Alex Knepper's Sept. 18 opinion demonstrates an ethnocentric, xenophobic, and dare I say it, racist attitude. His article serves no purpose other than to denigrate and alienate other cultures and create an "us versus them" mentality. His assertion that "the West" is somehow "superior" and that other cultures are "inferior" is outrageous. This is a sort of enlightened racism; an assertion that one's culture, not race, is superior and others are inferior. This view widens the cultural gap and serves to promote intolerance. The implications of this are disturbing. It implies that the superior culture has a responsibility to civilize according to its own worldview. The white man's burden, various violent national movements during the 20th century, and innumerous other atrocities have all been committed in the name of cultural superiority and all occurred in the west. While true in a philosophical sense, the values of "reason, equality, secularism, [and] tolerance" are present in the West. However, in practice these values are exercised selectively and sometimes infrequently.
I urge you, Mr. Knepper, to seek the distinction between rhetoric of moral righteousness and the reality of how policy is exercised. Part of the college experience is to learn about and to respect other cultures, regardless of how different they may seem to you. You cannot judge other cultures by your own standards because that fails to recognize that those cultures may have very different values and beliefs. While I do believe there should be universally upheld standards for human rights, to assert that because a culture fails to respect the rights of women, minorities, or homosexuals they are inferior is absurd.
Doug Paddock Graduate student, College of Arts and Sciences
