The Myth of Relativism and the Cult of Tolerance
The multiculturalist claims that we should not judge others because moral values are culturally relative; i.e., what is right in one society may be wrong in another.
The concept of right and wrong is, itself, parochial. The enlightened multiculturalist understands that his culture’s values are just as arbitrary as his neighbor’s. If pressed for an explanation for why he follows his culture’s mores, he will tell you he chooses to obey them as an obeisance to his tradition -- that and nothing else.
Notice how condescending this person’s attitude is -- not just to his own culture -- to every culture. Every intelligent and committed Christian, Hindu, Moslem, or Jew (Buddhist’s are a slightly different story) that follows the moral teaching of her religion, not only believes that her values are objectively valid, she can offer arguments, with varying degrees of cogency, for their validity. (Notice also that many of these values and arguments are the same from religion to religion. This fact should tell us something.)
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Of the major religions, Christianity is the most susceptible to this rendition of the siren song of tolerance because it prides itself on not judging others.
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The cult of tolerance is Christianity without the guilt, without the work; it is Christianity without the faith, the hope, and the love. The cult of tolerance is selfishness disguised as Christianity.
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Unlike traditional moral relativism where the strongman rules because “might makes right,” politically correct moral relativism claims to be democratic. In truth, it is far from it. Tolerance, in its politically correct guise, is the imposition of a standardless standard upon the masses.
It's a pretty difficult one to deal with because there's no discussion to be had. The whole idea of multiculturalism and tolerance is that it's all equal and so there's nothing worth talking about... which is I suppose why people increasingly focus on their own worlds and not much outside them.
Tolerance is selfish for another reason, too: you don't have to get angry as much at the things you see around you. You trade social responsibility for lower blood pressure. Conveniently, this has become a part of those profitable, shape-shifting spiritual movements (i.e. "The Secret" and the long-standing industry behind it) that change their message as needs fit in order to pick up refugees from institutions that try to say there's a meaning to life, such as Christianity.
Posted by: mattbg at March 16, 2009 2:14 PM