Multiculturalism.01 – Cultural Insecurity

Be on the lookout for a new series … THE PATRIOT … COMING SOON!

Vishal Manglawadi, born, raised, and educated in India, is a man described as “one of the few truly original minds in the world…disturbing and controversial.” I am in the midst of reading his book titled The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization. You can read more about Dr. Manglawadi, here.

Manglawadi’s The Book that Made Your World … tells the story of his discovery of the power of the Bible, and how the Bible shaped and formed western civilization. Perhaps I will write a full review of the book when I am finished with it, but for now I want to focus on two words that I came across in the book’s early chapters. They grabbed me. And having just completed a thirty-two part series on culture—The Grand Narrative in case you have already forgotten—I elected to stay somewhat connected to that theme by turning my attention to the notion of multiculturalism. Manglawadi’s two words?

“Insecure Cultures.”

Manglawadi writes of how a culture that is unsure of itself breeds timidity. In other words, when the rules are unclear, when cultural mores remain in a continual state of flux, when right and wrong are constantly being debated and redfined, people have difficulty investing themselves and their resources with a long term view in mind.

Manglawadi writes:

“ … people … hoard their meager capital. Families dare not “squander” it on cultural creativity and personal advancement.”

He continues …

“Moribound cultures are fertile fields for fearful, fatalistic worldviews. Only astrologers, fortune-tellers, witch doctors, and sorcerers thrive on such glaciers. … fear warp[s] … folk religion, medicine, witchcraft, child rearing, agriculture, business travels, and personal habits. [People] put their ‘faith’ in fate, not in a living God who planned for them a destiny and enabled them to fulfill it.”

Our American soul has been dealt a near-death blow by the hand of a foolish notion called multiculturalism. It is the idea that many cultures can thrive under the same “multi-colored” umbrella. American proponents of multiculturalism (a.k.a. cultural pluralism) have sought to reshape the American cultural landscape by promoting—and in many cases codifying—the false idea that a nation can serve many gods at once.

For such an idea to succeed, a transcendent God must be removed from the equation. A singular God with singular, unbending ideas about good and evil and right and wrong is clearly a hindrance to the mutliculturalist’s utopian plan. That is why the church in America has begun to feel pressure to conform.

Much of the rest of the West is further down this road than we are . But America was founded largely by Christians and primarily upon Christian ideals (much, much more about this in my upcoming series, THE JEREMIAD). Christianity has historically been the engine that has driven American success and prosperity. Christianity fosters strong families, healthy communities, and a general spirit of liberty, all of which promote prosperity. America’s deep Christian roots are the reason why America has been the last holdout in a general shift in the West away from Christianity and toward multiculturalism.

When a nation and its culture are denuded of Judeo-Christian values, “fearful, fatalistic worldviews” emerge. We lose our vision and we lose our way. The French tried a variation of this in the 1790’s, rising up against the Catholic Church, murdering priests, and outlawing Christianity. Their culture became a bloody mess, stabilized only by a tyrant named Napoleon.

Hints of multiculturalism’s inevitable demise can be found throughout the Western world. European leaders have begun to question whether their lofty vision of cultural equality can be sustained.

“First it was German Chancellor Angela Merkel who said it was a failure. Then British Prime Minister David Cameron said it too. Now French President Nicolas Sarkozy is chiming in. With the leaders of Europe publicly and forcefully abandoning multiculturalism, isn’t it time for America to make the same move?”

By its very nature, multiculturalism is destined to fail. No nation can serve lesser gods than the One True God, the God of the Bible, and long survive. God himself, Creator of all things, and the Originator of the first culture, the culture of Eden, often warned his people of the perils of worshiping other gods. Worshiping many gods is, of course, the putrid seedbed of multiculturalism. Its proponents want to cast off the God who sets the protective boundaries, and embrace whatever fancies them. Such ingredients create a recipe for cultural death.

Multiculturalism produces “insecure cultures.” However, sampling the flavors and the beauty of diverse subcultures within the context a larger, dominant culture can be a wonderful experience. But embracing their gods is deadly. We must learn the difference.

As I continue to prepare my new, short series, THE PATRIOT, I will be publishing a few pieces on the perils of multiculturalism. Most of what is coming will be taken from my old Kingdom>>Church>>Culture blog.

Up next … A quick look at racism.