No more "crackpot"

[Carrol Cox]

It was a serious mistake on my part to begin a thread with the subject
line "religious crackpot." That
term has distorted the whole discussion. Religion has far too strong a
grip on u.s. political, cultural, and
social life. We need to understand why rather than either sneer at or
defend believers. That is a given (and one with which one has to work in
ordinary organzing situations, but not one which one need to bow before
in theoretical and historical analysis). But is not a  social condition
which is self-explanatory -- and I think there is less of a clash than
Chip seems to believe between his posts and Chuck's post. Different
levels of analysis.

I didn't mean to trigger a sneering session, or a sneering at sneering
at sneering at... session. I think it's a facet of u.s. life that needs
extensive historical and political analysis.

Carrol