From: QueeneMUSE@aol.com
Date: Mon Jul 24 2000 - 13:05:02 MDT
In a message dated 7/24/2000 9:51:45 AM Pacific Daylight Time, lee@piclab.com
writes:
> I am certainly
> not one of those moral/cultural relativists who thinks all traditions
> are equal
Those are two different things, Lee, you're straw-manning again. But I would
like to make a point about the second idea. (multicultural).
Note to Lee: ------>>I am not advocating this stance - let me make that
clear. Don't throw insults at me please in response.
*******
That's not the correct definition of the PC stance on multi-culturalism. It's
(gee what a surprise)To add moral relativism to the pot is an
oversimplification of cultural relatavism. Cultural relativism is not even
accurate, because the more accurate title would be
"anti-western-ethnocentricist"
What cultural relativism espouses is not the "equality" of all traditions.
It's proponents seek to point out ( I don't want you to agree, but represent
it accurately- ie as what it really is) that western culture sees itself as
the pinacle of civilization, asking all others to join us, come "up to our
level". And that this is not how all cultures view us. It's called
"ethnocentricity" because it implies that the world revolves around our way
of thinking. Ethnocentric implies insufficient understanding of the
"inferior" people belonging to any given culture. While weseek to bring a
thrid world culture up to the standards of our "superior" one, many ignore
the wishes of the people being converted. This is reminiscent of
missionaries, who believed that anyone non-christian was a barbarian, and
needed "saving". They distroyed the cultures and traditions of anyone who was
not like them.
So, the advocates of multi-culturalism seek to include other (useless to us)
traditions, not to somehow morally equalize them. The part that is hard for
us to get over is that we really DO think our lives are richer, more
educated, simply BETTER!! The problem is, how to let the people involved
make their OWN judgements on what THEY want. That way the 'superior' values
are chosen, not enforced.
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