Robin MacNeil: Fight Islamic Fundamentalism With Art

According to a reporty by Philip Kennicott in today's Washington Post, ex-PBS Newshour anchor Robin MacNeil delivered his call to arms at the annual Nancy Hanks Lecture for arts advocates at Washington DC's Kennedy Center:

And the guest of honor was Robert MacNeil, the journalist, who gave a bold and perhaps even controversial speech that included sustained criticism of religious fundamentalism.

Speaking to about 1,000 of the fervent at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, MacNeil lamented the influence of fundamentalism on science education, individual freedoms and the larger public dialogue about the hot-button moral and political issues of the day. Since he left PBS's "The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour" in 1995, MacNeil has been chairman of the board of the MacDowell Colony, a tony artists' retreat in New Hampshire. And so, no surprise, he leapt to the defense of artists, in particular, from the influence of fundamentalism and the perils of the culture wars....

..."I think art can be an important weapon in the struggle against Islamic fundamentalism," MacNeil said.

I can't find the transcript online yet via google. If and when the text is posted, I'll try to link to it...