ENDEAVOUR FORUM NEWSLETTER No. 116, OCTOBER 2004

 

 

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FRACTURE LINES


The theory of "multiculturalism" as practised by left-wing social engineering governments in western democracies is flawed and is more likely to produce fracture lines in otherwise cohesive communities than the nirvana of happy "ethnics" celebrating cultural festivals with music, song and dance. The promotion of multiculturalism has become a significant issue in Victoria because the state government has produced a Discussion Paper with a view to implementing  a Multicultural Victoria Act. 

"Multiculturalism" assumes that all cultures are equally valid and glosses over some of the unpleasant features of cultures that are not Judaeo-Christian in ethos. The most pernicious underlying ideology of the objectionable practices of non-Christian cultures is one which denies the equality of women.  As an Indian by birth, I love Indian food and the colourful  dress fashions of the land of my birth, and most of all the happy, smiling, hospitable nature of most Indians.  But I am less than enthusiastic about the caste system and  about the horrific practice of suttee - the burning of widows on their husbands' funeral pyres - which was  a feature of Hinduism in past centuries. It took the British colonial administration to stop that.  Even now, there are too many "burnings of brides" - unfortunate women who have not brought sufficient dowries to the marriage. To do it justice, the secular and democratic Indian government has banned such practices but vestiges of the caste system still prevail in some villages... 

The Victorian Multicultural Discussion Paper cites with approval the various Multicultural Acts in Canada, federal and provincial. So I made some inquiries and a Canadian colleague responds:  "Multiculturalism policy and law in Canada is liberal claptrap....  The government takes isolated incidents of racial discrimination and responds with a range of meaningless spending programmes that, if anything, imbed any racism that might be out there, because they appear to advance the interests of some on the basis of their colour.... The Multiculturalism law achieves nothing save drawing attention to more make-work efforts”. 

I recall that the Inuit (Canadian Eskimos) had the practice of floating grandma out to perish on an ice floe, once she had passed her use-by date. And Australian Aborigines use "spearing in the leg" as a form of punishment for serious crimes. Do we celebrate all this under the banner of "multiculturalism"? 

The Irish Independent (17June 04) reported that  Ireland's immigrants were told that only one wife was allowed. Muslims who want to immigrate to Ireland are being asked to swear they will not take more than one wife if they are granted citizenship.  However, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties has denounced this rule as "racist" and "despicable." (Irish Independent, 17 June 04). No doubt that's a preview of what we can look forward to from civil libertarians in Victoria if a Multiculturalism Act is passed.

 

 

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