Alex, I agree. But to know what happened to the ideals when they became their respective opium can only serve as a reminder to be careful, and, that politics matters. In fact, my idea of “dealing with Islam” doesn’t necessarily include the CRS, but compulsory Europe-wide reading of the relevant articles on Wikipedia, for example. I mean, look at what’s going on, this is not about state-prescribed belief, or even opposition to it, it’s about campaign management.

I think on of the fundamental problems with today’s version of enlightenment is that it is actually quite unenlightened. It’s no longer a conclusion but just another start of a thought process. Today, I’d say that most Europeans are orthopraxically not-religious as many Muslims are, and many people in Alabama probably are (again).

We will need to socially reconnect with our own enlightenment roots if we are to convince anyone of their value. We probably need to focus on the 16th – 18th century ourselves for a bit.