Multiculturalism

America’s greatest heroes

I hear the strangest things from my American Government students about how horrible the United States is. They learned all of this in their history classes. This used to perplex me, until I disovered the reason why, which is multiculturalism.

Multiculturalism is a kind of fun-house mirror, by which all of the faults of western civilization and, in particular, the United States are exaggerated or, if need be, invented. All of its good points are minimuzed, ignored, or (if possible) seen as faults. At the same time, the faults of all other cultures and civilizations are ignored and their good points are exaggerated.

The result is a kind of leveling or, to be more precise, a lowering of western civilization and the United States in particular below the level of all other cultures and civilizations. If one assumes that the truth of the matter is that western civilization is, in fact, the highest achievement of human history and the United States its greatest success story (at least for the present), then what multiculturalism offers is an inversion of reality.

This approach to education explains the present emphasis on the evils of slavery in the US, the way in which the colonists treated American Indians, the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, the Vietnam War, etc. It also explains the sermons of Jeremiah Wright, in which the US government is the villain that invents AIDs, introduces drugs into the African-American community, and is responsible for the 9/11 attacks. (In the last case, notice how Americans are the bad guys and the terrorists who committed the attacks are simply ignored--or seen as bringing upon us our just deserts). It may also explain why some people oppose every tactic the US has used to defend itself since 9/11 (including the Iraq war) and ignore or minimize the evil of the terrorists who are still trying to destroy us.

There are, in my opinion, two purposes behind the project of multiculturalism. First, it is an attempt to destory Christianity (and if one were to speak spiritually, one might describe it as a rebellion against Christ), because western civilization and especially its American expression is essentially Christian civilization. Second, it is a kind of Marxist effort to raise up those who are not successful by tearing down those who are. In the latter case, it is at bottom just an expression of envy.

The danger of multiculturalism is that its goal is to destroy the greatest achievement of western civilization and the US, which is liberty. It is this liberty that has made it possible for so many people to pursue happiness in peace, without being harmed by others (either by government or by other citizens). To destroy it would be to leave us in the misery and vulnerability that mankind has experienced in most places and times throughout human history.

In order to prevent the destruction of liberty, we need to speak the truth about history and current events and (as Christians) live lives that bring honor to Christ and pray that God will help others to see the truth.