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In my opinion, Adam has generally refined (or "softened," perhaps) his comments about what he calls "believers". I only have my months here for criteria.
I think that he knows a fascist when he sees one, whether their facism is transmitted under guise of religion, or any other. He seems to be much more mindful of the kinds of broad, sweepingly prejudicial statements that can be seen in Objectivism and other places. It is very easy to make mistakes when we start up with any kind of "us or them" mentality. But, there are we and they, for sure- they being anyone who are facists.
Objectivists, more often than not, have explainable reasons behind their myopic statements about religion, and they typically have to do with upbringing and other personal experiences. But, the statements remain myopic to many of us who are part of the free, liberal church. If there is any frustration from our end, it is that we know that we actually have so much in common. It sometimes takes a good while to even get that fact across, but it is effort well-made.
One thing that I would like to point out, particularly as I am a Unitarian Universalist, has to do with tradition and heritage. We are proud of our history and our roots, and we preserve a number of the traditions. Note I said "traditions," not "rituals". This provides a richness of texture in a religious community, and I see nothing but goodness in it.
If you look at liberal religion, it has 3 main components that distinguish it, and make it very compatible with democracy, capitalism, and even Objectivism...
1. Covenant (as in non-dogmatic, non-creed based- people who are joined together in a community)
2. Congregational Polity (as in, we operate in a democratic structure)
3. Freedom of conscience
Learning about faith is like learning a new language. Many of the words we use like "freedom" in association with "religion" and "faith" strike Objectivists as odd. Or, that we don't seem to use some words in the same way as Objectivists have known them to be used in the past. To us, freedom and faith are not opposites. In the free church, doubt, skepticism, and free inquiry are prized tools.
I have even been told that because of these things, we are not actually a true religious community. Told that by atheists who do not belong to a religious community (least of all one like ours, which includes many atheists). That, I believe, represents ideological fascism on their part, if they will not admit to being incorrect.
Like most things, the problems arise from lack of familiarity.
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