The Curse of Cultural Awareness

[Colin Parkinson]

Who would have thunk, woman protesting about a town banning the mistreatment of woman......... :

 

[Cliff]

Gentlemen,

So you are saying that we just DUMP multiculturalism and GO away all the way with intolerance and just dump the our own Charter of Rights and Freedoms?  Or the Bill of Rights as in the US case?

I think there's more intolerance among different groups today than there was 35 years ago. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think we had more freedom. Today, there is simply too much micro-management on all fronts, and from what I recall our military had a strong Christian foundation = which I thought was good. Oh well, cest la vie

 

[CougarKing]

  from what I recall our military had a strong Christian foundation = which I thought was good. Oh well, cest la vie

Well what do you mean by that? You saying a govt. arm like the military should be party to any single religion? 

Shouldn't having uniformed military chaplains to serve the servicemen who are members of each respective religion be enough? I'll defer to Trinity or anyone else who's better qualified to say this.

 

[zipperhead_cop]

I think that comment was inferring that Christianity as a whole is more apt to allow other religions/groups to feel free to do what they want.  As opposed to some of the groups who go after Christianity and try to tear down our traditions ie) anti Christmas

 

[CougarKing]

I think that comment was inferring that Christianity as a whole is more apt to allow other religions/groups to feel free to do what they want.  As opposed to some of the groups who go after Christianity and try to tear down our traditions ie) anti Christmas

ZC,

Well not all Christianity as a whole has always been like that, since we're all aware of all the religious wars that gripped Europe during the 1500s and the 1600s (those following the Reformation in Germany, the massacre of the Huguenots in France, and so forth).

Then you have the Spanish conquistador's conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Inca Empire and the Philippines, where they pillaged the first two and burned the local idols of the local Filipino pagan tribes; then you have their constant war against the Muslims in the Southern Philippines which has continued through the American occupation and has lasted till this day when Filipino Catholics still fight against Muslim extremists such as the Abu Sayyaf Group, though they are certainly a lot more tolerant of Muslims who live peacefully in the South. Thus, in all 3 cases, the Spaniards used Catholicism as one justification for pacifying and subjugating the local peoples they conquered.

By Christianity, I do not differentiate between Catholicism, the various Protestant denominations as well as the various Eastern Orthodox Churches of Eastern European countries. I am aware that Canada has both a strong Anglican tradition stemming from the British influence as well as a strong Catholic foundation from the Jesuit missionaries from France that settled Quebec and Acadia and helped educate some of the First Nations tribes they encountered.

Buddhism is also just as tolerant, though it depends on the context. Chan Buddhism in China was generally tolerant of other thought such as Daoism. From my view, when it was brought to Japan, where it became Zen Buddhism and was worshipped alongside Shintoism, it was not as tolerant, as evidenced from Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa's persecution of Japanese Catholics in Nagasaki who had been converted by Portuguese missionaries; many continued to practice their faith in secret in Japan for the next centuries, until the late 1800s when the first the Catholic missionaries to be allowed in Japan beyond the trading port of Daeshima found Japanese Catholics in secret caverns praying the same Latin prayers their forefathers had been taught in the 1600s!

In fact some Buddhists- forgot which sect- are even encouraged to attend  masses of or become members of certain Christian denominations but still retain their Buddhist teachings. I am unsure of this applies to Mahayana  (more secular )or Hinayana  (the more extreme, ascetic sects) sects of Buddhism.

My point is that Christianity does not have the monopoly of being tolerant towards other religions.

 

[geo]

The christians are in the year 2000
the muslims are in year +/- 1600  (= to the Inquisition era)

Give em another 400 years and they should be good to go.

 

[CougarKing]

The christians are in the year 2000
the muslims are in year +/- 1600  (= to the Inquisition era)

Give em another 400 years and they should be good to go.

Well the Sunni Muslims in Malaysia (which has close to a 1st-world standard of living) are pretty tolerant of the other cultures in Malaysia such as the Chinese minority population; the same goes for those in multi-cultural Singapore (a very prosperous, urban city-state). Not all Muslims are as ignorant as the Taliban or Al-Qaeda.

