Matthew, I have read, enjoyed and admired several pieces of yours. This one was rough sledding for me, even though I agree with many of your specific points.

It's fine to have an opinion on the Enlightenment, but to assert it as something approaching fact would require a book or academic paper to prove or at least make a good case for your thesis.

Talking about what someone like Dawkins says is just a strawman. He's a celebrity, like other ridiculous celebrities, many of whose famous sound bites are embarrassing.

The principles of the Enlightenment were the uncoordinated thoughts of many people. They're more like the Federalist papers than the Constitution, and look how we struggle to interpret that document. On top of that, just like the Bible, being a document of another time, it can't be taken literally.

Enlightenment principles, ~400 years old, need to be understood in a contemporary-world context. One of its fundamental ideas is human equality. I just don't get how anyone can see that as a bankrupt idea.