What has been labeled "multiculturalism" is now a politically correct topic of public discussion. Pundits debate whether or not American schools and universities should include multiculturalism as an essential part of our educational curricula, as if it were merely an option rather than a necessity. Most of the public discussion begs the issue of the inevitability of multiculturalism in an increasingly pluralistic and shrinking world.

From the dangers of cultural insensitivity on the streets of Baghdad to the cultural insensitivity of businessmen in the boardroom, from the ethnic and religious tensions on the average American campus to the tensions on the West Bank, the clash of cultural paradigms underlies an increasing proportion of our social interactions. The consequences can range from the benignly awkward to the truly deadly.

The Internet and rapid transportation have shrunk the world without guaranteeing any understanding of the information glut at our fingertips. This raises the stakes for us all. The increase in information within our reach seems to shrink the time available to digest it. Paradoxically, since we are programmed to fit information into our paradigms, and can only receive information at variance with that program if given due time to absorb it, we are at risk of our understanding becoming more polarized and selective rather than more integrated. If the vociferousness of the religious right, both in America and abroad, is any measure, our ignorance is rapidly becoming both politicized and institutionalized.

The rising percentage of Americans who have a negative view of Islam is an example of the power of cumulative ignorance. It is also an example of the failure of our educational system to provide balanced and accurate information about a religion and culture to which the Western world is deeply indebted, and whose essential message is one of peace. To blame our negative perceptions on media hype and political spin-doctoring is irresponsible. The fact is, the spin wouldn't work if we were better educated and saw through it more easily.

London's Heathrow Airport recently had a series of posters lining its endless corridors. Each showed the same image of a single item- a cricket, or a pair of feet outstretched toward the viewer, for example-with every poster in the series having a different caption as to how that image would be interpreted in a different culture. The same object or gesture could mean good luck in one, and an insult in another. It was simple, informative, and amusing- a pleasant way to break the boredom of schlepping a carry-on from terminal to terminal. Funny thing is, I don't remember the company that was touting the value of multicultural awareness- only the effectiveness of the cultural imagery.

Sadly, in many of our classrooms in America we are not even as superficially effective as that series of posters in encouraging the appreciation of different, and even opposing perspectives. Various forces in modern society - opportunists seeking a financial windfall, the religious right, the radical left - have learn to use litigation as a weapon of intimidation, bullying our schools into avoiding substantive debate and balanced information about controversial issues. This is most blatantly apparent when it comes to education about the world's religious paradigms, for it is all too often avoided by ignorantly equating such education with religious indoctrination. Or it is trivialized and egregiously misrepresented.

I recall my elder son being taught in second grade in public school that Japanese Buddhists worshipped by writing prayers on little sheets of paper and turning them into spit balls they would aim at a particular statue of the Buddha- if the ball stuck the prayer would be answered. This curious local custom was presented as normative Buddhist practice to children who had no other exposure to Buddhism with which to balance such an image, and hence no clue that the anomaly being shown them resulted in planting a seed of greater ignorance, than if they had never heard of Buddhism in the first place. This is the dumbing down of America.

Ignorance is not just a cultural handicap, it creates an environment susceptible to totalitarianism. We cannot afford to risk going down that path. It is time we stopped insulting the truth and committing incremental educational suicide in this nation. Sure, strengthening our performance in math and science to compete in the marketplace is important. But if we do not also improve our understanding of the fundamental paradigms that have shaped the world's cultures and continue to drive them- both consciously and subconsciously- even greater math or science skills will not equip us to function effectively in a changing global economy, or a pluralistic world. Perhaps even more importantly, our failure to mine the spiritual riches of the formative religious and cultural paradigms of the world will leave us emotionally bankrupt, and deprive us of the very factors that could best help us use our global effectiveness to create a more peaceful and balanced world.


Robert H. Stucky is the Executive Director of Faith In Diversity Institute.

Copyright © 2006 by Faith In Diversity Institute