 

[George Wallace]

CougarKing

I would tread softly when you begin to explore that part of the world.  There are several radical Islamic Terrorist groups in that part of the world, all with ties to Al-Qaeda.

 

[CougarKing]

Well I am well aware that there are several Islamic radical groups in Southeast Asia such as:

Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah

Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front

Malaysia-based KMM

Thailand-based Pattani Liberation Organization (in the majority Muslim provinces of Thailand, such as Pattani and Narithiwat).

This is what I recall from reading CNN correspondent Maria Ressa's book "Seeds of Terror" as well as my own research in this internship I did in Washington DC for my alma mater.

 

[geo]

Well the Sunni Muslims in Malaysia (which has close to a 1st-world standard of living) are pretty tolerant of the other cultures in Malaysia such as the Chinese minority population; the same goes for those in multi-cultural Singapore (a very prosperous, urban city-state). Not all Muslims are as ignorant as the Taliban or Al-Qaeda.

From my perspective, when left on their own, pert much all indigenous groups will be fairly peaceful BUT, throw in something different that challenges the basis of their society and..... presto, voila, you have a new beast... IMHO

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Well the Sunni Muslims in Malaysia (which has close to a 1st-world standard of living) are pretty tolerant of the other cultures in Malaysia such as the Chinese minority population; the same goes for those in multi-cultural Singapore (a very prosperous, urban city-state). Not all Muslims are as ignorant as the Taliban or Al-Qaeda.

The influence the radicals have had on the otherwise laid back Malay's is rather frightening considering the short time it has taken to force them into complying with the Saudi vision of Islam, my wife's family is a mix of devout and not so devout Muslims, the less devout complain privately about the increasing restrictions and the religious police. The government is aware of the problem but being cautious, they play a delicate juggling act between the different ethnic groups. There are also some interesting court cases coming up testing the government's secular policies and the existing Sharia laws.

the good news is that the Malays would quickly relax once the radicals leave as they are pretty friendly and open by nature.

 

[zipperhead_cop]

The influence the radicals have had on the otherwise laid back Malay's is rather frightening considering the short time it has taken to force them into complying with the Saudi vision of Islam, my wife's family is a mix of devout and not so devout Muslims, the less devout complain privately about the increasing restrictions and the religious police. The government is aware of the problem but being cautious, they play a delicate juggling act between the different ethnic groups. There are also some interesting court cases coming up testing the government's secular policies and the existing Sharia laws.

the good news is that the Malays would quickly relax once the radicals leave as they are pretty friendly and open by nature.

See, IMO that is a big part of the problem.  Why don't more moderates speak up?  Why do so many people cater to the lowest common denominator?

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Because they have been taught to defer to authority since they were young, also they could also be charged with “insulting Islam” or “creating religious tension” also Malay Muslims are subject to Sharia Law as determined by the Islamic courts (there is a court case there presently testing this). On a social level, people critical of the current flavour of Islam, are shunned, harassed, business boycotted, vandalized, threats intimidation,etc,etc. coupled with a semi-corrupt police and Judiciary, people tread carefully. As far as conflicts between Malaysians rights under their secular constitution and Shaira law, the government has always found technicalities not to hear the cases or rules on technical details so as to avoid dealing with the clearly oblivious breaches of the citizen rights by Sharia law.

The fundamentalist rule/ruled in 2 states and despite promising not to impose Sharia law on no-Muslims, the first thing they did was just that. This caused a furor in the opposition alliance and there is no a deep divide between those parties in opposition that represent the Chinese & Indian populations as opposed to those that represent the Muslim Malays. (PAS)

A list of the players
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Malaysia

 

[zipperhead_cop]

Fair enough.  That explains Malaysia.  But what is everyones problem with stepping up that is within Western culture?  Nobody in Castle North America has any excuse for not speaking their mind, unless they really don't mind.