I don't think there is any connection between pacifism's unwillingness to acknowledge the values behind military service and unwillingness of secular humanist to acknowledge the values behind religion.
The process of socialization from infancy on 24/7 usually has a heavy dose of religion and religious stories, and it's the main course for most people. It would only make sense that it resonates with peoples' sensibilities. On the other hand, the understanding and appreciation of science comes later, making it, for most people, something of an acquired taste. This indicates that there is nothing about religion that makes it particularly any closer to values that are more innately human than science does. Religion just excites a more well-trained reflex. This says nothing, of course, about how "the Left" should or should not address issues of faith. The problem is less one of what people "believe" than their confusion between what they "believe" and what they "know." The latter is demonstrable, the former is not. It's when the line gets blurred that problems arise. ML
