The Postliberals with Eric Kaufmann

A renowned activist and public intellectual, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, recently published an article to Unherd entitled “Why I am Now a Christian.” The piece is a literal come-to-Jesus moment for Ayaan, who is famous for her atheism advocacy.

The title of the article references a 1927 lecture by Bertrand Russell “Why I am Not a Christian,” which Ayaan drew strength from as she crossed the threshold of her Islamic faith into the liberatory rationalism of the New Atheism movement.

After twenty years of a Godless life, Ayaan has grown to feel bare without religion and the piece is about her decision to embrace a new faith tradition. But for Ayaan, it’s more than personal, she’s worried the faithless “dislocated masses” of the West will not fare well in a civilisational war against The Chinese Communist Party, global Islamism, Russia, and the religiously Woke.

… we can’t fight off these formidable forces unless we can answer the question: what is it that unites us? The response that “God is dead!” seems insufficient. So, too, does the attempt to find solace in “the rules-based liberal international order”. The only credible answer, I believe, lies in our desire to uphold the legacy of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Unherd.

Ayaan’s piece has had viral circulation, drawing praise and condemnation from many different corners of the Internet. It struck a chord because Ayaan’s dilemma speaks to the deepest layers of a crisis in the liberal order, and I’ve noticed a growing number of intellectuals and artists getting drawn into the issue.

During a recent trip to London, I was invited to a dinner party with new media and literary figures who move in circles tangential to Ayaan. It was hosted by Konstantin Kisin and Winston Marshall, who began the meal with a question.

“We’ve all gained audiences through standing against the Woke movement, but what is it, exactly, that we stand for?”.

Konstantin Kisin, TRIGGERnometry.