Right-wing author Dinesh D'Souza argued that secular values promoted by liberals are to blame for the clash between radical Islamic fundamentalism and the U.S. in a speech organized by the Young Conservatives of Texas Thursday night.
D'Souza, a native of India who immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager, served as a policy adviser in the Reagan administration and has authored books about American issues. D'Souza's controversial ideas on race, religion and education, as well as his views on the Islamic anti-Americanism that motivated the attacks of Sept. 11, have led some students to question his credibility.
"Even with conservatives, his views on the cause of 9/11 are unpopular," said history junior Andrew Glass, co-president of Libertarian Longhorns. "I think he's trying to sell more books, mainly."
Government sophomore Nicholas Prelosky, vice chairman of operations for Young Conservatives of Texas, is unconcerned with the controversy surrounding the speaker.
"Honestly, to some degree, everything we do is controversial," Prelosky said. "We hope people will leave with a better idea of why we think the way we think."
In his lecture, D'Souza argued that current explanations for anger against the U.S. in the Muslim world are inadequate.
"I want to offer a completely fresh way of thinking about this debate," he said. "Radical Islam's main concern is not American troops, not American foreign policy, but that Islam is under attack."
D'Souza argued that Islamic radicals primarily fear the spread of American secular values, in which morality originates from within the self instead of from an external higher power, and that the idea of a "culture war" in America between secular and Christian values is just another facet of the struggle between these two systems.
"Outside of the West, this secular morality is seen with incomprehension, fear and, in many cases, outright loathing," he said. "The culture war and the war on terror are, in fact, the same war."
To counter the impression of an America out to destroy Muslim values, D'Souza suggested showing the world the "real" America, not the distorted image presented by entertainment media.
"America didn't try to bring down the Berlin Wall with Madonna," he said.
Microbiology graduate student Ryan Mak appreciated that D'Souza offered a new way of thinking about the war.
"I thought it was refreshing - an outlook from the Muslims' point of view," he said. "It's strange how everything's all connected now."
Prelosky said he hopes D'Souza introduced students to alternate viewpoints.
"This is for the students who will say, 'I came to college with a desire to learn, to educate myself about the world,' and maybe they'll come with more of an open mind and listen to what Dinesh D'Souza has to say," he said. "These are the ones we're going for - those who will actually take something from it."
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