PBS talk show host, Tavis Smiley, recently appeared on Bill Maher’s show. An interesting discussion ensued between these two Men of the Left about Cultural Relativism.
Cultural Relativism is one of the prime tenets of Multiculturalism, which is under attack in Europe these days. In a nutshell, belief in it means that you may not criticize or look down upon any other culture. Whether it be the repression of women or female genital mutilation or the execution of homosexuals (for just being gay), an adherent to Cultural Relativism will not criticize any of these things and considers anyone who does a bigot & a racist.
While Bill Maher is most certainly a Man of the Left, he is absolutely not a Cultural Relativist, but Tavis Smiley is, big time. Here’s an outline of Smiley and his views:
Smiley’s positions epitomize what happens when one mixes the tenets of moral and cultural relativism, cultural self-hate, postmodernism, and political correctness. I have often argued that tolerance toward any form of intolerance is self-inflicted barbarism. Bill Maher captured my position quite well on his most recent show when he stated, “When you tolerate intolerance, you’re not really being a liberal.”
Though I could not find a video of this exchange, comedian Adam Carolla obliterates Smiley in this podcast, beginning at 10:30. Language warning!
On a personal note, I must admit that I was not aware of this division of opinion amongst Leftists on this issue. Perhaps it serves as a good litmus test to determine if a person is Centre Left or Far Left. The former is home to the likes of Terry Glavin, Michael Ignatieff, Joe Clark, etc. The latter is home to Jack Layton, everyone in the Green Party, all SDA trolls, etc.
