The Enlightenment took aim not at reverence but at idolatry and superstition; it never believed that progress is necessary, only that it is possible. … Why turn to the Enlightenment? There is no better option. Rejections of the Enlightenment result in premodern nostalgia or postmodern suspicion; where Enlightenment is at issue, modernity is at stake. A defence of the Enlightenment is a defence of the modern world, along with all its possibilities for self-criticism and transformation. If you’re committed to Enlightenment, you are committed to understanding the world in order to improve it. … Scepticism and tolerance will not take us very far; while it’s possible they may prevent harm, it’s unlikely that they can inspire anyone to do good.
Reclaiming the Enlightenment must entail reexamining other values that derive from it, and these must include at least four. One of them is the idea that human beings have equal rights to happiness on earth. A second Enlightenment value is the commitment to reason – not as opposed to passion, which was as riotous during the 18th century as at any other period, but as opposed to blind authority and superstition. A third value is more surprising, but equally important: reverence for Creation is a form of gratitude, and a sign of humility: whatever you think made the world, you had better remember it wasn’t you. Hope, a fourth Enlightenment value, is what drives all the others, but it is not the same as optimism. Hope is not a statement of fact but a foundation of action.
You didn’t click, did you? Kudos if you have, but most people haven’t. If you do not read this article, you self-label as a relgionist or a conservative, and you have a milligram of intellectual honesty — a fucking picogram — you need to admit that you never bothered to even attempt to understand what liberalism and secularism are about, and need to just shut the fuck up and stop voting, advocating, protesting, shouting, preaching, hating, and dicking around until you bother to spend four minutes at it. If you object, figure out why you object. If you dismiss this, have a reason. Not what your mommy and daddy told you, not that “values” taste like warm milk with vanilla and just a little bit of Splenda, not what you’re afraid of after you die, not that the world is a big scary place, not that it’s really really fun to have lots of money and to have it because you are better than everyone else. Four minutes. Starting now. You can consider me a self-righteous literally-damned espresso-sipping Walden-reading Frenchy fag for insulting you in this paragraph, or whatever you feel you need to, but just go. Please go.
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Your third ‘surprising but equally important value’ got my eye; I totally agree and, as a newly-published but long-practicing/writing poet, I would like to invite your attention to the website given, where you can check out my book. All of the poetry in it is deeply involved with joy in and gratitude for creation, and reverence for the Creator. Whatever That Is. I
hope you will visit, consider and enjoy! Namaste.