Muslims, Mormons, Christians

I’m listening to a Great Courses series on the history of Western Civilization.  The professor keeps making the point that the Dark Ages is a misnomer.  He notes that it was a period of progress in agriculture, and both Latin and some literacy survived.

Nonetheless, when I think of the period between say, 500 CE and 1300 CE, I think of a pre-enlightenment era.  There is a reason we talk about the “Enlightenment,” a period when scientific methods and rational thought came to the fore.

Now we have Erdogon of Turkey, a Muslim fundamentalist, who has halted the teaching of evolution to ninth graders in Turkey.  He says it is too complicated a subject for students of that age. 

Now we have the Mormons, who cut the microphone of a 13-year-old girl who revealed to her congregation that she was gay during a portion of the service devoted to member statements.  When she said someday she hoped to be married and have a family, that was too much.

And we have approximately 50 U.S. Republican Senators, determined to cut aid to Planned Parenthood because it provides women with abortions as part of its medical services.  

We may be headed for a new Dark Ages.