Why they hate us.

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Why They Hate Us

Critics of U.S. foreign policy can cite many reasons for Islamist rage. But they overlook a more fundamental problem: To al Qaeda and its sympathizers, nothing is more deserving of contempt than the idea of faith as a free and rational choice--a concept more integral to American identity than any other Western democracy.

Thus, Islamic extremists decry the spiritual corruption of the American "Crusaders" and vow a holy war reminiscent of Saladin's siege of Jerusalem, circa 1187. It does not occur to them that no Western nation has
more emphatically rejected Medieval Christendom, with its faith-based repression and hypocrisy, than the United States. By keeping government out of the sanctuary--and priestcraft out of government--the U.S. Constitution has helped protect the integrity of all faith traditions.

America's Founders warned repeatedly of the "superstition, bigotry and persecution" generated by state-sanctioned religion. But they were not secularists, nor were they cynical about religious belief. Rather, they viewed "soul liberty" as a natural right--and a spiritual obligation. "It is unalienable also," argued James Madison, "because what is here a right towards men, is a duty towards the Creator." Their great accomplishment was convincing establishment elites that religious pluralism could nurture political and economic prosperity, just as intolerance

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