Let's Change "Multi-culturalism"

Sometimes the issue is "honour killing," sometimes the suppression of free speech for the sake of "cultural sensitivities," sometimes it's gay-bashing, sometimes it's native people wanting to start up a whale hunt ... each of these when it bursts once again into the news ignites another dispute about multi-culturalism. Yet each time we avoid admitting that we cannot really have too many cultures under one roof -- or under one charter of rights and freedoms. If we wish to have a culture of equality that protects freedom of choice and expression, then that is one type of culture, and uni-culturalism should be our aim. What that uni-culture would ideally be is the culture of kindness.

For a start, let's stop pretending this is about race or skin colour. It is about values. Your "tribe" consists of all those who share your values. The actual meaning of "culture" is "rearing or production," (as of bees, fish, bacteria etc.), and "improvement by development or training." We all live in the experimental petri dish of society, being "cultured" (and self-cultured) or "improved" for the benefit of all, and in the hope of national peace. So what kind of citizenry are we trying to develop?

Many of us want a uni-culture of kindness toward all sentient beings (as the Buddhists say), which includes animals, insects, the fish in the sea and the birds of the air, all of whom react with emotions surprisingly like our own. There are some individuals from some religious/ethnic backgrounds that insult our values and offend against the culture of kindness: they slit the throats of goats and sheep, they kick and starve "unclean" dogs, and they kill women that "dishonour" their families. Do such people themselves dishonour our country, offending against our Charter and the values that went into its making? Should we track them down and kill them, for their offense? No?

We react in horror to this suggestion, beating the multi-culturalism drum on cue, yet many don't react to the routine killing of girls and women, let alone to the killing and torture of animals. But why not? is this logical?

We can have as much variation in music, dance and basket weaving as we like, but we need a basic uni-culture on which to build a moral nation. We could base it on one simple question, to be applied equally to any action of any ethnic group: is it kind?