Skeptic Project

Typical.

Woah.

Although cultural acceptance has merit, since that it allows for a better human bonding and carries with it the promise of a war less society in future,it has its limitations. Clearly, some cultures are obnoxious to the western mind, because these cultures ARE obnoxious. I find the burqa a symbol of slavery and anti-freedom. If I see a woman in it, I feel slightly upset. What is even more upsetting to me is that immigrants coming from a different country don't accept the traditions and values of the country they immigrated into and display disdain toward them. What is one to do in a situation like this?

I find the burqa a symbol of slavery and anti-freedom. If I see a woman in it, I feel slightly upset. What is even more upsetting to me is that immigrants coming from a different country don't accept the traditions and values of the country they immigrated into and display disdain toward them. What is one to do in a situation like this?

Maybe surrender on the foolish idea that any culture is "pure" or distinct? This whole "cultures as separate and incompatible" thing is really narrow in its historical approach and oversimplifies things. Not only that, it reeks of an elitism that is unwarranted and rather disturbing because it assigns a myopic brand to "progress" and "right." No, some cultures are not better than others. Some cultures engrain normative standards that are then realized because of material existence that is historically bounded and prone to flux. Integration is infinitely more complex than people realize, and the difficulty is not a result of people not wanting to integrate or of wanting to take over- its a function of insecurity and interpretation by the immigrants themselves. Cultures change. Ours will change. Yours will change. They, as Marshal Sahlins so eloquently put it, are of course always in a state of flux.