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Lilla, Mark
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2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Mark Lilla on religion and politics
Despite the spread of anti-religious ideas religion has not yet disappeared from political life, writes US philosopher Mark Lilla in the Polish paper Polska: "The first [prejudice] is that there is an eternal feud between church and state, which is why all religious symbols should be banned from public life. The second [prejudice] is even more exotic. … It holds that at some point religion will only be found in religious writings. But both these myths are false. The changes of the 16th and 17th century, with their wars and ideological rejections and the 'end of the existing [world] order' did not bode well for religion. This [anti-religious] way of thinking gained a foothold and was adopted among others by [the philosopher David] Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and an entire army of Enlightenment ideologists. It established itself permanently in 20th century thinking. The past century with its two catastrophes in the shape of National Socialism and communism only reinforced this separation [between church and state]."
» full article (external link, Polish)
More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Weltanschauung, » Europe
Five years after 9/11
Chicago-based political scientist Mark Lilla says the September 11 attacks have acted as a heavy sedative which has plunged America into a deep sleep rather than the wake-up call they are often said to have been. "It walks, stands and talks but its eyes are glassy and it has an empty stare. I'm not among those who blame it all on the Bush Administration. Our government is a symptom of our condition, not its cause. Several thousand people were killed in the attacks of September 11, but the ensuing changes in America's political climate are out of all proportion with the feelings of sadness, anger, desire for revenge or even the fears we felt back then… Like a traumatised victim who only perceives its environment as unfamiliar and threatening, the US has reacted to the attacks by fleeing reality both in its domestic and foreign policies. Mental withdrawal in combination with military action is a sure recipe for catastrophe."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Global
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