Revivalist Islamist trends?
Reader comment on item: Terrorist Profs

Submitted by Alexander Kizuk (Canada), Feb 24, 2003 at 10:06

Of course it is possible for an academic to be a good researcher while raising money for a cause. But these men are accused of what amounts to aiding and abetting murder. Not quite the same thing.

As an academic and a Moslem (and a Canadian), I am often shocked and appalled by the bloody-mindedness of so many people who are resentful of America. Everywhere today we see virulent knee-jerk anti-Americanism; it almost seems as though the sorts of people who would in times of stress embrace anti-Semitism are the same sorts of people who embrace anti-Americanism.

Americans the new Jews?

The reason some academics defend anti-Americanism is because they continue to be influenced by a Romantic ideology--they think it is Romantic to create a burning Bush out of cardboard effigies.

Also, certain types on campus see anti-American, anti-Bush, anti-war statements as a cheap and easy way to turn mediocrity into celebrity.

Moral relativism in the academy is only a symptom. The deep problem here lies in a set of unanalysed assumptions regarding the values of the individual vs. the state. Defenders of Romantic relativism seem to forget that the victims of terror are individuals too.

The "revivalist Islamic trends" defended by the sorts mentioned in Pipes' article are those in which no individual will would or could exist.

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