Wednesday, June 26, 2013
COM 325 / Week One Discussion: A Delicate Balance: Diversity v. Unity
At the beginning of chapter one, our textbook quotes Hillary Clinton's remark about "find[ing] a way to celebrate our diversity and debate our differences without fracturing our communities." It seems that there is a tension between diversity and unity (common good). For example, while France restricts burkas in public and Holland bans Kosher slaughtering, Canada accommodates Jewish divorce rules (Jewish law permits only the husband to grant a divorce) and U.K. incorporates sharia law. Where should we draw the line so we can strike a delicate balance between diversity and unity within a national community? Do you have any experiences in regard to this dilemma?
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We draw the line when the personal and civil liberties and human rights of a person are being violated. In America we cannot allow customs and cultures to be practised that are harmful to any people. For instance, female genital mutilation this barbaric custom "is practiced mainly in 28 countries in western, eastern, and north-eastern Africa, particularly Egypt and Ethiopia, and in parts of Asia and the Middle East. The WHO estimates that 140 million women and girls around the world have experienced it, including 101 million in Africa." (Wikipedia). Also the horrible crippling of countless Chinese womens' feet through binding to achieve lotus feet. Any human rights violations, that hide behind the mask of diversity cannot be tolerated by a civilized society. Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." So there should be no debate about these "differences". Religions that seek to harm others (infidels), there can be no unity found within these beliefs. So yes it is a delicate balance, but balance can be achieved if the parties, cultures, customs follow a basic premise of "do no harm". Why has France chosen to ban Burkas? First, they are only banned in public and the fine for violation is a mere pittance. Diversity issues are, actually, a fiendishly complex knot of social, religious and historical threads all bundled up as one. I do not have any experience with any of these issues, I have always lived in La Grande and the international students I have met are interesting, intriguing and genuine. My husband, however, is a weapons instructor for the Defense Dept. and he works overseas, usually in Amman, Jordan, but he has been many places. I do believe we need unity, but not as a Nation or a culture or a race or a religion. We need unity as human beings.
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