As it is, though, I don't trust "Spengler" and his summary. He thinks he's our generation's Oswald Spengler
but sometimes I think he's really channelling Egon Spengler, from Ghostbusters:
Posted on 08/20/2007 12:40:22 PM PDT by ovrtaxt
Secular liberalism stands helpless before a new century of religious wars, Columbia University Professor Mark Lilla concedes in "The politics of God", a despairing vision of the political future published in the August 19 New York Times Magazine. [1] It is one of those important statements, like the "end of history", that will repeat on us indefinitely, like a bad curry. It comprises most of the Times weekend magazine, presented with all the pomposity the newspaper can summon.
(Excerpt) Read more at atimes.com ...
Some people would commit suicide before they face their own reflection in the light of Jesus.
Liberals in the Western World and the USA in particular think of religion as an annoying holdover from the Middle Ages. They work overtime to stamp out faith in an effort to move us into a secular, “enlightened” 21st Century. They simply do not comprehend the depth of religious fervor among vast populations of the planet. One need only remember the recent destruction of the two thousand year-old Rushmore-like Buddhas carved into an Afghanistan mountainside; blown up by the Taliban because they offended islamic law. In spite of pleas from historians, art curators, the United Nations and Buddhists around the world, the irreplaceable statues were destroyed forever. A few weeks later a 21 year old woman, kneeling in the center of a packed Kabul soccer stadium filled with howling spectators had her brains blown out by Taliban executioners for daring to date a man without the approval of her male family. In these two horrific acts, we get a chilling glimpse of what awaits us if islamo-facism ever triumph. When will the anti-war liberals figure it out? After nearly a thousand years, some Muslim extremists have resurrected the Crusades and they plan to win it!
Biased as the author Lilla might well be the premise that secular politics is a failure is obvious; not because of any failure of reason or a resurgence of faith, but only because the western world is the only thing standing between Islamism and the status quo and the western world has, once again, unwisely chosen appeasement and accommodation.
As it is, though, I don't trust "Spengler" and his summary. He thinks he's our generation's Oswald Spengler
but sometimes I think he's really channelling Egon Spengler, from Ghostbusters:
You’re accusing a writer who sees libs for what they are of being a quasi-Nazi, or a clown?
I can’t find much in this article that’s disagreeable. What bothers you about it?
Sometimes he's just showing off how smart he thinks he is.
Spengler may be right about this guy. But it's a good idea to check out the source.
I see.
I’ve never heard of him before. Thanks for the heads up.
bumping for later comment
Discussion of Lilla's article is making its way through the blogs. Here's one example. And here's another. And one more.
Off-hand, it sounds like Lilla is a "generalist" who doesn't have much knowledge of specifics, so he throws together what he does know, even if it doesn't fit.
He wants to find a moderate, reforming Muslim, so he latches on to a name in the news, even though the fellow may not be a very good influence after all.
If you want to say that Lilla's problem is that he's a secular liberal, I won't argue, but I do notice he went through an evangelical phase at one time.
This may be the sort of thing we should be discussing more, so thanks for bringing it up.
The American Civil Liberties Union would also be dead if this was true. The ACLU won’t go away anytime soon!
I read that last link you posted, the ‘evangelical phase’. Sad story.
Amazing how living out of one’s reasoning brain, to the neglect of the heart, can lead to such denial. For all his ‘intellectualism’, Lilly trips over the simple concept of faith.
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