Monday, February 11, 2008

On Crusading Intolerance

Chris Hedges writes about the "War on Tolerance" in an essay posted at Truthdig. Here's a quote:

The public denigration of Islam, and by implication all religious belief systems outside Christianity, is part of the triumphalism that has distorted the country since the 9/11 attacks. It makes dialogue with those outside our “Christian” culture impossible. It implicitly condemns all who do not think as we think and believe as we believe as, at best, inferior and usually morally depraved. It blinds us to our own failings. It makes self-reflection and self-criticism a form of treason. It reduces the world to a cartoonish vision of us and them, good and evil. It turns us into children with bombs.

1 comment:

Asinus Gravis said...

Hedges' essay is a powerful one. He is very much on target. I find him an insightful, moving writer.

I've recently been reading his "Losing Moses on the Freeway: The Ten Commandments in America." It opened my eyes to many dimensions of those familiar words.