Free Republic

Nineteenth-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote that when fighting monsters, we must take care not to become monsters ourselves. Stare long enough into the abyss, he warned, and the abyss will stare back at you. Since the assassination of conservative Christian icon Charlie Kirk in Utah 19 days ago, thousands of leftists have abandoned their humanity altogether by publicly celebrating the murder, thereby forcing many of us to stare into the abyss that engulfs their souls, the depth and darkness of which, hitherto, we could not have fathomed. Now, thanks to an alleged pro-assassination transgender activist, an internet journalist,...

This is the continent where some leading thinkers are talking about a "post-Christian Europe." And this is the country of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who infamously quipped, "God is dead." So some may be surprised at the receptivity in Germany this week to visiting Pope Benedict XVI's message: Europe needs to rethink the thesis that secularism and economic progress go hand in hand. Coincidentally, some of Europe's stalwart secularists are challenging the idea that religious reasoning inevitably retreats from the public sphere as countries modernize. Germans themselves are modeling a growing acceptance of religion's role in shaping society: • Head of...