The author is a contributor to some of the most liberal rags out there, the
Forward (a holdover from Socialist Yiddish speaking refugees from Russia) included. He probably couldn't distinguish between tefillin and toffee, as far as his Jewish knowledge or even allegiance (provided he is even a Jew). To take a word of what he says as truth would be like believing your pediatrician when he told you, "This won't hurt a bit" before giving you a shot in your rear end.
I wouldn't waste any time at all trying to make sense of his drivel.