Spencer virtually nukes the noble, but illequipped Derbyshire on every count -comparative understanding of Islam and Chritianity, history, logic, and practical solutions. Speaking of which, the following stood out to me from Spencer’s rebuttal:
“They¬¥(Derbyshire’s proposals) are, of course even more remote from current political reality than mine above, and they spring ultimately from Derbyshire’s lack of belief in the Transcendent: without confidence in the power of truth, there is nothing left but force.”
That last thought was transcendent in itself. It pinpoints, not only the fundamental error in Derbyshire’s arguments, but of the secular West’s approach and uderlyig weakness in general. Derbyshire errs so dramatically bcause, as secularists often do, they assume by their ‘unbelief’ a subjective sense of superiority and neutrality, not caring to reflect that their ‘ubelief’ is ad of itself a strong bias based un unfounded assumptions. This exposes the very root of the universal acid which has eroded so profoundly, as a civilization, our sense of moral clarity, identity, and history as a culture, and which has placed us in such a precarious position. Both Derbyshire and the secular west, both conservative ad leftist, too often fulfill the maxim we have here in Mexico, “Se suben el tabique, y se marean.”(They step up onto a brick and suddenly get dizzy.)
It is with profound sympathy and comradery that I say to the Derbyshires and Hitchens of our besieged world, stick to what you’re good at. Stay away from metaphycics.
