Lack of faith

Last Monday in Philadelphia, John McCain gave an impressive speech that I guess few of you have missed. In it, McCain, among other things, went after those who suggest that we should “fear the world we have organized and led for three-quarters of a century” and “abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe”.

McCain’s speech came back to me today when I learned that Quebec (of all places!) is about to ban face covering veils in public. It is hard to imagine a more counter-productive policy if you want to stand up for secularism. But beyond that, it also shows how little faith these self-appointed defenders of secularism seem to have in the power and universality of their own ideas. There is something slightly ironic with this lack of faith given that the World Value Survey and others are still showing a strong global shift towards secular-rational and emancipatory values. Without subscribing to teleology, there is every reason to believe that over time, unless marginalized or threatened, people will continue to move away from traditional hierarchal values.

I know I have said it before, but if we in the West would just cut the Muslim world some slack and stop the polarization spiral, I am highly confident that young people will rise up and demand Buffy rather than Sharia.