It is a common question Americans ask themselves these days to express their frustration about the deep hatred of the Ben Ladens and Ahmadinejads of the world towards America. "Why do they hate us so much? What have we done to them? And what can we do to make them like us, or at least accept us?"
The terrorists hate us enough to cut all of our heads off, if we give them our necks - they've got their own machete to do the beheading.
Here are six possible answers to the question "Why do they hate us so much?"
1. Religious belief. All Muslims are not terrorists. That's true. But so far, all terrorists have been Muslims. How come? Because the terrorists are driven by religious convictions, even if we describe those beliefs as a twist on Islam or a misinterpretation of the Quran (the Muslim holy book). Fundamentalist Muslims describe Americans as infidels that must be converted by force or even be killed as a service unto Allah.
Furthermore, Shiite Muslims believe in the return of the Twelfth Imam. The Shiites who, by the way, are the majority in Iraq, believe that Allah hid Muhammad al-Mahdi as the Twelfth Imam until the end time. This is Islam's messianic prophecy. Though orthodox Shiites do not believe human beings can do much to speed up the return of this messianic figure, some Shiites, like the Hojjatieh, teach that if humans stir up enough chaos, the Twelfth Imam might return sooner than later to restore order to the world. And what better way to whip up such global chaos than to go after the world's most powerful nation?
2. Moral decay. It is naive to think that President George Bush is the primary reason why terrorists really hate America. Sexually explicit magazines, books, movies, images, and dress codes are a greater reason for Islamic contempt than President Bush. Fundamentalist Muslims despise America's sexual promiscuity, abortion, out-of-control children, drug culture, alcoholism, macho women, etc. The Hollywood stars who think we can appease the terrorists do not realize they are one of the main reasons why Islamic fundamentalists hate our society. This is the real reason why devoted Muslims do not want to assimilate into our culture. Do we expect them to embrace a culture that they despise at heart? Wherever committed Muslims are in the Western world, they will continue to be "a nation within a nation". They are Muslim first and American or British second.
3. America's Arrogance. How dare America decide who can and cannot own nuclear weapons? How dare America use her money to coerce other nations, especially Islamic nations, into adopting Western-style democracy? Americans may call it global leadership or the promotion of freedom, but the terrorists see it as American arrogance.
4. American Dominance. The terrorists can't stand the fact that America is now the world's only super power. It nauseates them even more that America keeps bragging about our lone super-power status. Our dominant economy, our dominant military, our big houses, our big cars, our big money - well, our big everything makes us a big target. Every "little guy" in the world wants a shot at America. If the little guy can do as much as scratch America The Great, he'd count a scratch as a punch for the big guy. I guess that's just the price of being #1. Unless we lose that top spot, we'll remain the bull's eye of terrorists and others who are jealous of us being in the spotlight of world domination.
5. Support for Israel. This is a huge reason for terrorists' antagonism towards America. By religion, Muslims hate Jews. Even so-called liberal Muslims harbor disdain for Jews. There are two likely reasons for this natural anti-Semitism. One is the ancient biblical feud between the descendants of Ishmael (Arabs) and the descendants of Isaac (Jews), the first and second sons of Abraham by two different mothers. The other reason is the more recent formation of the state of Israel in 1948 and America's seemingly one-sided support for Israel since then. The terrorists are incensed that America doesn't give Israelis and Palestinians the same treatment.
6. The war on terror. Of course, the terrorists hate America for going after their leaders, their "charitable" organizations, their bank accounts, and other assets. They hate it when our security apparatus taps their phone and monitors their cell phones and internet communication.
But this is the least important cause of the terrorists' hatred of America. If President Bush or the next US president were to announce a cease fire in the war on terror and to resort to negotiating with the terrorists, they would still have five other reasons to hate America.
"Why do they hate us?" We've got some answers to that question. "What can we do for them like us?" From very little to absolutely nothing. Sorry, bleeding heart. There is little Americans and their few international friends can do to change the terrorists' hatred into friendship with America. It's not going to happen.
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