>Not just a theoretical example. I seem to recall that a number of
>right-thinking LBOers have been scandalized by Alex Cockburn's defense of
>the rights of Scientologists, which he thinks have been violated,
>particularly in Germany. And his dismissal of "religion" tout court is
>clear.
Why can't one support the right of people to practice whatever absurd religion they'd like *and* be critical of religion itself *and* think that church and state should be rigorously separated?
Speaking of being critical of religion - damn, won't anyone stand up for secularism anymore? Are American lefties so cowed by the dominant piety that we're afraid to say it's all a crock? Yes, heart of a heartless world, but the grip of piety on our society is a problem, a very serious problem. A symptom of the very heartlessness, for sure, but whatever happened to the desire to strangle the last priest with the entrails of the last king (or was it the other way around?)?
Doug