Pride and Prejudice

I would like to explore with you the changes we are going through in this country which could change the very foundation of this culture. When I gave a seminar about the Awareness Course and the importance of the relationship between religion and culture for a group of military officers, one of them asked me the following question: why should I be proud of my culture? I was delighted to hear this question because I simply believe, in this country, that people are more concerned with apologising for their culture than either understanding or being proud of it. It is sad to see so many people here who cannot find enough reasons to celebrate their culture and who don’t find it important to be proud of it. My answer to this officer was surprising to him because it was based on the fact that we are all the products of the fruits of our cultures. He did not see that his culture formed who he is. When we say culture we mean history, language, climate, customs, religion and many other aspects. If the history of my country plays a role in forming my personality, how could I be ashamed of it? I could be critical of it and this is very healthy but after all I should embrace it and learn from it but not be imprisoned by it. The problem today especially with young people is that they are prejudiced against and ignorant of their own culture. Eradicating our prejudice against our own culture is vital step on the way to combating prejudices against other cultures.

Many people in this country go too far in apologising for who they are and what they do as a result of trying ‘not to offend others’ in the name of politeness. As much as I respect this attempt to make other cultures feel welcome and accepted, I believe this is political correctness is going too far. It is like eating ten bars of chocolate at the same time. Isn’t it time for the people in this country to stand up for their culture, tradition, history and religion?

Extreme secularism is the foundation of this pressure on people to be ashamed of their culture in order to identify themselves with the prevailing culture of consumerism which could be easily the dominant colour for everybody and in this way we avoid offending anyone and we all become slaves to the market.

We still need a lot of awareness to get to a stage where we feel secure in who we are without compromising our religion or any aspect of our culture.