Good article. Will watch for the book. I liked this quote: " A passage in the Yerushalmi, the Palestinian Talmud, suggests that informal rituals conducted in front of public sculptures did not necessarily turn them into idols -- a practical viewpoint in a society where the informal veneration of statues, including processions and the sprinkling of libations, were common" ~ we have had several federal judges decide that since Hindus said a prayer at or poured milk on a rock that it'd become a religious shrine and had to be removed from a public park.
I'm just guessing that those fine gentlemen may not agree with the lessons of the Talmud (and somehow I just bet those judges knew all about the Talmud).