Look, I don't want to get into too much an argument about this. I found the self-congradulatory tone to be infuriating. I still do.
Capitalism and the idea of liberty first arose in Europe because of its unique historical advantages. The geographic location - a large agricultural plain crisscrossed by rivers. The only other area of the world that fits this bill is Eastern North America. But North America suffered from two disadvantages: 1) no large domesticable animals 2) it is separated from the only possible civilization cradle (Mexico) by desert. In contrast, European had horses, sheep, cattle and easy transportation to both Egypt and Mesopotamia.
Roman Law and Christianity had nothing to do with it. The Common Law is superior to the Roman version. Any other religion would have adapted itself to the new realities of emerging capitalism, just as Christianity did. It is not a coincidence that the Reformation came shortly after the Renaissance.
"I found the self-congradulatory tone to be infuriating. I still do."
Interestingly, that's exactly what I liked about it-- you call the tone "self-congratulatory", whereas I would characterize it as self-confident. I think the one, great virtue of western Victorian society (not only in Britain, but here as well) was its utter, unquestioning self-confidence. The response of the British authorities in India when some Indians said that the practice of burning the widow on the dead man's funeral pyre was "our custom", was, in essence, the practice of hanging by the neck until dead people who do such things is OUR custom. You practice your custom, and we'll practice our custom. They didn't argue about it, they just enforced civilized values.
Today, we're unwilling to do that. We act as though everything is debatable, nothing is solid. How many times have you seen a parent arguing with a small child over why it's not right to beat up other kids? The child is incapable of grasping the subtleties of the issue, and not far enough developed mentally to have much of a sense of empathy. The kid just needs firm, unbreakable rules, and the willingness of the parent to engage in unwinnable arguments only convinces the child that the issue is, in fact, arguable.
If the values of Western civilization are to survive and thrive, we are going to have to regain our confidence in them and be willing to proclaim that confidence out loud.
The war with Islam is over whether we should live under a civilization at all.
For all Western Civilization's faults, that stark difference makes most anti-Western arguments moot.