At a recent conference in London on anti-Semitism,
organized by the Journal for the Study of Anti-Semitism, some attendees
were disturbed by Manfred Gerstenfeld’s remarks on the hierarchy of
cultures. He stated that contemporary Muslim culture is inferior to
Western democratic culture by the standards of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights. Some attendees walked out of the lecture.
At its end Dr. Gerstenfeld received
enthusiastic applause and tens of people came over to compliment him.
Several remarked that the time had come that these things were said
clearly in the U.K. Some expressed regret that it took a foreigner to
say it. Later in the day Dr. Gerstenfeld received the Lifetime
Achievement Award of the Journal. I have asked him to elaborate on why
it is important that there is a hierarchization of cultures. Here is his
answer:
The
claim that there is no hierarchy of cultures is absurd. If all cultures
at a given time in history are equal, then Nazi culture in the
mid-twentieth century was equal to the democratic culture of the allied
countries. The consequences of accepting this point are for instance the
indirect support of genocide. Murdering six million Jews in the
Holocaust fit German culture at the time. And if Nazi culture was
equivalent to that of the Western democratic countries, then there was
nothing reprehensible about the genocide they committed.
The idea that Nazi culture was
equivalent to democratic culture at the time would also be further
encouragement for the current Iranian leadership. Why would their
culture, which promotes the genocide of Jews in Israel, be inferior to
that of Western democracies, or Israel? Why would Palestinian culture in
Gaza or even in general be inferior to Western democratic culture?
Hamas reflects Palestinian culture. It received more than half of all
Palestinian votes in the last elections. Hamas claims in its charter
that all Jews should be annihilated. For those who think that there is
no hierarchy of cultures, this concept should be quite acceptable in
that environment. One should thus pull the masks off those who claim
that all cultures are equal and expose them as aiding and abetting
genocide advocates.
Another consequence of the claim that
all cultures are equal is that there is no need in the world of Islam to
examine the atrocities of the Holocaust. This is something which
Western democratic countries should do. Holocaust deniers should
concentrate their lying acts in Western democracies which abhor this
genocide. But why should there be Holocaust deniers in the Muslim world.
As the logical consequence of the promotion of “all cultures are equal”
is that one can claim in the Muslim world that there is nothing
inherently wrong with the Holocaust why then deny that it took place?
One might add that during the Second
World War, the culture of occupied Europe, dominated by the Germans and
their many collaborators, was inferior to the culture of the Muslim
world at that time. Atrocities and discrimination there were far less
than those in the then dominant culture of Europe.
In London, I said that some cultures are
inferior to others. I quoted former Dutch Liberal party leader, Defense
Minister and EU Commissioner Frits Bolkestein, who had said this about
civilizations. In an interview I conducted with him, he said – and this
can be found on the internet – that, “Judged by the standards of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the dominant civilization of
Europe at present is superior to Islamic civilization. All civilization
is based on making judgments. I believe that the civilization of Rome
was superior to that of Gaul. I also consider Unionist America superior
to the slaveholder Confederacy, and democratic postwar West Germany
superior to communist East Germany.”1
Bolkestein added: “Why do so many
Muslims who live in the Middle East want to settle in the West? Mainly
because they think they will be happier here than where they are now.
One might interpret what they say as ‘Yankee go home, but please take me
with you.’ The blindness of the multi-culturalist ideologists does not
enable them to see this.” Bolkestein had already made similar statements
in the early 1990’s.
Why does the issue of hierarchy of
cultures have to be addressed? One among several answers is that it is
an essential element in understanding the huge problems which segments
of the Muslim world cause humanity at large. At the London conference, I
dealt with some of these and the pressing need to analyze the
disproportionately large anti-Semitism among Muslim populations in
Europe.
The more the topic of the
hierarchization of culture is discussed, the more difficult it will
become for those who don’t want to be judgmental – which in itself is a
sign of decadence – to deny the inferiority of contemporary Mulsim
culture compared to Western democratic culture. At the same time
however, one must stress that living or belonging to an inferior culture
does not make people inferior. That is in line with the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights which says: “All human beings are born free
and equal in dignity and rights.
Posted Comments:
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How can ANY culture be considered superior or inferior to another? It is a completely subjective argument.
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Its not a subjective argument at all. The facts speak for themselves, sir!!!
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