The outspoken Dutch politician Geert Wilders believes it is possible for one culture to be superior to another on the basis of universal rights.
Having his own party liberates Mr. Wilders to speak his mind. As he sees it, the West suffers from an excess of toleration for those who do not share its tradition of tolerance. "We believe that -- 'we' means the political elite -- that all cultures are equal," he says. "I believe this is the biggest disease today facing Europe. . . . We should wake up and tell ourselves: You're not a xenophobe, you're not a racist, you're not a crazy guy if you say, 'My culture is better than yours.' A culture based on Christianity, Judaism, humanism is better. Look at how we treat women, look at how we treat apostates, look at how we go with the separation of church and state. I can give you 500 examples why our culture is better."Read the whole article. I have to admit that I'm apparently brainwashed enough to not be entirely comfortable saying our culture is "better" than others, but if we don't defend our culture and values we'll have no choice but to accept theirs.
2 comments:
The "all cultures are equal" is a falsehood - even to some of the people who purport to advance the theory. For many of them, it's not that all cultures are equal, it's that Western culture is inferior or guilty of historic crimes, or both.
Great stock is placed in Eastern cures, revived Mayan practices, or even 'pre-Western' western pagan traditions. Find a car with some form of goddess awakens bumpersticker, and you'll find a person who believes all ills originate with the European male.
The all cultures are equal argument stems from something I do believe to be true - within limits - and that is all cultures should be respected. In North America it is not uncommon for people to keep Guinea Pigs as pets. In parts of Central and South America Guinea Pigs are food. I think both practices are a little weird, but in my opinion one is no more right or no more wrong than the other.
The limits? There is no 'all are equal' or 'respect all cultures' arguments to be made that will convince me that slavery is OK, that genital mutilation is all right, murdering gays by slowly hanging them with a crane is acceptable, or the appropriateness of stoning a rape victim to death.
And I do believe that Western culture is superior in many ways to some other cultures. But one aspect of our culture that helps make it better than most may be the downfall of the west - our openness. Our tolerance and acceptance of the other has been twisted into multi-culti, craven sandal-licking of those who would do us harm.
On the one hand, I agree that all cultures should be respected, at least within the confines of their own particular geography. On the other, I have a hard time respecting a culture that is xenophobic, treats women as little more than breeding stock, and engages in all the other things you mention. And I don't believe it's right for us to be "tolerant" of that culture within the constructs our own culture.
If one's culture dictates, for example, that he kill his own teen-aged daughters for acting "too Western", he should have stayed the fuck in whatever 'stan he came from.
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