Although I am not proud to be from the country that added the word "apartheid" (apartness) to the world dictionary, I am proud that that same country was the first in the world to legalize same sex marriage (as well as prostitution, euthanasia and perhaps in the near future also soft drugs, cannabis and marijuana that is, NOT all the other drugs that are in fact worse for you than alcohol).

The days when the church / organized religion had something to say in politics we call the dark ages (1000 - 1500 AD) over here in Europe.

As many people in the West (Europe and USA) might agree, a period of "Enlightment" where organized religion is seperated from politics so everyone can truely be free would be a good thing in eg: The Middle East looking at extremists there.

However, when I hear Mr Bush talking about "evil", "crusades", abortion, gay marriage, "right" and "wrong" etc I sometimes wonder wether the pilgrims who founded the US did in fact escape from the Enlightment in Europe. What was the date again, 1492? Mmmm...

Don't worry, our prime minister Jan Peter "Harry Potter" Balkenende will continue to lead the World towards freedom ;-)