Despite their common origins in the Enlightenment, the issues dividing the US and Europe are growing
By Peter Schneider
NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE , BERLIN
Wednesday, Mar 17, 2004,Page 9
The war in Iraq has made the Atlantic seem wider. But really it has had the effect of a magnifying glass, bringing older and more fundamental differences between Europe and the US into focus.
These growing divisions -- over war, peace, religion, sex, life and death -- amount to a philosophical dispute about the common origins of European and US civilization. Both children of the Enlightenment, the US and Europe clearly differ about the nature of this inheritance and about who is its better custodian.
Start with religion. The US is experiencing a revival of the Christian faith in many areas of civic and political life, while in Europe the process of secularization continues unabated. Today the US is the most religious-minded society of the Western democracies. In a Harris poll last year 79 percent of Americans said they believed in God, and more than a third said they attended a religious service once a month or more. Numerous polls have shown that these figures are much lower in Western Europe. In the US a majority of respondents in recent years told pollsters that they believed in angels, while in Europe the issue was apparently considered so preposterous that no one even asked the question.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2004/03/17/2003106574I think we're in trouble when the only person I hear questioning why this is happening is Robert McNamara. I saw him on CSPAN talking about parts of "The Fog of War". Empathy.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/TheFogofWar-1126863/?rtp=1http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2004/02/28/morris/index_np.html