Emblems of rationalism and religion

What does Athens have to do with Jerusalem? And what does secularization have to do with religious proliferation and pluralism?

The answer to both questions is the same. Athens and Jerusalem have created a whole history through their interaction with each other, and so have religion and secularization. In both cases, as soon as one achieves a kind of dominance, the other swoops back from exile to challenge it. When reason and intellect begin to ride high, they invariably make unrealistic claims. And faith and intuition awaken to question their hegemony. Then, just as the sacral begins to feel its oats and reach out for civilizational supremacy, reason and cognition question its pretentiousness. In past eras, this seesaw battle often took centuries.

Today, events move more swiftly; we haven’t the bandwidth for hysteria.

~ by Natalie on 22 April.