Now, that was low.

I have corresponded with sand85 on various occasions and find him to be very intelligent and well informed. I would (and have) asked for his input and value the information that he has provided. I deeply respect his views on religion and would suggest that you take what he says to heart.

It's barely conceivable to me that his support for critical thinking merits derision. But (as I point out below) most of this is about signaling group membership. Someone supports the science behind vaccination -- so a certain faction feels obligated to attack. And if they can't corner him on vaccines, then they'll pivot to climate or some other proxy for the "other." Sand85 feels compelled to lay out his religious props, going so far as to distance himself from me, in a blocking maneuver. This frustrates the attacker, who now cannot accuse sand85 of being a liberal, as they often label me (even though I am plainly not a liberal).

From my perspective, the intellectual rot on the fringe-right and fringe-left is almost complete. We have lost something important when public discourse devolves to little more than trading memorized talking points.