Anti-American contempt stems from perceived moral corruption, not imperial grievance

Evidence

A more important question, less frequently asked, is the reason for the contempt with which they regard us. The basic reason for this contempt is what they perceive as the rampant immorality and degen­ eracy of the American way—contemptible but also dangerous, because of its corrupting influence on Muslim societies. What did the Ayatollah Khomeini mean when he repeatedly called America the “Great Satan”? The answer is clear. Satan is not an invader, an imperialist, an exploiter. He is a tempter, a seducer, who, in the words of the Qur’an, “whispers in the hearts of men.” — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1789

Categorization

• XREF: Directly qualifies the standard Orientalist/colonialist-grievance explanation; ‘Great Satan’ as seducer rather than invader is a reading that complicates Said-adjacent accounts.