Cultural Relativism: A Good or Bad Thing?

I hope that everyone is having an amazing Merry Christmas and very Happy New Year. Can you believe that I have to write a blog entry during my school break? I mean it is LUDICROUS!!!!!! Well, I would like to talk to my audience today about an interesting topic I have recently read about. It is called Cultural Relativism. Cultural Relativism is the principle that an individual human's beliefs and activities should be understood in terms of that individual's own culture. Cultural relativism is the view that no culture is superior to any other culture when comparing systems of morality, law, politics, etc. It's the philosophical notion that all cultural beliefs are equally valid and that truth itself is relative, depending on the cultural environment. The article that we have read also describes the arguments and opposite viewpoint.

In class, one book that we have read connects perfectly with this topic and article.. The book Things Fall Apart. In things fall apart, the author, Chinua Achebe, describes the Igbo tribe in great detail. He does this so the readers understand the culture of the tribe and will be able to understand this topic in the story. When the white settlers come and push there religion and culture on them, some of the Igbo tribe, like Okonkwo, reacts violently to them and others do not really care. Each culture has their own viewpoints of what is right and wrong and that is why they clash. The first Reverend of the white settler's church had the idea of Cultural Relativism. The Reverend wanted everyone to get along, have everyone understand each other's culture, and have them believe that no culture was greater than any other culture. The novel focuses on the chaos that Cultural Relativism affects on the people when it is put into affect; nothing can progress or be accomplish.

A modern aspect that this can connect to is extremist in Islam. These Muslims believe that their religion is the one and only way to be. They believe America to be the Great Satan because of our Democracy and beliefs. In America, if we do not agree with something, we do not go around killing each other these things. With Radical Islamic people, if they disagree with others, they go around bombing everything to make it right. They are not capable of Cultural Relativism because they obviously do not want to understand the other cultures and will only believe that they are always right.

I believe that Cultural Relativism should not be put into play. Not to sound racist, but I do not like believing that all cultures are the same. I believe that you should uphold your culture, take pride in every aspect of it, and believing that it is the best culture in the world and not just some other mediocre culture. Also when you apply Cultural Relativism in your world, nothing will be accomplished or progressed. If you look at history, the way that cultures progress is by becoming better than the one before. For example, the way our military advanced was during the Cold War, where the U.S.A bettered their weapons on the Soviet Union weapons. This is why Cultural Relativism should never be put into affect because it hinders advancement among cultures.

Until next time, remember to buckle up; its the law!

Thank you,

Ryan Sperratore