Why Do They Hate Us?

Dinesh D'Souza wrote an article in the Washington Post answering personal attacks on him by critics of his newly released book, The Enemy at Home.

Some excerpts:

[...]"Contrary to the common liberal view, I don't believe that the 9/11 attacks were payback for U.S. foreign policy. Bin Laden isn't upset because there are U.S. troops in Mecca, as liberals are fond of saying. (There are no U.S. troops in Mecca.) He isn't upset because Washington is allied with despotic regimes in the region. Israel aside, what other regimes are there in the Middle East? It isn't all about Israel. (Why hasn't al-Qaeda launched a single attack against Israel?) The thrust of the radical Muslim critique of America is that Islam is under attack from the global forces of atheism and immorality -- and that the United States is leading that attack."

"Contrary to President Bush's view, they don't hate us for our freedom, either. Rather, they hate us for how we use our freedom. When Planned Parenthood International opens clinics in non-Western countries and dispenses contraceptives to unmarried girls, many see it as an assault on prevailing religious and traditional values. When human rights groups use their interpretation of international law to pressure non-Western countries to overturn laws against abortion or to liberalize laws regarding homosexuality, the traditional sensibilities of many of the world's people are violated."

[...]"In other words, bin Laden believes that the United States represents the pagan depravity that Muslims have a duty to resist. The literature of radical Islam, such as the works of Egyptian writer Sayyid Qutb, resonates with these themes. One radical sheik even told a European television station a few years ago that although Europe is more decadent than America, the United States is the more vital target because it is U.S. culture -- not Swedish culture or French culture -- that is spreading throughout the world."

[...]"Contrary to the accusations of Alan Wolfe and others, I have no sympathy for bin Laden or the Islamic radicals. But I do respect the concerns of traditional Muslims, the majority in the Muslim world." (Emphases mine)

To me, it is doubtless that D'Souza makes some excellent points. But I also believe that the reasons go much deeper, but have very little to do with the urban legends that are purported by most of the talking heads.

One critic of D'Souza claims that he is siding with Jerry Falwell who stated that we were attacked due to our legitimization of abortion and homosexuality.

Although I cannot state that these attacks are a result of God's judgment, I don't have any problem with considering the possibility. God often acts in history to call people and nations to repentance. He also often uses people or nations that are even more evil than those he is warning to carry out His admonition.