Anti-Americanism comes in different varieties. The European kind emphasises the “evils” of “red” America: a shoot-first, ask-questions-later cowboy in the White House, and Bible-toting fundamentalists walking around the corridors of power. The Muslim variety is very different. Many Muslims point to the “horrors” of “blue” America: homosexual marriage, family breakdown, and a popular culture that is trivial, materialistic, vulgar, and, in many cases, morally repulsive. This latter view is dangerously and justifiably common in many traditional cultures across the globe. Because it feeds their perception that American values are inimical to their way of life, this attitude can blossom into the kind of anti-American pathology that partly fuelled the 9/11 attacks.

Any serious effort to shore up American’s security must include steps to edify American culture. Both the European and Muslim brands of anti-Americanism, of course, are focused on only one side of America. They are reacting not so much to America per se as to the often distorted projections of US policy and culture across the globe. Americans know that there is a big difference between American pop culture and the way they actually live. But most foreigners don’t. The America they see in movies and on television is often the only one they know.

America must recognise the global implications of the culture wars. Indeed the culture war and the war on terror are linked. The restoration of America’s culture will be a moral boost to its children and it will help the nation’s image abroad. As a practical matter, of course, such a cultural restoration will not be easy. At the very least, it is a task that will take decades. The best we Americans can do is to show Muslims, and traditional people around the world, the “other America” that they often don’t see. Bush and his administration spokespersons should in their speeches do more to highlight the values of conservative and religious America. They should not be afraid to speak out against American cultural exports that are shameless and corrupting.

Moreover, we should do what we can to stop the export of debased American values abroad. In the United Nations, for example, America should work with Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and others to block the efforts of leftist groups around the world who promote radical feminism, homosexuality, prostitution, and pornography as “rights” under international law.

Instead, the United States should align itself with social decency and traditional family values. As citizens, we should not hesitate to tell traditional Muslims and others that there are many of us who are working to reverse the tide of cultural depravity in our society and around the world.

By proclaiming our allegiance to the traditional values of Judeo-Christian society, we can reduce the currents of anti-Americanism among the Muslims, and thus undercut the appeal of radical Islam to traditional Muslims around the world. — The Christian Science Monitor