Living with other cultures

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Nov 14, 2013 at 12:26

Dear Dr Pipes, when lot of people of different ethnic background live together in a society a certain amount of mistrust can always be expected. However when one of these ethnic subgroups resorts to more and more of the following methods, this mistrust takes the form of fear. None of the following points by itself is sufficient to caue fears inothersbut asmore a more of these points occur together, the fear gets stronger and stronger:

1) the group patronizes a language inhigher proportions than the rest of the popultion.

2) the group chooses to dress differently from every one else.

3) the group demads more and more rights and complains more and more.

4) the group seeks and celebrates increasing membership. People who become members are applauded and who do not, are, atbest, left to their own.

5) the group professes superiority (whether justified or not) over all others.

6) the group uses unsymmetric rules about marriage.

7) the group exerts pressure on members who want to leave the membership sothat joining the group for a person i relativelyeasybut leaving is much harder.

Any group (religious or otherwise) that follows these practices will evetuallycase fearin others.

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