An Orthodox rabbi calls me Sunday afternoon. “I’m watching Analyze This on channel 5. I met somebody last night who’s a gay ex-Mormon. Very nice guy. He really liked me a lot. He’s going to UCLA and is studying to be a psychiatrist.
“There’s a commercial now. We have something in common. I’m dying for lack of an intellectual person to talk to. Sometimes the best person is ex-religious. When you’re ex-religious, religion still has a formative impact on your life. Sometimes the best person to talk to is someone who knows what religion is but he got turned off to it by all the idiots and wanted to be more rational.
“You go to Bnai David. I don’t care if someone is Modern Orthodox or Reform either. I just need intellectual people. You know Sam Harris? I prefer him to Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. I saw all three of them at the library.”
About Luke Ford
Raised a Seventh-Day Adventist at Avondale College in Australia, Luke Ford moved to California in 1977.
He graduated from Placer High School in 1984, reported the news at KAHI/KHYL radio for three years, attended Sierra College and UCLA, was largely bedridden by Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for six years, and converted to Judaism in 1993. From 1997-2007, Luke made his living from blogging.
Living by Beverly Hills (Alexander90210.com), he now teaches the Alexander Technique (moving the way the body likes to move). Lessons cost $100 each and last about 45 minutes.
In 2011, Luke completed a three-year teaching course at the Alexander Training Institute of Los Angeles.
His personal Alexander Technique website is Alexander90210.com.
Luke is the author of five books, including:
» The Producers: Profiles in Frustration
» Yesterday’s News Tomorrow: Inside American Jewish Journalism