The Democrats' Problem

Submitted by Peter J. Herz (Taiwan), Feb 12, 2004 at 06:53

While I believe the Republicans have done much to mismanage American relations with the Islamic world, the Democrats are even more part of the problem than part of the solution. The dominant liberal consensus in American culture (to which Democrats adhere more strongly than Republicans) expects traditional theism in all its forms to retreat to the private sphere, then gracefully die off; coined the idiotic monniker "Islamic fundamentalism" at the time of the Iranian revolution in order to verbally punish Evangelical Christians for abandoning the New Deal coalition; and has consistently translated American "soft power" into a posture of international weakness. Such actions probably tell Muslims that (a) America hates them for being Muslims, (b) America seeks to recreate their societies in the image of Hollywood, and (c) America won't fight back if attacked.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".