Something's up when the Boston Globe publishes articles two days in a row that mock the dogmas of the Green religion.   On Sunday, automobile writer Clifford Atiyeh writes in "The crusade against cars" that "in this green age, automobile lovers are under siege. But demonizing people for enjoying a little luxury is a tough road to navigate."

While the debate over who or what is warming the earth is far from won, cars - among many carbon indulgences in the Western world - have already been declared the losers, the major agitators of an environmental apocalypse.

I asked a young lady - with purple hair and hardware pinned to her face, as natural as you could be - where I might find a regular daikon radish, not organic. She pointed to a cramped section of the store and then watched me as if I were some illegal antediluvian alien...

Organics devotees tend to be evangelical, pursuing a greener-than-thou grail that may or may not exist.

A party-goer picked up a tongful of asparagus and then paused as if shot. How was this poached?, she demanded of no one in particular. I said helpfully that it was done in dairy-free water and, reassured, she went back to her jeremiads.