There is a lesson here. The belief that liberal values are on “the right side of history” is a confession of faith, asserted against an accumulating body of evidence. Liberal societies are by-products of western monotheism, which underpinned the practice of toleration with the belief that it was mandated by God. Generations of secular thinkers have attempted to detach liberalism from its theistic base. (John Gray)
I always thought liberal societies were the product of secular rule of law. Countries who, like America, put a wall between church and state are the most liberal. Aren't they?
Since when does God mandate toleration for liberal values?
If that was true shouldn't countries with hardcore religious populations be more liberal than USA?
Mr. Gray makes the fundamental mistake of assuming modern western liberalism to be monolithic. I doubt that a majority of liberals, much less all, view Putin's meddling as more than a symptom rather than a prime cause. The author makes a similar mistake when he assumes that no liberals realize that western democracies are artificially floating on a raft of unsustainable debt. The article is full of such nonsense. He paints with a brush too broad.
i will add, in response to many of the other responses i see here, that there are no more conservatives. i didn't like their way of thinking when they existed but they no longer exist. now we have liberals/progressives and we have regressives. the regressives, who claim they have conservative values, are profligate and corrupt, and the only thing they're interested in conserving is their own personal wealth and power.
g
yes, and it disgusts me. VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE
This article is pure convoluted tripe. It reads like a justification for cynical and aggressive greed and authoritarianism. I would not be surprised if it were written by one of the Russian disinformation agencies. Modern liberal thought has nothing to do with religion. Authoritarianism is largely rooted in total system ideologies like religion and communism.
Another attempt to justify the god thang. The practice of science have always been without the need for a creator. The enlightenment was a clear example of learning in the face of god.
The religionists repeated claim their god was there first.
All the preachers and apologists just spin shit from gold . And claim it's the glory of god.
Lots of people who claim to be liberals don’t have any liberal characteristics. They tend to be snarly, condescending, arrogant, judgmental and pessimistic to the point of seeing just about every societal condition as ugly, unjust, and in need of reformation to their proper standards.
There might be a few who aren’t that way. I like Obama and Bill Clinton for example. Jimmy Carter too. Some of our most popular conservatives have been the most liberal IMO, Colin Powell e.g. The two sides are not mutually exclusive.