A “culture war” in America between religion and atheism is the underlying cause of the war on terror, political commentator Dinesh D’Souza told a crowd of about 150 people Wednesday night at Harris Hall.
D’Souza’s speech, which was sponsored by the College Republicans, centered on the war on terror, despite protesters outside Harris who said he is a racist.
D’Souza served as a policy adviser for former President Ronald Reagan and has written several books, including “The Enemy At Home,” which claims the cultural left was responsible for 9/11.
Muslim extremists are attacking America because not everyone in the U.S. follows a moral code given by an “external being,” D’Souza said. This new moral code leads to acts such as adultery and gay marriage, he said.
“The radical Muslims exploit the idea of an … immoral America,” D’Souza said. “This is their main recruiting slogan in the Muslim world.”
D’Souza said the world’s perception of America as an atheistic, immoral society is a result of the popular culture America exports.
“That’s not America,” D’Souza said. “That may be Hollywood, that may be one face of America, (but) that’s not the way that Americans actually live.”
The outcome of the Iraq war, according to D’Souza, is a matter of simple math because the U.S. has the support of the Shiite majority and the Kurds, which together make up 80 percent of Iraq’s population.
“Who is going to win the war in Iraq?” D’Souza said. “You don’t have to be a West Point graduate to see there is actually no way to lose.”
Before the speech, a group of about a dozen protestors, mostly members of College Feminists, held signs and shouted slogans like “Discrimination is never OK.” Protesters objected to views such as those expressed in his book “The End of Racism,” where he wrote that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 should be repealed.
“We don’t agree with discrimination, we don’t agree with racism,” said Alexandria Gutierrez, College Feminists president and a Weinberg senior. “A lot of the things he says are hate. They’re just hateful, they’re spiteful.”
“I should probably give you my position on hate: I’m against it,” D’Souza said, opening his speech in reference to the protesters.
Debbie Lipinski, a Lombard, Ill., resident who attended the speech, said the protestors did not understand D’Souza, mispronounced his name and called him a bigot.
“Maybe they themselves were bigots because they didn’t understand who the guy was,” Lipinski said.
She said D’Souza was an effective communicator.
“I thought he gave us a lot of food for thought,” Lipinski said.
D’Souza was brought to NU as a part of College Republicans’ Freedom Week, which is meant to show support for the troops in Iraq, said Linnea Perelli-Minetti, College Republicans vice president for publicity. She described supporting the troops as a non-partisan issue.
“People had to do a lot to give us what we enjoy today and often what we take for granted in America,” said Perelli-Minetti, a Weinberg junior.
Freedom Week continues through Monday. On Friday, the group will build a wall at the Donald P. Jacobs Center to divide North and South Campus and will then tear it down to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Reach Phillip Swarts at [email protected].
