But one of the interesting things I've noticed is how little attention is ever given to the French Revolution. Perhaps because the body count was so much lower. Only 17,000 died during the Reign of Terror. But I've always felt is was worth reflecting upon how humanism led to the guillotine.
We forget that the beginnings of humanism were associated with the Reign of Terror. The French Revolution started off by enshrining Enlightenment ideals in the Declaration of the Rights of Man. Along with the Declaration of Independence, the Declaration of the Rights of Man was a seminal document in the Western liberal, democratic and humanistic traditions. The French Revolution claimed it was building a new society upon wholly secular ideals: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité. Liberty, Equality, and Fraternal solidarity.
In America, these Enlightenment and humanistic ideals, in the eyes of many of the Founders, were believed to flow from Christianity. More, many of the Founders felt that these secular values could only survive if supported by a shared Christian worldview, along with the associated piety that would shape the character and values of the populace.
In France, however, things took a very different turn. Where many of the American Founders felt that secular values required a religious infrastructure, the French Revolution went in a very hard anti-Christian direction. The church had to be burned down. Literally.
Having made this point, I understand how contested this issue is in our current political climate amid calls for "Christian nationalism." The only point I'm making here is how the French and American revolutionaries viewed Christianity and the church very, very differently.
Does the anti-Christian turn in France explain why the Reign of Terror came to France and not to America? Did the Christianity of the American revolutionaries save the colonies from the guillotine? Scholars have debated why the French Revolution turned out very differently from the American, despite both revolutions being founded upon secular, liberal, humanistic ideals.
I think a lot about the French Revolution, how Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité lead to the guillotine, and I wonder why more people don't talk about it. A humanistic ethic based upon universal human rights provided no protection from the darkness. Which makes me curious to know what guardrails humanism needs to keep itself on the side of the angels. Because if the French Revolution taught us anything, it's that humanism can easily create a Reign of Terror.
Calls for equality and solidarity can go hand in hand with the guillotine.
It's happened before, and I don't see why it won't happen again.
