Here’s an interesting article in the Monitor on a general rethinking in the US about multi-cultural relativism — questioning whether we have simply accept as equally valid all ethical and cultural positions, or whether there are times when it’s okay to judge and criticize others.
It’s a tricky thing. On the one hand, being judgmental and moralizing can blind one to the good things in other cultures, can lead to xenophobia, or at least a jingoistic, knee-jerk “We’re No. 1” sort of attitude. To treat only with cultural stereotypes, not individuals, is a vast over-simplification of reality as well.
On the other hand, to pretend that cultural differences make no difference at all seems contradictory. To pretend that cultural differences don’t exist seems absurd. And to argue that we simply have to let every culture express its own values, without having a judgment as to those values, seems impossible in the modern world, where such cultural values can ultimately clash in a violent, destructive fashion.
No, alas, we’re going to have to find the hardest place of all — the middle ground. Darned inconvenient, reality.