> This is all very basic liberalism. I'm an atheist but I will defend people's right to worship and, in doing so, I am defending my own right not to worship. It

> This is all very basic liberalism. I'm an atheist but I will defend people's right to worship and, in doing so, I am defending my own right not to worship. It's disturbing to me to see how the basic tenets of liberal civilization have become cliche in people's minds. I don't recall where I read this idea, but liberalism is a particular trade off between two social goods: justice and peace. A big diverse group of people will have factions with incompatible ideas of what justice is, and will tend to fight each other over them. Liberalism is mainly compelling when people are sick of those fights, and are willing to trade the pursuit of justice (and some other things) for peace. However, the more successful it is, the more valuable justice and those other things become, and Liberalism becomes less compelling.