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Thursday, August 11, 2005
"Why Tolerate the Hate?"
From The New York Times comes an op/ed piece about the perils of multiculturalism and finding a balance between tolerance and rejection of violence. Irshad Manji writes:
As Westerners bow down before multiculturalism, we anesthetize ourselves into believing that anything goes. We see our readiness to accommodate as a strength - even a form of cultural superiority (though few will admit that). Radical Muslims, on the other hand, see our inclusive instincts as a form of corruption that makes us soft and rudderless. They believe the weak deserve to be vanquished.
Paradoxically, then, the more we accommodate to placate, the more their contempt for our "weakness" grows. And ultimate paradox may be that in order to defend our diversity, we'll need to be less tolerant. Or, at the very least, more vigilant. And this vigilance demands more than new antiterror laws. It requires asking: What guiding values can most of us live with? Given the panoply of ideologies and faiths out there, what filter will distill almost everybody's right to free expression?
The paradox described by Manji is one that Americans refuse to struggle with. As with many other issues in American politics that have very important social implications, too many people see it as a black or white issue: either we let the terrorists kill us all or we kill all of them first at any cost. Many conservatives advocate closed borders and racial profiling while at the same time reveling in the United States' status as the epitome of cultural and political greatness where all non-Americans should want to come to live. This is a paradox in itself and one that deserves a deeper examination of its own. Other extremes, such as multiculturalism or more specifically, a strict adherence to tolerance, is just as dangerous because it disallows for the condemnation of violence that is religious of culturally based, as terrorism is both. As Manji explains, we need to find a balance between the two that allows for individuality:
Which brings me to my vote for a value that could guide Western societies: individuality. When we celebrate individuality, we let people choose who they are, be they members of a religion, free spirits, or something else entirely. I realize that for many Europeans, "individuality" might sound too much like the American ideal of individualism. It doesn't have to. Individualism - "I'm out for myself" - differs from individuality - "I'm myself, and my society benefits from my uniqueness."
This view does lean toward the tolerance model but it does so with an eye towards self-awareness and enough wiggle room to condemn terrorism and other violence that is born from a clash of cultures. I believe that a "war on terror" cannot be won by conventional weapons alone. Instead, we have to wage a war on ignorance and lack of reason.
Posted by Will at August 11, 2005 03:31 PM in Personal Reflections