I'm not going to debate every point, as we will quickly find ourselves talking past, or over, one another. However, I'll just toss out a few quick things, and hope IE does not attack me again.
You say we speak of different definitions, and then toss a few examples, such as people shying away from AIDS infected persons, blacks, gays. Popular culture is not something that is difficult to define. It refers to things which are popularly accepted by a nation ,though one could make the argument for races, religions, etc.; here we speak of the US, so we will use the term nation. By popularly, I mean the majority of people accept it, or do it, or participate in it. I am sure you would not dispute this. Next, we must look at the nature of Chomsky's statement:
"The US, in fact, is one of the most fundamentalist cultures in the world; not in the state, but in the popular culture."
My basic problem with your examples, is that they do not really address this statement, and the distinction he draws between the state and popular culture. The state discrimination example, or the divorce one, are examples of state fundamentalism, if they exist.
The "shying away" from a person with AIDS is certainly not a part of the popular "culture"; it occurs due to ignorance, when it occurs at all. Would you make the argument that most people shy away from a person who speaks a different language or is black?
You have run quite far from the statement, and, I think, given too much leeway to the term "popular culture".
Maybe not so quick, but I did restrain my fingers somewhat.
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