http://www.thecommentator.com/article/1303/why_the_shafilea_ahmed_trial_should_be_the_final_nail_in_the_coffin_of_multiculturalism
“To paraphrase Roger Scruton – it must be known that no matter what culture one hails from, individuals must accept rules, customs and procedures that may be alien to their old way of life. This is not an injustice. As immigrants come into the country in order to gain, it is therefore reasonable to remind them that there is also a cost – and that cost is one’s cultural norms that are reprehensible in Western civilization.In this country we have a great tradition and history of enlightened values of pluralism from the great Greek and Christian philosophers, such as Hobbes, Locke and Mill, who were able to say with authority and conviction which culture, society and method of existence was best. It is high time that we openly believe in such values too – and put the final nail in multiculturalism’s coffin.”
‘A person should be free to do as he likes in his own concerns; but he ought not to be free to do as he likes in acting for another, under the pretext that the affairs of the others are his own affairs’
– John Stuart Mill On Liberty
‘Some cultures are admirable, others are vile’.
– Brian Barry Culture and Equality
Multiculturalism is often mistaken for Jeremy Waldron’s theory of cultural cosmopolitanism – the insouciance notion that one can associate oneself with many different cultures. For example, an individual may study Ancient Greek, eat Chinese cuisine, wear Italian designer clothes, listen to Mozart played by Australian aborigines, read French surrealist poetry, and so on.
However, multiculturalism is a political philosophy that allows for the creation of multiple identities, and challenges the totems of a nation-state’s existing culture.
Thus, those who advocate multiculturalism are advocating the resistance of homogenization and assimilation of Western enlightened values and norms – such as the rule of law, parliamentary democracy, freedoms of expression and conscience, modernity, equality and secularization – values that often have little resonance within the Muslim world.
Instead, multiculturalists endorse what has been described by the Canadian philosopher, Charles Taylor, as the ‘politics of recognition’ – the notion that public policy should be based on the concept of one’s identity and difference, rather than equal citizenship.
This means everyone is recognised by the law for their individual unique identity. As multiculturalism respects how one individual understands themselves and the world around them – their culture can thus essentially excuse any action, and it is us who must relinquish the space in which their cultures can flourish.
Such cultural actions can include ‘forced marriages’, ‘honour attacks’, or even in some extreme cases, ‘honour killing’. Indeed, ‘honour killings’ are so commonplace that it is estimated worldwide over 20,000 women are slaughtered each year.
In 2010 alone, 2,823 ‘honour attacks’ had been reported in the UK. Although, the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (IKWRO) estimated there were most likely another 500 honour attacks that were not covered in the survey.
The attacks are typically carried out in the West when family members adopt the cultural norms of Western society – such as dressing in Western attire, dating someone of a different culture, sex before marriage, and quite often the refusal of an arranged marriage.
This has resulted in ‘honour attacks’ that range from kidnapping, mutilation, beatings, acid attacks, and in some extreme cases, murder. Unsurprisingly, such crimes typically happen in concentrated, built up immigrant areas in the UK – mainly of Middle Eastern, and South Asian ancestry.
