I grew up in an Orthodox Jewish enclave in New York and have spent most of my life here. Over the better part of the past decade, however, my work has brought me away from New York and, very often, into the company of devout Christians. If my New York accent didn't mark me as an outsider in the Bible Belt, then my yarmulke certainly did. But the people I've met there -- and of whom, quite candidly, my environment had prepared me to be wary -- have overwhelmingly been warm, appreciative, and disarmingly respectful of my commitment to my...