Some excellent observations here, Chris, but I don't see the source of optimism. I'm finding folks blithely unaware that they've abandoned the core ethical values that make democratic society work. They believe they're moral beings, mind you. It's just that folks outside their tribe have no right to voice a different position.
I suppose I am voicing here the optimism of the possible, not the probably or necessary. It seems to me that awareness that there is a problem is growing, and with this comes the possibility of a course correction. Kant contended that belief in free will was a requirement for its exercise, and in a similar vein the avoidance of calamity requires belief in the merely possible path of escape.
The battleline at free speech is of paramount importance here, precisely because the maintenance of this non-religious zealotry you mention becomes far harder under conditions of open discourse. Part of the problem right now is that the EU has successfully unleashed censorship in an attempt to prevent the tide from coming in, in the fashion of King Canute. Yet there are now multiple pressure points that are getting harder and harder to sustain the party line about... the tide cannot be held back forever.
A reckoning is coming... we cannot say how it comes about, or when, but the tension between the clashing worlds is palpable. Even if all we had was hope, we would have good reasons to keep that fire kindled.
Some excellent observations here, Chris, but I don't see the source of optimism. I'm finding folks blithely unaware that they've abandoned the core ethical values that make democratic society work. They believe they're moral beings, mind you. It's just that folks outside their tribe have no right to voice a different position.
I suppose I am voicing here the optimism of the possible, not the probably or necessary. It seems to me that awareness that there is a problem is growing, and with this comes the possibility of a course correction. Kant contended that belief in free will was a requirement for its exercise, and in a similar vein the avoidance of calamity requires belief in the merely possible path of escape.
The battleline at free speech is of paramount importance here, precisely because the maintenance of this non-religious zealotry you mention becomes far harder under conditions of open discourse. Part of the problem right now is that the EU has successfully unleashed censorship in an attempt to prevent the tide from coming in, in the fashion of King Canute. Yet there are now multiple pressure points that are getting harder and harder to sustain the party line about... the tide cannot be held back forever.
A reckoning is coming... we cannot say how it comes about, or when, but the tension between the clashing worlds is palpable. Even if all we had was hope, we would have good reasons to keep that fire kindled.
With unlimited love,
Chris.,