“But in current times, plenty of scientists and popularizers sure think that’s what it is about.”
Not quite true. Leftists being anti-religious bigots politicize EVERYTHING. A scientist goes about his work and a leftist takes it and makes it into a political issue. The scientist is not the one at fault in that case. Then there are the “scientists” who are political hacks who use their own biases to create results to use as a political weapon. IMO they are not real scientists.
I agree. I used the term popularizer.
But, sometimes they are real scientists. It’s the age we live in.
Careerist hacks are a big problem.