Yes, and for good reason. I have seen suggestions elsewhere on the internet that SICP be taught in Python and other languages, and have even seen "ports" of parts of the book to these other languages. But SICP is by now part of a family of textbooks from MIT courses (CLRS and Walter Rudin's Principles of Mathematical Analysis come to mind) that have been utilized and perfected and picked apart and cited for so long that they now are accepted as the "right way". In essence, this is why UC Berkeley's decision is such a sad one. SICP is a classic, and I would go so far as to state that it is beyond critique, in the sense that it does what it sets out to do to the point of perfection.
Honestly? It's the things you think are beyond criticism that most need to be criticized.
(and especially SICP, which inspires such a dogmatic belief in its advocates that it really ought to just be considered a religious text at this point)
No not really. SICP doesn't, whatsoever, inspires any sort of dogmatic beliefs. And I think it would be more appropriate to discuss the subject (SICP itself) rather than discuss what it's advocates says about it.
Simply put, it's more than an excellent book in the world of Computer Science. It is concise, clear, straightforward and challenging. And I think a text like that deserves every interest and respect from every computer scientist.
