Daniel and others:
I don't think anyone on this list would seriously suggest "eradicating"
religious beliefs. One thing that makes our country (at least in theory)
more tolerable than life in the former Soviet Union and China is that church
and state are supposed to be separate; the state neither mandates nor forbids
any religious creed. What is objectionable is the repeated attempts of the
religious right to impose their version of Christianity on us, most recently
manifested in the sad new Kansas law.
Those who continually assault our educational system with their attempts to
discourage or forbid the teaching of evolution are violating both humankind's
struggle for intellectual growth and the full realization of our democracy.
I am not sure how unqualifiedly "adaptive" religious beliefs are - aside from
some of the studies on the purported benefits of prayer and belief on health
(certainly not unassailable from a standpoint of critical analysis) much harm
and mayhem has been done in the name of just about every religion ever
invented on this planet.
Nancy Melucci
Utility Infielder/BSS
El Camino College
