Is it racist to make judgements about another culture? | Nigel Biggar

[krisvienna]

No it’s not racism it’s cultural and there’s nothing wrong with preferring your own culture. Please stop labeling everything as racist and/or phobic

[Grenadier]

I can identify as and be proud of my white, Northern (edit: and Western) European heritage without disparaging other races and ethnicities.

[eradius]

not all cultures are born equal, treating them so will have disastrous consequences. consequences we have seen building in the west

[shivasadaa]

racism is the wrong word, something more aligned would be ethnocentrism

[fredriksjoman]

It's really quite simple. There is truth, even in morals, and cultures have some configuration and can vary. Hence, some cultures are inferior to others in some respects

[k.d.]

In fact, I have always looked at it the other way around, especially when considering other cultures and ethnicities; that they are like colours in a paintbox, and how when we mix, and blend, these colours, we can create something beautiful and expressive of the human experience. My travels around the world have only enhanced this perspective. Unfortunately, and because I am not naïve, my travels have also shown me how racism, and prejudices, exist in all cultures; they all seem to need someone to look down on. Heartbreaking, but I still feel fortunate that I have chosen to see so much incredible beauty in the world. Often, I find that it’s the politics of nations that make their people look so much less than they really are.

[andylifer]

There are absolutes when making judgments about cultures. A house is better than a tent. Cooked food is better than raw meat and indoor plumbing is very much better than pooping outdoors. Some cultures are better than others.

[PondersomeIndeed]

Spot on. He expressed this so well. It is such a reasonable thing.

[brndxt]

This behavior isn't just applied to differentiate between different communal groups, whether by race or culture. It is also applied to differentiate between members of the same race or culture.

[calebklingerman]

“A man is perfectly entitled to laugh at a thing because he happens to find it incomprehensible. What he has no right to do is to laugh at it as incomprehensible, and then criticise it as if he comprehended it… …In this, as in so many things, there is no harm in our criticising foreigners, if only we would also criticise ourselves.”
-G.K. Chesterton

[kentl]

The Japanese are protective of their culture in a way that would be deemed racist by some if they were European, but nobody says much when the Japanese do it...
Female circumcision is in certain cultures and it is vile. There are times when judging others is completely fine.

[jamesheilman]

If you believe all cultures are equal, well by all means, the next time you or a loved one gets seriously ill, I urge you to live up to your beliefs and seek a cure from a culture outside the Western tradition.

[BrockLanders]

I think it’s perfectly fine to criticize. I think what’s insane is hoping and expecting a culture to raise their standards just from being in contact and close proximity to a more humane and civilized culture. That’s like putting a bunch of piranhas in a fish tank full of goldfish and expecting them to magically act like goldfish.

[herbertvonsauerkrautunterh]

We are all just human. We all do it and will continue to.

[Mis-AdventureCH]

So this juxtaposed against the experience of anti-slavery crusader Frederick Douglas who came to the UK in the 1850s to take a break from the terrible racism in the US. He recorded that people were so nice, so open to what he had to say, that he felt as if he'd been transported to another planet.

[robsin]

We are all Gods children. Peace be unto all. Be a Peacemaker, live together in harmony is my prayer🙏👍🇦🇺

[drewrussell]

I feel that differences and variety are beautiful things that should be cherished and encouraged. The issue isn’t difference. It’s how we view that difference. We can view it with a tribal, primitive and aggressive lens that reinforces separateness and conflict or we can view it as the beautiful thing that it is and integrate all of that variety into our existence and societies ❤️
Love truth and peace ✌🏻

[Siggy_Hyluh]

Some peoples have an average IQ of 65 and some of 105.
No civilised society has ever been self governing if their population has an average of below 90....think on that!

[Paul-kidg]

Dad used to call it shoveling sh*t against the tide. I looked out my window and thought it's all roads filled with patch.

[dion]

There are morally, technologically, and culturally inferior. You question this and say, give an example. Example, canabalistic societies.