Individual Liberties in Islamic Societies

Re “Seeing Islam Through a Lens of U.S. Hubris,” Commentary, July 2: “Anonymous” says that “most of the world ... is not, does not want to be and probably will never be just like us.” Fair enough. But Anonymous gives us a caveat: He says he doesn’t mean America’s belief in individual liberty when he says the world doesn’t want to be like us.

But Anonymous cites opinion polls holding that a majority of Muslims believe that belief in God is a necessary part of “democratic values.” What are “democratic values” in a Muslim society? A nation whose majority enforces religious beliefs on its minority may be “democratic” in the sense that the majority controls, but it certainly rejects the notion of individual liberty, which is at the core of our own “democratic values.” I suspect that’s one reason why so many people want to come here, where they have the individual right to be left alone, to pray or not as they see fit -- a right designed to protect minority opinion.

Carlton Smith

South Pasadena

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If Anonymous is so sure America is losing the war against terrorism, I am glad he is retired. We have enough pessimism in high places. I do wonder, though, why he personally wasn’t more successful “analyzing and attacking [Osama] bin Laden” during his three-year hitch with the CIA. Perhaps some hubris should be attributed to him.

Robert R. Schnepp

Port Hueneme