I don't know Ronald D. White of the Los Angeles Times' business desk, but I do know that he's not a religion reporter. So we can forgive him a serious error in this article about how high gas prices are affecting attendance at houses of worship.

In houses of worship nationwide, preachers are railing against the forces of energy evil, and congregations are praying for lower fuel prices.

So far, no results.

The Energy Department's weekly survey Monday showed U.S. pump prices hitting a fresh record of $4.08 a gallon. Oil neared $140 a barrel, but then retreated.

The problem is affecting even the holy business, driving down attendance at churches, synagogues and mosques. Religious...

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Give beer to those who are perishing,

wine to those who are in anguish;

let them drink and forget their poverty

and remember their misery no more.

Surprisingly, those lines can be found in the 31st Proverb.
Surprising because we all know the misery isn’t gone. Surprising, too,
because drunkenness iss not a virtue to the Christian or the Muslim or
the Jew.

Of course, sinners sin.

There is an old Yiddish saying—”a shicker is a goy”—that
condemns the presumed gentile propensity to drink. The implicit belief
among many Jews was that drunkards were uneducated louses, too busy
imbibing for self improvement and social advancement. (This is one
reason...

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