(2004-01-27) Searls Brians Enlightenment

Doc Searls quotes PaulBrians describing the Enlightenment as the celebration of human capacity. Many of the most distinguished leaders of the American Revolution--ThomasJefferson, George Washington, Ben Franklin, Thomas Paine--were powerfully influenced by English and--to a lesser extent--French Enlightenment thought. The God who underwrites the concept of equality in the Declaration Of Independence is the same Deist (Deism) God Rousseau worshipped, not that venerated in the traditional churches which still supported and defended monarchies all over Europe. Jefferson and Franklin both spent time in France--a natural ally because it was a traditional enemy of England--absorbing the influence of the French Enlightenment. The language of Natural Law, of inherent Freedom-s, of Self Determination which seeped so deeply into the American grain was the language of the Enlightenment, though often coated with a light glaze of traditional religion, what has been called our "CivilReligion." This is one reason that Americans should study the Enlightenment. It is in their bones. It has defined part of what they have dreamed of, what they aim to become. Separated geographically from most of the aristocrats against whom they were rebelling, their revolution (American Revolution) was to be far less corrosive--and at first less influential--than that in France (French Revolution).