Is Any 'One Culture Superior to Others'?

Article author: 
Raymond Ibrahim
Article publisher: 
American thinker
Article date: 
11 May 2023
Article category: 
Our American Future
Medium
Article Body: 

... claiming all cultures are equal — is a dangerous position, not least as it leads to relativism and the abnegation of Truth. 

For most Western people today, the word culture conjures at best superficial differences — "exotic" dress or food. In reality, however, cultures are nothing less than entire and distinct worldviews with their own unique sets of right and wrongs, often rooted in a religion or philosophy...

The fact is, all values traditionally prized by the modern West — religious freedom, tolerance, humanism, monogamy — did not develop in a vacuum, but rather are inextricably rooted to Christian principles...

...  secular Western people arrogantly see themselves as the culmination of all human history — "enlightened" thinkers who have left all cultural and religious baggage behind with concern only for the material...

The folly of such thinking is especially on display in the context of Islam and Muslims, who in this new paradigm are seen as embryonic Westerners...

In reality, the Muslim has his own unique and ancient worldview and set of principles — his own culture — which in turn prompt behavior that is deemed "radical" by Western standards (which are falsely assumed to be "universal" standards)...

The idea that Muslims can be true to their religion and yet naturally fit into Western society is false and built on an equally false premise: that Christianity somehow also had to moderate itself to fit into a secular society. In fact, Christian principles, which are so alien to Islam, were fundamental to the creation of the West...