Multiculturalism and Moral Relativism

The first people to try multiculturalism, the Dutch, were also the first people to regret it. When asked what the difference was between tolerance and multiculturalism, they replied that tolerance ignores differences; multiculturalism makes an issue of them at every point… Multiculturalism is part of a wider phenomenon of moral relativism, a doctrine that became influential as a response to the Holocaust. It was argued that taking a stand on moral issues was a sign of an “authoritarian personality”. Moral judgment was seen as the first step down the road to fanaticism.

But moral relativism is the deathknell of a civilization. In a relativist culture, there is no moral consensus, only a clash of conflicting views in which the loudest voice wins. Multiculturalism, entered into for the noblest of reasons, has suffered from the law of unintended consequences. By dissolving national identity it makes it impossible for groups to integrate because there is nothing to integrate into, and forces them to find sources of pride elsewhere. Without shared values and a sense of collective identity, no society can sustain itself for long.

Chief Rabbi J. Sacks, ‘The Times’, February 2011