Eric, that’s a reasonable point (and it’s very nice to hear from you again), but I think most people who read the paper will naturally assume that Paul strongly suspects that there is some sort of causal link between public religious belief and the various ills that he lists. The evidence is also bound to be used by others who are anxious to find fault with religion and who may not be so careful to distinguish between cause and correlation.

It is, however, part of the debate whether the link is causal or in which way it might be causal. One might argue, for example, that the popularity of conservative Christianity in the US is a reaction to social dysfunctionality - and therefore a product of it. This reaction may have led to a stronger polarization and may also subsequently have provoked further social and ethical disintegration. Monbiot’s article also asks whether we are seeing causation or association between the two phenomena.

Paul does appear to see creationism as a central component of public religious commitment in the US. This does not take into account believers who have no problem with evolutionary theory, but then these are not the people who are rocking the boat at the moment.

It seems to me profoundly important that Christian theology engages in public life and public debate, but if we do the stakes are high. It’s the sort of thing that we are capable of getting horribly wrong.