Religion and Delusion: Branch Davidians and the Siege of Waco

[Brettongarcia]

65. My position: presenting academic, clinical, historical papers should not be considered insulting.

In academe, we respect well-written and well-researched papers by experts. These are also deserving of respect.

Among professors in fact, the very hint that academic papers and findings should be censored, or excluded from discussion as prejudicial and insulting to popular beliefs, would be considered extremely incendiary. And indefensible. And would raise a huge outcry.

Out PhD's are often very intelligent people. Who work hard for years to be specialists in the field that they write about. Generally they are considered far more reliable and respectable than popular opinion. Even when they seem to counter popular sacred cows.

To exclude writers like Freud, and then more modern psychiatry, on the grounds that they contradict popular belief, does not seem good.

And it seems necessary to re-present them now and then. Just to remind people of things they are obviously all too willing to forget.