The DePaul Conservative Alliance last week sponsored a showing of “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West”, followed by a discussion at the DePaul University Student Center—but the importance to all of us continues to dominate.

. The event, was part of “Terrorism Awareness Week”, a series of lectures, seminars and films taking place on college campuses throughout the country. It was organized by David Hororwitz and the Center for the Study of Popular Culture to draw attention to the Radical Islamists’ intention to destroy western civilization.

“Obsession” presents a series of interviews with ex-terrorists, scenes of the carnage that results from terrorists bombing, interviews with experts on Islam and the Middle East, newsreels of Islamic leaders being entertained by Hitler, Islamic boys carrying guns, all testifying to Radical Islam’s hatred of and desire to destroy the West. I found it quite disturbing.

But the Islamists and their liberal allies in the DePaul audience did not.

One of the first to speak, a Middle Eastern woman wearing a headscarf, informed the audience:t “You have to realize that Christians have the upper hand here”, and described how she was made fun of when she lived in the South because she did not believe in Christianity.

Oh really? But if Christians had the upper hand, why did they not behead, hang or torture her, as radical Islamists do to infidels when they have the upper hand? No one pointed this out.

The standard indictments of the West, Israel, the US, Christianity and even the DePaul Conservative Alliance followed.

The audience was reminded that “we must keep in mind the Israelis have killed 4, 000 Palestinians”; applause followed. And of course: “we must try to understand why they hate us”; more applause. Some accused a member of the DePaul Conservative Alliance of engaging in hate speech and intolerance; a loud, extended round of applause. Apparently the assorted Islamists and their liberal allies were trying to direct the discussion away from the nature and intent of radical Islam and toward the standard liberal indictments of the West. They succeeded.

It almost seemed planned. Some in the audience did try to respond and offer rebuttals, but I found them weak, inarticulate and at times barely audible.

I was becoming quite frustrated at the avoidance of the central theme of “Obsession”, that aspects of Islamic civilization were profoundly totalitarian and intent on destroying western civilization.

I pointed out that while we were discussing “Obsession” Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Muslim woman who escaped to Holland in order to avoid an arranged marriage, cannot live without a 24 hour armed guard because of death threats consequent to her involvement in making “Submission”, a film critical of Islam. (The other director of the film, Theo Van Gogh, was killed by a radical Muslim).

Someone from the Middle East objected: “But she was in Holland illegally”. I replied that I had a problem with discussing someone’s immigration status within the context of death threats. The moderator made a similar comment. No applause followed.

Thanks to the efforts of the DePaul Conservative Alliance students at DePaul were able to view “Obsession” and participate in a discussion without disruption. This was a major accomplishment. But the radical Islamists and their liberal allies were able to avoid addressing the issues raised by the film. They are either incapable or unwilling to engage in the kind of critical dialogue that is the life-blood of democracy.

I am sure I was not the only one in the audience to come to this conclusion

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Dr. Riel is a contributing columnist for The Chicago Daily Observer. The conference was arranged by Nicholas Hahn III another Observer commentator.