Quote:
Originally posted by ARTelevision
Hwed, yes.
DJ Happy, as for "Bush needs to look at why people hate America and address those issues..."
That sort of thing is well and good. However, I don't get any indication at all that folks who think so-called "free expression" is the be all and end all of existence have any willingness at all to look at the sort of cultural rubbish we produce and consign it to the dead-letter bin.
|
Cultural rubbish meaning what? I would bet that our individual definitions of what constitutes "cultural rubbish" vary greatly.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to be implying that we must look to characteristics of our own culture as causes for terrorist aggression. Ignoring for the moment that Bin Laden named the American military presence in the Middle East as the primary motivation for his "jihad," Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell made that same cultural claim shortly after 9-11:
Quote:
|
Then Falwell said, "What we saw on Tuesday, as terrible as it is, could be miniscule if, in fact, God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve....I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who try to secularize America...I point the thing in their face and say you helped this happen."
|
This was such a popular opinion that both Falwell and Robertson issued public apologies. Attempts by liberals to assign blame via foreign policy critiques were given just as warm a reception.
My point here is that the American public has shown great wisdom in resisting calls to place blame on our fellow Americans for the actions of madmen, regardless of whether these calls originate from the left or from the right. I would hope that we could maintain that composure.