60-Second Symposium

By Melissa August, Harriet Barovick, Val Castronovo, Tam Gray, Ellin Martens, Michele Orecklin, Desa Philadelphia, Julie Rawe and Chris Taylor

I'D LIKE TO THANK GOD Does God really have a hand in the outcome of sporting events? Last week the Supreme Court agreed to decide whether student-led invocations before high school games are constitutional. And since so many winning sports stars take time to thank God during post-game interviews, we asked religious leaders to weigh in on what team God roots for.

Father Tom Hartman, co-host (with Rabbi Marc Gellman) of The God Squad on cable TV: "Obviously, the New Orleans Saints. It's hard to imagine that God would choose men who jump on each other, grunt at each other and curse at each other as his agents. But the fact that they have lost so many games shows they are truly men of prayer rather than men of football talent."

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, author of Kosher Sex and the forthcoming Dating Secrets of the Ten Commandments, and the founder and director of the L'Chaim Society at Oxford University: "Since God loves the humble and the meek, he always roots for the loser and the underdog. So clearly he is rooting for the New York Jets."