Acceptance of diversity a catalyst for peace, understanding

[Guest guest]

>Bal Ram Singh <bsingh (AT) umassd (DOT) edu>

>bsingh (AT) UMassD (DOT) Edu

>CC: bsingh (AT) UMassD (DOT) Edu, mjennings <mjennings (AT) UMassD (DOT) Edu>

>Acceptance of diversity a catalyst for peace, understanding

>Fri, 10 Dec 2004 20:45:08 -0500

>

>Dear Friends and Colleagues,

>

>My latest views on peace and understanding. Hope you find it

>interesting.

>

>Bal Ram

>

>India New England - Opinion

>Issue: 10/15/04

>http://www.indianewengland.com/news/750635.html?mkey=1060861

>

>Acceptance of diversity a catalyst for peace, understanding

>By Bal Ram Singh

>

>Reaction to my previous opinion piece on why it is wrong to describe

>India as tolerant was, in private e-mails at least, strong and

>varied, and hence this follow-up.

>

>Tolerance is a good beginning for those civilizations which lack

>memory of their ancestral culture, a collective wisdom integrated

>over a long period of time and space. Voltaire once said tolerance

>"is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and

>error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly - that is the

>first law of nature."

>

>As you can see, this idea of promoting tolerance has been going on

>for about 300 years now, and the happenings of the world today and

>gustoes of tolerance from George W. Bush and Tony Blair do not

>exactly spell optimism. While it is good to be forgiving, tolerance

>in itself does not, in the long term, invite progressive interaction

>in a society.

>

>Acceptance of differences is a key factor to further progress and

>ultimate enlightenment. Why? Because differences are the most

>natural thing around us, and one does not need to scale the walls of

>a seven-story library to understand this.

>

>Acceptance of differences ensures one's own existence. It removes

>our insecurity and distrust about others. And, consequently, it

>makes us less vulnerable to manipulation by priests as well as

>political pundits.

>

>For true acceptance, however, a series of things needs to happen.

>Acceptance is a mutual action with utmost sincerity to create mutual

>understanding.

>

>Mahatma Gandhi once said, "It is the duty of every cultured man or

>woman to read sympathetically the scriptures of the world. If we are

>to respect others' religions as we would have them respect our own,

>a friendly study of the world's religions is a sacred duty."

>

>In practical terms, sympathetic and friendly studies need to have

>noble goals. For example, pursuit of truth brings scientists from

>varied fields to study and collaborate with each other, with

>enormous interest, efforts and respect. Most funding agencies in the

>United States outline the need of multidisciplinary approach clearly

>and consciously.

>

>Pursuit of the truth can be the ultimate uniting factor for the

>people of this world. And the Indian concept of "ekam sat viprah

>vahudha vadanti" ("truth is one, sages call it in various ways"), is

>light years ahead of today's concept of might is the right way to

>enforce "truth."

>

>At the same time, acceptance is not painless for the accepting and

>the one being accepted. Acceptance involves knowledge of others.

>Considering the vast number of people one has to know, it is

>generally done by profiling the general characteristics of a group

>to identify and label.

>

>Despite many valid arguments against profiling and labeling, I

>strongly believe that profiling and labeling precede acceptance. It

>is only natural and inevitable. However, acceptance does not mean

>adoption of other's way of life or living.

>

>Humans are too unique to be treated accurately with strict common

>rules. Freedom is required and diversity is its innate expression.

>

>For the concept of acceptance to work though mutual respect, trust

>and dependability are required. As an example, acceptance of the

>different ways of life is nowhere more visible than in India, where

>there are about 68,000 "jaatis" (also referred to as castes).

>

>Many in the media and intellectual circles mistakenly consider

>"jaatis" of India as a curse, but in reality "jaatis" are the result

>of acceptance of the ways of life for different groups of people.

>

>While "jaatis" in India may belong to same faith, their lifestyles,

>including mode of worshipping, marriage, food and social habits are

>quite different. Acceptance of them as such provides them the

>freedom to live their way of life, and in many ways contribute to

>the society at large.

>

>The culture of acceptance practiced in India for millennia is

>equally applied to people of different faiths, especially in rural

>India.

>

>For the rest of the world, those who propound just one way of life

>have been responsible for major oppression and exploitation through

>colonization, slavery, imperialism and communism, snatching the

>freedom of the people at every step.

>

>Multiculturism being displayed in the 21st century is a great

>acknowledgement of the need for differences to exist in the interest

>of the society's progress. Mark Twain remarked, "It were not best

>that we should all think alike; it is difference of opinion that

>makes horse races."

>

>However, multiculturism must be practiced based on acceptance as in

>acknowledgement of another's way of life, rather than tolerance.

>Then only, one can learn from another's experiences with open arms,

>an approach most beautifully expounded by Gandhi-ji:

>

>"I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows

>to be stifled. I want all the cultures of all lands to be blown

>about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off

>my feet by any."

>

>

>

>Bal Ram Singh, the director of the Center for Indic Studies at the

>University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, may be reached at

>bsingh (AT) umassd (DOT) edu.

>

>

>

>

>

>Bal Ram Singh, Ph.D.

>Director, Center for Indic Studies

>University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

>285 Old Westport Road

>Dartmouth, MA 02747

>

>Phone: 508-999-8588

>Fax: 508-999-8451

>Email: bsingh (AT) umassd (DOT) edu

>

>Internet address: http://www.umassd.edu/indic