I like the article and the spirit behind it. Bravo! One, of course, should stress that one glorifies what is distinctive in Western culture: reason, science, individualism, and capitalism. Obviously Western culture shares with every other culture the same failings: war, irrationality, etc. But on a sustained, explicit, large-scale and lasting basis, Western culture got the solution right – exemplified by the liberal societies of the Anglo-sphere.

What was once Hellenic became Western and is on its way to becoming the world-culture. It’s ours if we live up to it – not by birth. Let’s enjoy it.

PS. I must correct one mistake of cultural ignorance that I continually see repeated:

“Aquinas revived Europe by importing the ideas of Maimonides from North Africa (every last Classical book on the European continent having been burnt by Christianists some centuries earlier)”

Adam, I am a champion of Aquinas and by implication (and explication) Maimonides and Averroes. However, the works of Aristotle were never lost to Europe or Christendom. Its true Aquinas received translations from the Arab versions. But Muslims didn’t have Greek copies. Would you like to know where we got the original Greek copies of Aristotle? From the Greeks! In 1453, as Constantinople fell, Greek scholars brought to Italy, Greek copies of Aristotle and Plato – including works never before seen. By the way, what continent is Constantinople on? Even in Arab lands, philosophy and science was translated into Arab by mostly Christians and some Jews. It was the non-Muslims who kept those works in existence. But let's give credit to the Muslim scholars (Arab, Persian, Turk, Greek, etc.) who appreciated them (many of them converts, sons of converts, heterodox, or freethinkers.)

The great indebtedness to the scholars in Islamic countries (both Islamic, Christian, Jews, Hindu, Zoroastrians, Pagan, etc) is indeed warranted because of the two century jump-start and the help of a genius like Aquinas during a period when the church was open and liberal (as it can be.) You only need to add “Latin” to many of your statements to correct the problem. “Latin” Europe lost Aristotle or “Latin” Christians rejected philosophy.

American Indians made beautiful blankets—and didn't waste any part of the buffalo, as the cliché goes.

Jody,

I can only read what’s written in the article and not what’s not there. Perhaps I might have agreed with the gist of what Marty meant to say.  I do agree that, as Jason emphasized, that reason, science, individualism, and capitalism in Western culture is superior to all other world cultures at the moment.

However, the last three paragraphs of the article contain some gross generalization and imprecise statements that seriously undermined the intention of the article. Like what Michael SK just said.

And I was also rubbed the wrong way by Marcus’ such comment “your present culture burnt all it's inventors and men of genius at the stake and enslaved men's minds with religion and superstition. Your culture is now tribalistic, backwards and fucked!”

I certainly do not share such sentiment.

Hong