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Old 07-16-2005, 03:05 AM
Cyrus Cyrus is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Tundra
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Default Multi-tabling it

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Only one faith on earth may be more messianic than Islam: multiculturalism. Without it — without its fanatics who believe all civilizations are the same — the engine that projects Islam into the unprotected heart of Western civilization would stall and fail. It's as simple as that.

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The text, cited above, is coming from a Washington Times writer, which should be warning enough. Nonetheless, the points expressed in the text can be summarily dismissed.

The claim "All cultures are the same" must always be qualified. What is it supposed to mean ?

If it means that every culture has value, in the moral values it is based on and imparts, the claim is correct. If it means that those values are the same in every culture and that, therefore, all moral values are the same, then it is wrong. (People who support leaving alone or condoning barbaric practices, eg clit-cutting, on the grounds that we must respect the customs of others are simply being idiots.)

But multiculturalism stands, generally, for something more easy to understand : Tolerance for the Other, for the Different-than-us, for the Stranger. Accepting as equal in worthiness of respect any custom followed by aliens that's otherwise harmless, eg wearing a turban in Lahore, beads-for-tits in New Orleans, etc.

I'm all for combatting moral relativism, a deviant form of political correctness, yes. But those who are quick to badmouth multiculturalism are usually the folks who are the most prone to intolerance. It's a very reliable call.
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