ouses, the borough's largest public housing development. His first memories of book learning, he told me, were the readings his mother delivered from Genesis when he was 2. What was disconcerting about Mr. El-Bey's otherwise incredibly inspiring trajectory was how much of his success had depended on opport

at wasn't good enough. I recall vividly our efforts to find--or contrive-- common ground. For some, this quest took them to wonder whether the God of Genesis could have created evolution. For them there was an abiding faith that both religion and science could both be right. For me, the common ground was a