David Brooks interviews French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy on his upcoming series in The Atlantic wherein he follows in Toqueville's footsteps, travels about the United States and reports back on his findings in a four-part series for the magazine. Sadly, the interview is available only to subscribers, but here are a couple of tastes from what was forwarded to me:
America in Foreign Eyes - Bernard-Henri Lévy speaks with David Brooks about Americaits patriotism, its religion, its ideology
Levy on the role of religion in America, explaining Red to Blue and saying, "Stop being so afraid, this is your strength:"
...Another difference. I come from a country where religion, the faith, the creed in God, is a declining attitude. Old churches are in a deep crisis. But I landed in a country last year where you cannot find one American lady or gentlemansaying that he doesn't believe in God. Tocqueville had seen that already. This is a big part of his observation. He stressed the paradox of this being the only nation in the world where freedom and faith did not go in two separate roads. In France, liberty has had to be gained over religion. The less religion we have in France, the more liberty we have. In America, Tocqueville said, it is contrarythe two nourish and feed each other...
And he is honest, too, and shares some of the ground - some of my concerns - where I too part company from some of my "conservative" fellows:
...So, of what am I afraid? Of what should you be afraid? I would not dare to say. You know yourself. But myself there are a few things which I love and a few which frighten me. For instance, coming back to the topic of religion. One day I was in a helicopter going above the Grand Canyon. The pilot was a young boy, quite up-to-date, modern, liking new music, dating with a beautiful girl, andI'm completely suresecular in his mind. A modern, young, American boy. And I asked him "What about this huge, magnificent landscape that we see under our feet?" The canyon. And he said to me, "There are two theories." I felt aie, aie, aie, as we say in French, Problems begin! "First theory," he said, "during millions of years, the erosion of the water," and so on and so on. "Second theory," he said, "six thousand years ago there was a big flood which took place exactly here. And this is the place of the creation of the world." I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "Yes, there was a second theory which said the world was created six thousand years ago, in six days, and in this very place." We spoke when we landed, and he told me that he frankly did not know if Darwin was a scientist or a crook. That he frankly did not know if the birth of the universe was an immemorial event or a historic event like in the Bible. And I felt that is the thing of which, if I was American, I would be afraid.
Today, they say, there is a Darwinist science and there is a creationist science. What the young pilot of my helicopter meant, by saying there are two theories, was exactly that. This is very serious, because if both of them are scientific then you give to creationism the title of legitimacy. This is a phenomenon which we don't have in France. It might be a little example, but it tells a lot of the dark side of the future of America...
If you can read it all, read it. I'll probably look for it at the news stand.
