So ask Michael McConnell (Stanford) and Max Raskin (Adjunct, NYU) in a recent NYT op-ed. I confess I hadn't expected Professor McConnell to hold the Marxist view that religion is the opium (or liquor) of the people, but that aside, I would have thought the answer was obvious: people can practice their religion without going to a church or other religious institution; but you can't drink or eat unless you can go to stores to buy things to drink and eat.



I only just learned of Barry’s passing, and I’m enormously saddened at the news. I wrote my PhD on his…