So a couple of days ago, Husain Abduallah of the Chiefs picked off Tom Brady, scored a touchdown, then knelt with his forehead to the ground, in prayer. The ref decided that was unsportsmanlike conduct and penalized the team.

The penalty didn't effect the game because of the thorough ass-whuppin the Chiefs had given the Patriots, but it did affect public opinion. Hadn't it been OK for Tim Tebow to kneel and pray and/or point up to the heavens in praise of his God, so much so that "Tebowing" became a meme? I rolled my eyes at every "Te-bow" but I never questioned his constitutional right to do so: different folks, same strokes, so WTF was that ref thinking, penalizing Abduallah for praising his God?

That of course is a rhetorical question. I am reminded this is no longer America where one is free to worship a variety of deities. Since September 12, 2001 this has been 'Murica, where Islam is evil incarnate. I'm particularly sensitive to this not only because of my affinity for arab culture but also because I have been keenly aware of Christian hypocrisy since childhood.

I was raised Catholic and still identify as such, but I was never actually confirmed. At 13 I refused to commit to a church where, at the "Turn to your neighbor and say 'Peace be with you'" part of mass, the white members of the congregation paused or tentatively extended their hand to me and my mother (atheist Dad was at home enjoying Meet the Press, or Solid Gold if we went to the Saturday night mass). We were the only black family in the entire church so why was it every single week these people would act all brand new like, "Oh. Negroes. They seem friendly but is it really safe to approach?" I requested a meeting with Father Ricard, whom I loved because he was young but also had a wonderful command of Latin. I told him that while my beliefs hadn't changed, I was not comfortable participating in a ceremony designed to welcome me as a member of a church where I was routinely treated as "not like us".

I believe in God. I was very moved when I visited St Peter's Basilica, just as I was when I visited the Blue Mosque. I  love a gospel choir and I love a procession of priests with incense during a Latin mass. I love to hear the bells from the Catholic church on the corner just as I loved to hear the call to prayer throughout the day in Istanbul. Once you could hear the call to prayer throughout the day on Atlantic Avenue. Not anymore. But the sabbath siren goes off every Friday evening as mandated and nobody's got a problem with that. I loathe that siren, because it sounds like a fucking air raid signal, not because I begrudge Orthodox Jews the right to proclaim their recognition of the sabbath.

I believe God manifests himself in whichever way is appropriate for the culture at hand. God can be a blonde haired blue eyed guy with long hair, or an arab who can never be personified, or a fat, bald guy who likes to sit still and quiet for hours, or any number of characters that suit our hopes and fears. You can even follow the Pope or the Dalai Lama on Twitter. So let our reminders of our devotion to our gods be accepted in whatever form is appropriate for those gods, whether bells, an azan, a tuneless siren, or the heartfelt actions of an athlete after a great play.