Reason, Faith, and the Struggle for Western Civilization

摘要

Ongoing conflict with and within the Middle East has spawned a significant literature regarding the "clash of civilizations" between Western liberal democracies and Islamic nations in particular (see Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order [New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996]). The war on terror, combined with mass emigration from the Middle East to Europe, has added urgency to this concern. Does ordered liberty require a deep, cultural adherence to institutions and practices with historical roots not to be found in Islamic countries? Or is ordered liberty the product of a specific set of beliefs to which any rational person can and, given the chance, would subscribe?