The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Contributor: The Day the Enlightenment Went Out
Historian Garry Wills on the ascendancy of faith over fact, and the implications for America of the rise of right-wing "Christian" politics. An excerpt:
"America, the first real democracy in history, was a product of Enlightenment values - critical intelligence, tolerance, respect for evidence, a regard for the secular sciences. Though the founders differed on many things, they shared these values of what was then modernity. They addressed "a candid world," as they wrote in the Declaration of Independence, out of "a decent respect for the opinions of mankind." Respect for evidence seems not to pertain any more, when a poll taken just before the elections showed that 75 percent of Mr. Bush's supporters believe Iraq either worked closely with Al Qaeda or was directly involved in the attacks of 9/11."
