Respond to essay “America the Beautiful: What We’re Fighting for” by Dinesh D’souza

This was a great essay to wrap up the semester!

I really like the way the author compares the Islamic culture and the American culture. The Islamic fundamentalist wants to govern their people by means of violence and oppression in the name of Allah; whereas, the American culture, gives the people the freedom to choose their own destiny. In the American culture, the government and religion are kept separate to avoid abuse of power; while, the Islam wants to be the government and the religion as well. Even though the American culture is new compared to the Islam, it has evolved a lot faster for the benefit of the people. I try not to judge a culture, which I do not really understand, but a feeling of indignation overruns me when I read or see how women are treated in some of those Islamic countries. Women have no rights and are like properties of their husbands.

I really like the way the author defines freedom as the liberty to do good or evil. However, by this definition, freedom implies the liberty of doing good or bad things, so does this mean that there are bad people in our culture? Well, the answer is yes, but the good news is that even bad people are protected in our culture; everyone has rights in America. America is not perfect; however, it is the best the world has to offer. It is the job of our generation to make America a better place for generations to come. We cannot let our founding fathers down nor our sons and daughters. The future seems bleak for the American culture to coexist with the Islamic culture but, we have to be optimistic and hope for the best and at the same time be ready to defend our America from its enemies.