Stop Pretending All Cultures Are the Same

“So I will say it with my heart, and others should too: If a culture persecutes LGBT people, is overtly racist, or makes women second class citizens, then to hell with that culture. My culture is better than that one.”

In left-of-center circles, one often encounters the attitude that other cultures—specifically non-white cultures—must never be criticized. Whatever shortcomings we might see in their cultures must be overlooked in the name of tolerance. In fact, they are not shortcomings at all but merely cultural differences, things to be celebrated and respectfully appreciated from a distance—of course without engaging with them in any meaningful way. That would be cultural appropriation. Culture just sort of exists, and if it is to be criticized at all, it must come from members of that culture, and, even then, their views better fall in line with progressive orthodoxy.

There is a point at which tolerance becomes moral relativism. To defend reflexively perceived minorities at all times leaves some massive blind spots. Yes, many who attack other cultures are often bigots who overlook problems and bloody histories of their own. And sure, enough interactions with these kinds of people will foster certain negative associations. That is basic human psychology. But it is no excuse for unthinkingly reacting to any instance of cross-cultural criticism because, in doing so, one may end up betraying his own values of acceptance, tolerance, and freedom.

Such attitudes are, by no means, confined to the wacky excesses of online discourse. One will hear it in the defensive tone, the indignant put-downs, and the insistence that we did bad things too. To give the devil his due, this is coming from a place of love. The idea that we need to be deferential to other cultures, that we need to keep an open mind and be understanding of the people’s differences are fundamentally good ideas, and pillars of everything that makes liberal society worth living in.