29 March 2015

Multiculturalism or Integration?

Multiculturalism is when there are many cultures within a society.  Many societies are becoming multicultural, as immigrants and refugees bring their cultures to their new home.  They hold onto elements of their culture while within a society that is new to them.

Integration is when people give up their respective cultures when they join a new society.  They adopt the culture of the new society to the extent of giving up their previous way of life.

Which is better for the society?

Kel Richards argued for integration on 2CH tonight.  He thinks that multiculturalism creates ghettos.  Instead of getting on with others, people cling on to their own.  This adds suspicion between culture groups, and sometimes can also lead to gang wars.  He thinks that people who come to Australia should adopt Australian culture instead of bringing their culture with them.  Just like the first Italian settlers did.

Would you agree?
 I imagine that integration is not easy.  If one has been brought up in a certain way, one cannot easily give up all of that as one moves to another society.  One naturally brings along one's education and skills and habits - good and bad - with one.  I think multiculturalism is good in that it allows for this kind of diversity within society.

I also imagine that economists prefer multiculturalism.  It promotes trade and international relationships.  As people wish to taste the food of others and buy the goods from other countries, wealth increases with multiculturalism.  But while Australia seeks these economic benefits, I think that it does so at the cost to other good values quite often.

What do you think?

Is multiculturalism the way to go?  Or should we go back to the values of integration?

In Indonesia, assimilation was the drive many years ago.  People could no longer call themselves "Chinese" or "Dutch" or whatever, as they took on Indonesian names and lived the Indonesian way.  There was a loss in the sense that the Chinese became less Chinese as they took on their Indonesian identity.

Malaysians chose differently, allowing their different races to maintain their racial identities.  This led to racial riots and the form of racism that exists in that country, even up to today.

Might there be room for assimilation and race and multiculturalism to coexist?  Maybe the world would be more harmonious if there were some elements of accepting each other (instead of forming ghettos) as well as some allowances for people's differences?

What do you think?

25 March 2015

Choices

Psychologist Barry Schwartz reckons that "choice has made us not freer but more paralyzed, not happier but more dissatisfied. "

What do you think?  Would you agree with him?

I think that many people, coming from environments with lesser choice, would, as they experience our supermarkets.  Instead of just buying milk, one gets to choose between soy, rice and dairy milk.  Then there is skim, low fat and full cream to choose from.  Then, which brand?  Milk from which country of origin, or which state?

And similarly with other goods and services.  It is so hard to compare the offerings of two mobile phone providers, as their plans are described so differently that it is not easy to see which one suits the consumer better.

Then, comparing ourselves with other people and trying to "keep up with the Joneses" - how much to keep up or how much not to.  What is right for us?

And then, there is also the government telling us what to do.  That we need to have two incomes, be productive economically, as though the economy is the most important aspect of society.  Or to deviate from that.

Choices of which clothes are suitable to wear, which religion to follow, etc.

It is a lifestyle issue.  I think that how satisfied we are depends on how we feel about the choices, and not the choices itself.

Some people willingly live more simply, and feel happy about it.

Last Sunday, I remembered Jesus and His choices.  He could have chosen other apostles, or not have Judas Iscariot among his closest ones.  He could have made it easy for himself by not going to the cross.  But He didn't.  He made his choice based on what He knew would best bring glory to God and what would save the people He loves.

Are choices easy for us?  Are we willing to make sacrificial choices?

What would you choose?  Why?

22 March 2015

Cheating at exams

In Bihar, 300 people were recently arrested for cheating in exams.  Many of them are parents of the students sitting the exams.

The Hindustan Times has a picture of people scaling up a 4-storey wall to throw paper-airplanes carrying answers to exam papers.  However, the chairman of the Bihar School Examination Board said that cheating has not happened within the exam halls.  He claims that it happens from the outside.  Fines have been imposed, students have been failed or expelled and exams have been cancelled as a result of the publicity around such cheating experiences.

People live in a society where passing exams is seen to be the make-or-break point to their need to live in poverty.  After all, these are the leaving school exams, and consequently, the last chance the students have to show that they have gained some value out of their schooling.

Cheating has apparently become more rampant since the state government offered cash rewards to lower-caste students who were able to answer about half the questions on their tests.  Attempts to chase away family members lurking outside test centres failed, as mobs threw stones at the law-enforcement agents.

What do you think of such a culture?  Has something gone wrong?  Or is this fine?  How can it be made right if it has gone wrong?

The Education Board has tried to counsel parents and students against cheating, while many parents blame the government and the teachers for being indifferent and uncaring.

Can such a culture change for the better?  How?

11 March 2015

Evangelism

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said the following about evangelism:
  • It isn't something you can opt out of: you just do it, even if you are not a professional.
  • Do it, not out of duty, but because you love people.  Love as Jesus loves.
  • It isn't about results.  Don't try to count the number of conversions or how instantaneously it happens.
  • Remember that it is good news.  It is positive, happy news.
  • Trust the Holy Spirit to work.
  • Pray.
  • Be prepared, that your conversations may only bear fruit after you leave the scene.  Give people time to absorb what has been said.
  • Don't complicate things.  Only answer what has been asked.  Keep the message simple to understand.
  • Always be ready to give an answer.
  • Realise the importance of evangelism.
I think Welby made good points.  When we make evangelism out to be an awkward, professional task, we become awkward and unnatural as we try to present the facts to our friends.   When we do it without love as our motivation, our message does not connect as people question our motives.  We do not want to force people to convert, but to give them the opportunity to accept the grace of our Lord.

Do you think so?  Do you find evangelism awkward to do?  Awkward to be on the receiving end of?  Should evangelism be done at the edge of a sword?

Is evangelism a Christian thing, or does it belong to other people too?

09 March 2015

Is Jesus real?

What do you reckon?

Michael Paulkovich reckons He isn't.  His study led him to the conclusion that
“When I consider those 126 writers, all of whom should have heard of Jesus but did not – and Paul and Marcion and Athenagoras and Matthew with a tetralogy of opposing Christs, the silence from Qumram and Nazareth and Bethlehem, conflicting Bible stories, and so many other mysteries and omissions – I must conclude that Christ is a mythical character.
However, J Warner Wallace reckons that "the Christian faith is an evidential faith".  He said that the Scriptures call us to use our minds, examine the evidences, examine what we believe, and be convinced with the truth.

Indeed, Paul wrote that
if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. But now Christ has been raised from the dead.
Have you studied the evidences?  What do you believe about the Bible?  What do you believe about Jesus?  Why?