Why They Hate US: Reasons We Do Not Want to Hear
by
George Wolfe
Every time there is a terrorist attack directed at the United States, articles appear attempting to answer the question: “Why do they hate us?” The answers usually focus on the resentment of U.S. political, economic and military power. The terrorists hate us, so the pundits claim, because they envy our wealth, our military dominance, or our freedom.
I assert that these reasons do not constitute the root cause of their hatred. It is not our power, our freedoms or our political system terrorists resent. They resent our intrusive secular values and the numerous civilian casualties the U.S. has inflicted on Islamic countries during our “War on Terror.”
The infusion of Western multinational corporations into Eastern and Middle Eastern countries has had a disrupting cultural impact. This is most blatantly expressed today through the media, the clash of religious conservatism with liberal social values, and the rejection by Islamic nations of radical feminism, permissiveness, and the pursuit of happiness through material excess.
In the 1980s, Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini called the United States the “Great Satan,” a label meant to condemn Western secular values. Americans, however, generally misunderstand this expression. In mystical religious traditions, Satan signifies that force in human life that draws the senses outward into the physical world and away from the inner spiritual life. This distraction deceives one into believing that lasting happiness can be found in materialism and the gratification of sexual desires. Khomeini’s “Great Satan” metaphor has its equivalent reference in the biblical book of Revelation which uses the phrase “Babylon the Great” to refer to a materialistic and hedonistic empire (Rev. Ch. 18). From the perspective of fundamentalist Muslims, as well as conservative Christians and other religious groups, Americans and Europeans have been guilty of cultivating a materialistic, sex-crazed culture.
Many of us in the West fail to realize how some countries see the worldwide web as an intrusive instrument of cultural imperialism. Western multinational corporations have been insensitive to the cultural values of Islamic countries, especially when using provocative images in commercial advertising and on Internet websites.
The laws labor unions fought hard for in the U.S. and Europe in the mid-twentieth century are ignored by U.S. corporations in countries where labor is cheap, resulting in abusing labor practices, sweatshops, dangerous working conditions, child labor and long work hours.
Globalization has peace-building potential, but it must not be an excuse for exploitation.
In addition, our drone warfare has resulted in the killing of innocent civilians, many of whom have been women and children. This is especially devastating in poor countries where there is no social safety net and one’s family is the only protection against economic hardship, homelessness and insolvency. It is no coincidence that Al-Qaeda strongholds are found in countries with pervasive poverty.
The more we define our power in terms of economic influence and military might, the more we deceive ourselves into a false sense of security. Our military strength has made us vulnerable to the deep-seated motivations of revenge, and our affluence has resulted in a narcissistic culture obsessed with materialism.
With freedom and affluence comes responsibility – the responsibility to share our wealth, invest ethically in developing countries, honor the traditions of other cultures, and respect human life.
Therein lies the means to diffuse hatred.
George Wolfe is the Coordinator of Outreach Programs for the Ball State University Center for Peace and Conflict Studies and the chair of the Muncie Interfaith Fellowship which is a cooperation circle in the United Religions Initiative. He is also a trained mediator and the author of The Spiritual Power of Nonviolence: Interfaith Understanding for a Future Without War.