Sunday, January 08, 2006

Liberty and Culture

What defines a culture? Certainly the most important components are the fundamental beliefs that are operative in the way people see the world, live their lives, and handle the challenges that put one’s character to the test. Often a crisis exposes the current state of our culture and prompts reflection.

During the Cold War it was communism that demanded we take stock of our resources both material and spiritual. Now civilization faces the Islamic threat. What is this ideology, how is it different than our way of viewing the world, what challenges does it pose for our country? This has been a major focus on this venue during the last year. I have summarized Islam’s essential nature in a previous post. Below I summarize our response to the Islamic threat.