The Hebrew prophet Daniel must have been a fascinating fellow: I wish I could have known him. On one occasion, Persian king Darius made an edict that for thirty days no one in all the realm should make any prayer to any god except to himself, the king. Whereupon, Daniel, the scriptures tell us, knowing full well that the king had issued the edict, "went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem; and he …