Excellent comment in the article:
“The Enlightenment was a philosophical movement in the 18th century that came on the back of the Scientific Revolution. Some of the ideals that sprang out of The Enlightenment were reason, liberty, progress, tolerance, constitutional government, market economies and the separation of church and state. This movement valued the discovery of truth through free speech and free thought, which is why Enlightenment philosophers stressed the importance of individual autonomy rather than tribes, religions and political authority. These ideals eventually spread throughout the Western world and laid the groundwork for the freedom and prosperity that many people take for granted today.
The Enlightenment’s greatest success story came in the form of the United States of America. These ideals can be clearly observed in the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence. If you live in the west – especially America — you are lucky to have had philosophers and founders that understood the importance of personal freedom and other Enlightenment principles. The US has become one of the freest and the most prosperous country as a result.”
People can not grow and reach “Enlightenment” unless they are “FREE.”
That statement is not entirely true. The fruits of the Enlightenment were in many ways destructive.