Tuesday, January 16, 2007

D'Souza   [Andrew Stuttaford]

That's a fascinating interview, Kathryn, to put it mildly. Let's just start with Dinesh D'Souza's notion that the "cultural left" is "de facto allied with the radical Muslims". Yes, he's put in the vital qualifier, 'de facto', but it's still difficult to avoid the conclusion that what he wants is a public face of America that is apologetic for its (relatively) laissez-faire approach to sexual morality, and its (relative) secularism. Well, so far as I'm concerned, that laissez-faire approach, and that secularism, are neither left-wing, nor right, and they are features not bugs. How (and why) is America expected to downplay them?

There's much more to say, but, for now, I merely note Mr. D'Souza's surprising claim that traditional Muslims are asking us not to "force" secularism on "their" society. Where, exactly, is this "forcing" going on? Say what you will about the invasion of Iraq, but the state that emerges will almost certainly be less secular than what preceded it. Afghanistan too remains very far from being a secular society.

01/16 12:29 PMShare