Thank you, Mary.

I am relieved that you have read those comments on my article and noticed how they deliberately ignored the points I was making and instead went full ad hominem.

The decent people engage with the argument put forward the Usual Suspects attack me and call me a self-flagellating American who hates his country and is a fascist who hasn't read "Democracy in America". One can critique religion without having read The Bible.

"It's sad that so many believe the propaganda that they are fed, consistently voting against their own self-interest."

Exactly as you state.