July 18, 2006: Discrimination ...

in the old-fashioned sense of the word, that is, to seek to distinguish the fine points in order to choose the best.

The third shift in attitude might be characterized as extreme liberalism. In this case, the virtues of liberalism such as tolerance have been perverted into an unwillingness to discriminate. Right and wrong are seen as archaic concepts belonging to the ash heap of history. What counts is openness, a strange form of egalitarianism in which all opinions have equal value if rendered earnestly.

Whether you are a practising Christian or not--that is not the important point--it is the values emanating from the Judeo-Christian heritage which underpin and permeate the institutions of the great democracies of the West. Without the concept of right and wrong, the societal need to maintain order and, if necessary, to punish wrongdoing, to sometimes forgive, the society cannot operate. It seems that our society has lost the ability to discriminate for the greater good of the whole. A return to the values that underpin our democracy are in order. If we do not value, promote and protect our heritage, we will lose it to those who are fanatical about theirs, to say nothing of being considerably less scrupulous about tolerance.

To defeat radical Islam Europe must re-Christianize Herbert London, posted July 10, 06, insightmag.com,
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At a recent conference in Switzerland, student representatives asked: how could the Muslim population gain traction so quickly in Western Europe?

[....] Western Europe needs to assert its traditions and liberties, but, more importantly, it should insist that its basic ideas are imbibed by all citizens. Isolated cultural pockets removed from the prevailing positions of the host societies will not do. Liberalism should ensure freedom, but not the freedom to destroy.

Moreover, Western European governments should demand reciprocity with Muslim states.

Worth reading ... London touches upon: multiculturalism, secular humanism, relativism, extreme liberalism, transnationalism, loss of confidence, reciprocity, interfaith egalitarianism