The American Spectator

Another Perspective

Spare the Women

By William Tucker on 6.21.04 @ 12:06AM

(Page 2 of 2)

Is there any solution to this? There is. These polygamous cultures will have to adopt the ways of the civilized world -- agriculture, trade, work, democracy, and monogamy. (We have our own share of disaffected males, called "criminals," who cause a great deal of mayhem themselves.) The world will never become completely civilized until every male individual is joined to the task of building instead of destroying.

One more thing. This underlying sexual dynamic explains -- to my mind at least -- why women seem to have such difficulty in grasping the idea Islam forms a direct threat to our civilization. My wife assures me, with complete sincerity, that Mohammad Atta never would have flown a jumbo jet into the World Trade Center if people had been "nice" to him while he was living in this country. This makes him, of course, a victim of discrimination, an object of American prejudice -- and ultimately a man without his own history or religion.

Women are natural appeasers. When two bull moose are battling over a harem, the females simply wait until a winner emerges and them go with him. Contemporary human females seem to retain some of this generic passivity. They cannot fathom the life-or-death stakes these conflicts present to men. Deep in their hearts they know that -- like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed -- the victor will ultimately spare their lives. Women -- and the male politicians who appeal to them -- honestly believe that hostile outsiders bent on destroying our civilization can be appeased.

William Tucker is a columnist for the New York Sun. His book, Monogamy and Its Discontents, will be published next year.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Trade, Economics, Religion, Islam, Israel, Africa