Saturday, March 22, 2003

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Defending the Enlightenment Long, interesting NYT Magazine article about Sayyid Qutb, "the philosopher of Islamic terror". I had only read a very little about Sayyid Qutb. I definitely have been aware that many or most of the Al-Qaeda seemed to be educated and affluent. I remember, a few days after Sep 11, Andrei Codrescu said "The coming struggle will be one of relentless effort to impose the values of the Enlightenment in a world still haunted by medieval fanaticism. It's the 18th century against the 12th." I think he nailed it there. Although "impose" is a faintly odd choice of words, almost seems a Freudian slip. I'd have thought something along the lines of "champion" or "defend".   In case anybody wondering how I connect this article to the war in Iraq, I don't.     11:35:16 PM    comment []