Why is it important to value,respect and tolerate other cultures?

Question

my social studies teacher put me on the spot today in class, and all I said was "just because its right" and he gave me a stern look like I did something wrong, I told him because its the human nature to accept cultures the way they are, now he wants me to relate to the holocaust and ghandi, how would you relate this, its been in my head all day long

Answer 1

It makes for better relations, and one might learn something.

Answer 2

He is asking for a lot.. Like you I know it is right and important to respect and tolerate other cultures.. We live in a multi-cultural society. Every culture has its own ethics and if we come to accept that, and also accept their difference perhaps this is a first step toward getting a better understanding of other cultures. If we travel to other countries we are confronted with the way of life in other cultures and that can only be a positive thing, because it teaches us that no matter what race, skin colour, nationality or cultural background a person has... it makes all of us unique but we are all god's children and there is no superior race or culture and no inferior one.  The more we read and learn about the ways of other cultures, the easier it becomes for us to accept their difference as they accept ours and through doing so, if we see that despite the many different cultures in the world, we are all people made of flesh and blood, we all have hopes dreams, ambitions, fears and joys. If we can understand and respect other cultures and people for who they are then perhaps we can prevent those senseless wars which are being fought in the world. Understanding that we are really all people of one world should create a better understanding and prevent people from starting wars because they feel they are a superior race and culture.. as it did happen in Germany under Hitlers power. he believed just one race was superior to all others and that only one race should lead the world, if we take that as an example and see what devastation such a way of thinking caused in the past, it makes it all the more important for us, the people of today, to respect and tolerate other cultures and races.. so that such horrible things as the Holocaust will be a tragedy of the past.. never to be repeated again, ever x*x

Answer 3

We have only one world. When we look at others with cultures different from ours, are we even sure that our culture is not the one which is different? There are many aspects of culture wherein we differ from one to another and the only way for us to live together in this one world that we have is to respect and value  others (with all of their cultures and beliefs and traditions)  as much as we value ours.

Answer 4

The act of devaluing or disrespecting other cultures is called being ethnocentric. This is the belief that one culture or race is in some way(s) better or superior to (all) others. The problem with this mentality is that every race and culture has done both positive and negative things in their respective histories that would influence how that race or culture is evaluated by others. There is no objective way for one race or culture to choose a "best" culture or race without being hypocritical to at least a marginal degree.  This relates to the holocaust because the n***s believed that the Jews were an inferior race/culture, despite the fact that the act of participating in and/or carrying out WWI, WWII and the holocaust were such a morally reprehensible events in history, negating their assumed right to pass judgment on the Jewish people. Whatever aspect of the Jewish culture influenced the n***s to think the Jews were inferior was no worse than the n***s assuming they were justified in "policing" or putting a stop to the Jewish culture.  The main reason to not devalue or disrespect other cultures is because we're all here for a reason. We all got here the same way, and despite the fact that different cultures think and act differently, we are all human at the end of the day. What works for one culture might not work for another, so it is the lack of understanding why cultural behaviors work or don't is what typically causes ethnocentricity, not because there is one universal "preferred behavior" that produces the same result in every part of the world.