Conservative author Dinesh D'Souza is defending himself against the outrage resulting from his linkage of the "Cultural Left" with the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Dinesh D'Souza's latest book, The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and its Responsibility for 9/11, has drawn deep outrage from many in society - not surprisingly, from the Left in particular.
D'Souza categories the Cultural Left as an "enemy at home" in the War on Terror for essentially two reasons:
- For fueling the outrage of the Arab Muslim world against the US through the perpetuation of divisive cultural values and policies, including abortion rights, gay rights, pornography, contraceptives for teens, etc.
- For undermining US political efforts to hold back anti-US Arab-Muslim extremists (from Jimmy Carter's decision to help oust the Shah of Iran to the current liberal assault on US wiretapping of suspect international communications)
Here is a link to a Washington Post op-ed D'Souza authored defending his premise:
While Dinesh D'Souza arguably crossed the line with inflammatory characterizations, this is sadly the reality of modern publishing. There's so much "noise" and "clutter" out there in this Mass Information Age, that in order to get attention, one needs to sometimes get outrageous. I think this is very unhealthy for America, but it has become the situation nevertheless. D'Souza is playing that game.
However, if you get past the inflammatory title of his book and the divisive sound bytes surrounding it, there is at least some truth to what he is saying. It is not within the scope of this site (Protestantism) to get into the political side of D'Souza's criticisms. US foreign policy in the Middle East is for a different section of Suite101 to get into. Let's then look briefly at the cultural side of things.
The Muslim-Arab world is deeply offended by the West's culture of sexual promiscuity and permissiveness - a culture that promotes abortion on demand, teen contraception, and pornography AND which is encroaching on the Muslim world (thanks to TV and the Internet). This is a real problem, and the Cultural Left needs to stop shouting long enough to realize this. (Not that the Cultural Left is alone responsible for this, but they are at the forefront of trying to revamp traditional mores concerning marriage, family, and sex).
It is also strange and bizzare that some of D'Souza's critics have accused him of hating America. This is, after all, a guy who travels frequently around the nation (especially in colleges and universities) talking up the virtues of the United States. This is a guy who regularly says how great the USA is, and who in fact wrote a book titled What's So Great About America. (I read that book, by the way, and it was excellent!) D'Souza is as patriotic as they come. So, why the charge of anti-Americanism?
I think it's because the Cultural Left (it IS a fair label) sees a very different America than the Cultural Right (also a fair label). D'Souza has essentially declaring war on the Cultural Left, and - to them - that means he's against America. Because the Cultural Left's concept of America is their Reality of America.
So.....is Dinesh D'Souza right? Well....read the Post op-ed, and let us know what you think.
