An article in Asian Sex Gazette talks about Asian countries replacing their 'asian' values with those of the West and thereby going downhill. Tom Plate talks about the fervor caused in Indonesia by the availability of a rather tame Playboy magazine, its posied advent into the Indian markets, the Rolling Stones performing in China, the bar top dancing in Sinagpore and the refusal of the western powers in recognising the Hamas as a legitimate political party.

Okay, I added the last one. But the article was along the same lines as Osama's latest speech on the war the west is engaging against Islam.

What about the continuous cultural domination through the setting up of radio stations and TV channels along with the Voice of America, London and others to continue the cultural domination of Muslims, combat our beliefs, change our values, encourage vice and even interfere with school curricula?

In conclusion, a war is under way to offend the messenger of Allah, his religion and his Umma (nation). The Muslim preparedness and their jihad should be on a par with these events. The duty of our Muslim nation over this Crusaders' campaign with its different aspects is to focus on supporting the prophet, his religion and the Umma to the best of our ability in all fields.

In other words Western values replacing Eastern values(religion included?). Pornography replacing decency, selfish individualism unravelling the social fabric of asian societies that had been held together by collectivism and the most feared of all- sexual liberalism blowing the minds of the repressed middle class.

Obviously there can be finger pointing from the west too- sexual exploitation of women and children, lack of rights, poverty, girl infantcide, honor killings and the list goes on.

Somehow the tag of Cultural War does not sit well with me. Here in America I have seen parents taking care of families and participating in their communities better than many Indians and Indians partying and yet retaining the eastern pragmatism of being career oriented.

It is a matter of personal choices, of being level headed and learning to swim the tide of globalization and not against it.

Quoting Gandhi -I do not want my house to be walled in on sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible.

The pendulum tends to swing to the extreme before reaching the middle ground yet I don't see the Asians as a whole going to the other extreme as neither did the West become sex depraved hedonists no matter what the conservatives would have us believe.