Multiculturalism and Its Discontents

Susan Jacoby:

I am an atheist with an affinity for non-fundamentalist religious believers whose faith has made room for secular knowledge. I am also a political liberal. I am not, however, a multiculturalist who believes that all cultures and religions are equally worthy of respect. And I find myself in a lonely place in relation to many liberals, political and religious, because I cannot accept a multiculturalism that tends to excuse, under the rubric of "tolerance," religious and cultural practices that violate universal human rights.
The latest example of the Left's blind spot on this issue is the antagonism of so many liberal reviewers toward Ayaan Hirsi Ali's recent memoir, Nomad. The Somali-born Hirsi Ali immigrated to the United States in 2006 after her close friend, the Dutch film director Theo Van Gogh, was murdered by a radical Islamist. Hirsi Ali still needs bodyguards because of frequent death threats.

Posted by jimz at August 28, 2010 7:06 AM
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