écrasez l’infâme

Voltaire defaced

The Scientific Enlightenment came at no small cost
Imprisionment, books burnt, inquisition, internment, death.
The Secular, Sceptical, Scientific spirit survived
Slowly tamed Christian fundamentalisn.
Now, a new constant vigilance is the price we must pay
As unreformed superstition seeks to establish
A new dark nest in the west –
Truly it is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.