> http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/13/opinion/edzizek.php
>
> Atheism is a legacy worth fighting for
>
> Slavoj Zizek
<snip>
> What makes modern Europe unique is that it is the first and only
> civilization in which atheism is a fully legitimate option, not an
> obstacle to any public post.
I thought that civil service examination, in which candidates' religion did not matter, was invented by the Chinese (cf. "The Traditional Chinese Examination System," Montgomery County Public Schools Social Studies Teacher Resources, <http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/ curriculum/socialstd/resources/pcexam.html>; "Chinese Examination System," The Columbia Encyclopedia, <http://www.bartleby.com/65/ch/ Chines-exa.html>, Ichisada Miyazaki, China's Examination Hell: The Civil Service Examinations of Imperial China, <http:// yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=0300026390>), as a way to limit the power of provincial nobles.
Yoshie Furuhashi <http://montages.blogspot.com> <http://monthlyreview.org> <http://mrzine.org>