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‘A country that attempts to govern itself from a holy book will immediately find itself in decline: the talents of its females repressed and squandered, its children stultified by rote learning in madrassas, and its qualified and educated people in exile or in prison.’

Wherever you stand on the current attack, recall Hitchens’ words about the scourge of theocracy.

[A]ny government that imagines it has a divine warrant will perforce deal with its critics as if they were profane and thus illegitimate by definition…

Reminds me of Japan’s wartime soft theocracy, which mired them in a bloodbath despite the voices of many rational and humane leaders there who argued for surrender. Only by nudging the country’s all-powerful, silent divinity to speak up was Japan able to save itself from possible extinction.

Margaret Soltan, March 2, 2026 9:15AM
Posted in: headline of the day

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