"I think that "reading the entrails of the chicken" is suppose to be a "high-brow" insult at our religion."
Do tell...
Well, bless his heart...
And, I mean that in the most Southern way possible. ;o)
In ancient times (ie Roman Empire) it was the custom to have a soothsayer or some sort of Priest open up an animal and examine the entrials...viscera...guts...whatever you call it and determine if it was a good day to fight a battle or some other event which required a decision. If certain things like tumors or whatever were there they called it day or if the guts looked good tally ho! It was superstition but for those who took their ancient pagan religion seriously it was the thing to do. He is comparing Christianity to superstitious pagan Rome.