Murder in Amsterdam: Liberal Europe, Islam, and the Limits of Tolerance

The most central theme present within Murder in Amsterdam is the legacy and tradition of the European Enlightenment, which dominated the salons of the elite and educated European Aristocracy from the late 17th through the 18th century. Seen as a return to the classical values espoused by ancient democratic Greece, thinkers of the Enlightenment, like Voltaire or Rousseau, championed rationality, science, debate, and reason above blind, dogmatic adherence to any type of moral, religious, or social code. It was the goal of the Enlightenment philosophers to advance European culture through rational thinking and the scientific method—hypothesis, experimentation, result, conclusion. Their writings and beliefs set the bedrock upon which modern European secular society rests, and their thinking laid the foundation for the modern, liberal, elected governments that are the norm in the Western world.

One of the major tenets of the Enlightenment was tolerance, the belief that no group should be persecuted based on religious or ethnic background, and that all should have equal protection under the law. Another major tenet of the Enlightenment was freedom of speech, and thereby extension freedom of the press to say and write anything without fear of government reprisal. Thus, governments and those in power could be held accountable by the people, and a strong press could allow the