Thursday, September 12, 2013

Culturism Does NOT endorse Cultural Relativism


Culturism: The philosophy and science that acknowledges, promotes, and defends traditional majority cultures.  

Some people hesitate to use and spread the words ‘culturist’ and ‘culturism,’ because they think it implies cultural relativism.  “If culturism is the philosophy that protects, promotes and defends traditional majority cultures,” they ask, “do western culturists need to celebrate Pakistani culture in Pakistan?”  The answer is an emphatic “NO!”  This article will explain why. 

As a science, culturism is normative.  That is, it describes reality without adding a value judgment. Scientific culturism does not argue that it is either good or evil that traditional majority cultures protect, promote, and defend their traditional majority cultures.  It is just a factual observation: All nations are, and all tribes have always been, culturist. 

Pakistan practices culturism.  We say this without celebrating it or denigrating it.  Think of physics.  England’s Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity.  Objects with mass attract objects with mass.  To note this is not to celebrate gravity.  To note that Pakistan is culturist is not to celebrate it.  The observation simply confirms that fact that all non-western nations are (as we used to be) culturist.

What does follow from this scientific culturist observation, however, is that it is unnatural for the West to be the only place in the history of the world where culturism is not practiced.  

And, in truth, the question we should ask is not, “will Pakistan be culturist if we accept culturism as a political norm?”  It is a scientific culturist fact that Pakistan will be culturist regardless of whatever we say (same for China, Mexico, etc).  The only meaningful question is “Will the West go back to being culturist or stay multiculturalist?”

“But morally,” our skeptic might continue, “doesn’t acknowledging culturism as norm mean that Pakistan’s culturist policies are normative?  Are correct? Within Pakistan’s borders?”


Again, our main question should not be, "Will Pakistan continue to be culturist if the West is culturist?" They will be culturist regardless of what we think. We need to worry about the West being culturist. That is the real question. But let's take the question at face value, despite its irrelevance.
Here I must answer, not from the point of view of scientific culturism, as an objective scientific observer, I must answer as an interested western culturist – as a person of the West. The question of western culturists approving of Islamic culture in Pakistan underestimates just how deeply culture penetrates our souls. As a westerner, I cannot help but be disgusted by Islam's theocratic, anti-gay, anti-women culture. It disgusts me to my bones. From a western culturist policy perspective, I want and will continue to promote western values worldwide. Islam horrifies me.  
From a scientific culturist position, I must accept that Islamic nations will continue to attempt to promote and expand their culture into our lands. It is a scientific culturist truth that all nations try to expand their power. But, as scientific culturists we also note that cultural diversity is real. Culturists are not surprised that the attempt to militarily turn Afghanistan and Iraq into secular progressive states have not succeeded.
"Ultimately, though, does culturism just see values as a matter of 'he said, she said?' Can it never tell us which side is right?'" From a scientific culturist point of view, the answer is "No, scientific culturism cannot tell us which side is right or will win." Scientific culturism just objectively notes there is an inter-cultural fight between Islam, the West, and China. It notes techniques all sides use. It does not say who will win. In fact, scientific culturism would predict that if the West does not quickly replace multiculturalism with culturism, it will lose.
But, as a western culturist, as a western person, I am not at all objective. I pray and work to see that western culturism wins. Unfortunately, despite our scientific analysis, for us real, living-breathing, individual humans there is no neutral cultural ground. I am western (not a 'citizen of the world'), and would rather die than submit to or live under Islam's horrible, sexist, anti-gay, anti-western, theocratic, dogmatic, nightmare of a system.

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