Re: CHAT: cultural interpretation [was Re: THEORY: language and the brain]

Quoting Andreas Johansson <andjo@...>:

> Quoting "Thomas R. Wier" <trwier@...>:
>
> > So, again, you can't speak broadly about which continent is freer:
> > both are, and both are not.
>
> I didn't speak a word about which continent was freer.
I realize this.  I should have been clearer:  that "you" is the
generic pronoun homonymous to "one", not the second person pronoun,
though ambiguous.

> Incidentally, excessive separation between the state and church is
> pretty long down on the list of illiberal sins I'd associate the US
> with. Swedish media regularly complain about the excessive
> christianity in American politics.
*US* illiberality? I was citing that as an example of *European*
illiberality.  In the US, the government cannot take your money
to support a church, nor can it interfere in everyday practice
of religion as it can, and does, in parts of Europe (the continent).

At any rate, this discussion is off-topic, and I don't want to
fill yet more mailboxes with this discussion. Let's discuss
this off-list.

 =========================================================================
Thomas Wier            "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally,
Dept. of Linguistics    because our secret police don't get it right
University of Chicago   half the time." -- octogenarian Sheikh Zayed of
1010 E. 59th Street     Abu Dhabi, to a French reporter.
Chicago, IL 60637