Hmmmm. Iains. I don't want to get into a 'thing' about making you feel the object of abuse. Velikovsky was the object of - I'm not gonna call it abuse - but he managed to get a controversial book published by a reputable publisher and what was in the book was not science. I've had my say, above.

There is more out there than can possibly be true. There are well listened to radio shows that broadcast hours and hours of stories about extra terrestrials, ghost whisperers, time travelers, bible re-translators, and the show I'm thinking of, Coast-To-Coast, does a very clever thing in occasionally having a reputable scientist on board, or at least a science fiction movie critic. So I listen to it to get to sleep. They think Velikovsky and Von Danekin and other folks such as Tesla are oracles. And Tesla is included because he supposedly sent a U.S. ship through time. The very personable hosts of this radio show are quick to say that they don't personally endorse each and every speaker, but are in the business of giving everyone their say, a freedom of expression argument. It helps me get to sleep and entertains me, but I try not to confuse anything I hear on that show as akin to reality. Especially the nostrums that are the advertisers.

(I will avoid the politics I hear on the AM band, but I rarely hear anything akin to reality there, either).

There is more to say on the subject of religion and science, but I'm going to prepare that post carefully and not get it mixed in with the points I'm trying to make in this message.

I'm very much enjoying this thread and the folks in it.