IMO - the cultural issues (whether you agree with them or not) are far more complex than that and Afghan author Khaled Hosseini's
The Kite Runner and
A Thousand Splendid Suns do an extraordinary job of giving insight into those many vagaries of Afghan society of which we neither fully understand nor accept.
As for Alexander, King of Macedonia, being homosexual - that is an unproven assertion and the subject of much speculation and controversy. There are no ancient sources which state that he had homosexual relationships or that his relationship with his 'beloved' General, Hephaestion, was sexual - Alexander was married twice, however, he may have been bisexual (which was not considered to be ethically controversial behavior in those times).
As far as 'freedom' goes - I've always held the point-of-view - as taught - that most people would like some of our 'Born in the USA' style democracy - that they would all like a few packets of basic human rights and freedoms taken right off of our
Super-Democratic Walmart's shelves without paying full price for it. Experience and study have changed my opinion on all that somewhat - and IMO they do want freedom...but they tend to want another kind of freedom which I never gave much thought to when I was younger - freedom from us. And I sometimes wonder - for whatever reasons - whether or not we will (can???) ever allow that to happen.
We must face the fact that the United States is neither omnipotent or omniscient - that we are only 6 percent of the world's population; that we cannot impose our will upon the other 94 percent of mankind; that we cannot right every wrong or reverse each adversity; and therefore there cannot be an American solution to every world problem.
- John F. Kennedy
And so it goes...
Richard's $.02
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