Onward Christian Businessmen?: Salon has a story about Christians putting their faith front and center in their businesses. "There are now Christian real estate agencies, cellular and long-distance services, financial planners, computer repair guys, furniture stores, bed-and-breakfast associations, diets, yoga and karate instructors, and goat breeders. These companies -- in contrast to religious bookstores, for example -- do earthly things in, they say, a Christian way. Unlike Curves, Domino's or Coors, for example, which have been criticized for tithing their earnings to archconservative causes -- and unlike the Chick-fil-A fast-food chain, closed on Sundays because of its founder's religious beliefs -- these Christian companies link their work directly and overtly to their missions. ("Christian," in these cases, is generally taken to mean "born again," in which the business owner has a "personal relationship with Jesus Christ" that guarantees eternal life, and the responsibility to offer others the same opportunity.)" I do believe in freedom of religion, and since it isn't the government, you should be able to do whatever you want with your business. On the other hand, it does make me somewhat apprehensive, and I think the article touches on my unease: "There's an aggressive assertiveness on the part of one aspect of the Christian church, charging that this is a Christian nation, our roots are Christian, and we shouldn't have to pretend that we're not. They see it as 'pretending that they're not' if they're not bringing their whole lives into the mix. I'm sympathetic to that, but it does beg the question of how to live in a pluralistic society with many viewpoints, which is also part of the American tradition." I guess I just have issues with the aggressiveness of it, which infringes to a certain extent on others' freedom of religion. I'm having trouble reconciling my opinion here; any thoughts from the peanut gallery?

As an aside, I'm also curious what Catholics think of born again Christians (I seriously have no idea how the two relate-or not- to each other.)