you would read the emails I send you before looking at the attached files, all your questions about what I'm sending you would be answered.

That is classic, Matt. Although I more often have the opposite problem. Don't just respond to the email -- you have to actually look at the attachments!

Like on Northern Exposure!

TV really is like real life.

this went on longer than I expected it to.

This reminds me of a conversation I was having with a friend (another failed Protestant) recently, about how there are so many Rules in Judaism and Islam (we knew little about Judaism and less about Islam, to be honest, but just from knowing the people we know, we know there are definitely a lot of rules) and lots of rules in Catholic Christianity, and almost none in Protestant Christianity. Like, Jews and Muslims and Catholics have to read their holy scriptures and learn stuff, and do prayers and rituals and be mindful of their religious duties in their ordinary lives. But Protestants, we just had to try not to fall asleep in church and know the kids' versions of the Important Stories -- you know, Noah and The Ark, and Birth of Christ, and the Crucifixtion, and Garden of Eden, and if you know those four and the general idea of the Ten Commandments, that'll do. Oh, and Jesus did miracles and preached: water to wine, loaves and fishes, Sermon on the Mount. Most Christians seem to be aware of those. But you don't have to actually study the scripture to be a Christian, you just declare that Jesus is in your heart and let someone dunk you in a river (or whatever your denomination does for baptism; I don't personally recommend the river dunking, myself; it was muddy and he dropped me) and bam, you're a Christian. You don't have to DO anything, you know what I mean? You don't even have to go to church, you don't have to change your life, there aren't any prayers or sacrifices or rituals or special food or required reading or anything. You dress up and go to church and have a special meal and a special ritual for Easter and Christmas, and that's it, and if you don't even do those, it doesn't really matter. You can be a really bad Christian (or a really bad person), but as long as you're baptized and you SAY you're a Christian, then you are. If you feel you've fallen too far from grace, you go to church and ask for forgiveness and cry, and, well, you get forgiven, right, because you're sincere. God will always forgive you; Jesus said so; all you have to do is ask sincerely. You don't even have to atone; you don't have to do anything except reaffirm Christ. You can even do that all by yourself, with no one to witness it. As far as I can tell, it's really about becoming part of a community -- you get baptized and accept Jesus, and you're In; you're One of Us, not One of Them. But there's nothing you have to do to maintain your religious status as a Christian or a member of the Christian community. Other members may *tsk* at you for not coming to church or drinking too much or whatever, but they don't kick you out. And while on one hand I understand why that was so important in the early church, why it was so meaningful that a person didn't need anything or anyone in between them and God, on the other hand it leads to people being really awful to each other and knowing next to nothing about their own holy teachings and still being certain they're good Christians going to heaven, and I don't think that was the point of those letters Martin Luther nailed to the church door. Luther's idea that grace is not earned by good deeds (or money) but is a gift from God is wonderful, but it ends up with people who don't feel they NEED to do any good deeds or anything else, they just BELIEVE and they get the gift of heaven. I think Protestantism could use another Reformation, is what I'm saying.

(Do I have to say "not all Christians"? I don't, do I? I hope not. I've just been thinking about this a lot lately.)

After going to a Christian grade school, Sunday school and vacation bible school I think I know more about Christianity than most Christians.

Now I'm curious what percentage of Christians fall into Zen's category...

The phrase "Easter and Christmas Christian" exists for a reason.

Yeah. Our church generally was only a third full on Sundays when I was growing up. On Easter and Christmas there wouldn't be enough seats so they'd set up folding chairs for the overflow.

Now I'm curious what percentage of Christians fall into Zen's category...

It may just be a function of where I've lived most of my life, namely, the American Southeast. It's funny that I met more evangelicals when I lived in New Jersey, though.