2) Politically I think it is a mistake to go on the warpath against religion, not least because many of the best people on the left are religiously organized and motivated.I don't care if people oppose the war because they think God disapproves or because they hate imperialism. Well, I'd rather they hated imperialism, but lots of religious people do.
3) The Political enemy is not religious faith, but organized intolerance -- fundamentalist self-righteousness that seek to impose its Truth on the rest of us. I think even most self-identified evangelicals or born-agains are pretty liberal in thae live-and-let-live sense. If they are, why should I care if they believe a farrago of silliness? as long as they don't care that I don't, and are willing to tolerate me spouting commie propaganda at appropriate occasions. (That's _my_ religion: Deep in my heart, I do believe, that we shall overcome some day. And I do, no kidding.)
4) Faith and reason is a false opposition. Faith in what? Reasoning about what? You want reasoning, i.e., hard abstract thinking at a very high level, check out Aquinas or Anselm or Abelartd or Occam -- reason doesn't come any more robust. Of course a lot of it is premised on faith, religious faith for them. And there is a lot of dumb unthinking materialism. On the other hand my old teacher Thomas Kuhn always emphasized that scientific research was based in a large part on dogmatic faith that the main suppositions that the scientist is using are mainly right. As a biologist you simply don't question evolution, as physicist, relativity -- people who do are cranks. Unless and until they are revolutionary geniuses.
__________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/