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that The Guardian sees the last election as a vote against the Enlightenment or that they think the Enlightenment’s a product of leftism.
And, on the other side of the pond, through Europe. We don’t have so many Christian fundamentalists any more. Compared with the American religious right, Rocco Buttiglione, the withdrawn Italian Catholic candidate for European commissioner, is a dangerous liberal. But we do have Islamic fundamentalists, in growing numbers. And, I would say, we have secular fundamentalists: people who believe that to live by the tenets of Islam, or other religions, is incompatible with what it is to be fully human, and want citizens to be educated and the state to legislate accordingly. While I have been in America, the possible consequences have been played out on the streets of prosperous, pacific, tolerant Holland, with the murder of the filmmaker Theo van Gogh, and the counter-attack on an Islamic school. If America has its culture wars, its Kulturkampf, so do we. And ours could be bloodier.Their view of the left is entirely different than mine, though we do agree on the cause: defense of the Enlightenment, which includes a concept that America pioneered, religious liberty.So the expressions of European solidarity after the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks ( “Nous sommes tous Américains” ) should acquire a new meaning and a new context after the November 2 2004 elections. Hands need to be joined across the sea in an old cause: the defence of the Enlightenment. We are all blue Americans now.
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5 comments:
But isn’t the assault on non -Christians, especially athiests and agnostics, that is currently under way in this country an anethema to religious liberty?
According to political scientists, the connotations of conservative and liberal in Europe is exactly the opposite of that in America. In America, a liberal is identified with larger goverment and social programs. In Europe, liberalism is associated with laissez faire (sp) goverment and a “let the markets decide” attitude.
Elaine
Elaine – indeed, ish. In the British sense of the word, everyone who played an important role in furthering the Englightenment – from Galileo through Tom Payne to JS Mill – was a liberal.
Although to be slightly pedantic, there’s not a strong requirement for liberals to be economically laissez-faire; the key denotation of the word is socally-libertarian.
flaime,
I don’t see how your religious liberty is being infringed in the slightest. Many people are informed by their religion and vote accordingly. In many peoples’ minds, abortion is murder and they tend to vote in ways that will limit that. That doesn’t mean we’ve embraced a state religion, nor are you required to attend church or swear any oaths. You need to be more specific if you think you’re being persecuted.
John,
Not sure I agree, entirely. Economic liberalism is capitalism and I doubt it’s a coincidence that the Enlightenment and Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations are so close together. The Enlightenment is also noteworthy for being a time when individual rights, including the right to property (see Locke, John), became a major concern. They are tied to one another.
flaime—
Assault on NON-Christians? I assume that’s meant to be a joke, particularly considering the fact that there is a tremendous effort under way in our public schools to make atheism the national religion.
But you go right on feeling like a victim, honey., as you exercise your “liberty” by trying to deprive us of ours.