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Diversity: Our Greatest Conundrum

Is the promotion of diversity really Canada’s greatest strength, as our prime minister doesn’t tire of telling us? Or should we strive to create a society in which the rights of all citizens as individuals are recognized and we don’t strive to promote with government money all the cultural traditions that newcomers bring to this country? Dale Branscombe fears that rather than strengthening us, our current policies are tearing us apart.

Is the promotion of diversity really Canada’s greatest strength, as our prime minister doesn’t tire of telling us? Or should we strive to create a society in which the rights of all citizens as individuals are recognized and we don’t strive to promote with government money all the cultural traditions that newcomers bring to this country? Dale Branscombe fears that rather than strengthening us, our current policies are tearing us apart.

We know we are in a battle for civilization when every supermarket, restaurant and cafeteria is under pressure to carry halal products – food produced by the cruel practice of unstunned slaughter. We know we are in trouble when servicemen and women are at risk of being attacked while wearing their uniforms in public and flying traditional heritage flags is taboo while the flags of terrorist groups like ISIS and Hezbollah are openly displayed. Who could have imagined a time when demands that women be allowed to wear a face covering on picture ID would even be taken seriously? What could go wrong? And who might have thought a time would come when neither the Crusades nor the Holocaust could be taught in schools for fear of offending someone? Yet those most easily offended continue to demand special prayer rooms in schools and workplaces, then expect that all this be embraced in the name of “Diversity”!

City bylaws are being amended to allow the call to prayer to be broadcast over loudspeakers during Ramadan while Christmas trees are disappearing from the store windows during the “Holiday Season” and all carols have been muted for fear that someone might feel excluded.  Is that diversity or is it appeasement?  When we knowingly accommodate an ideology that is inherently misogynistic and then discover that Sharia law has been established among adherents of that same ideology, will we be surprised? When we learn that child marriage is being practiced or that female genital mutilation is being performed on little girls, will we say, “That’s the price of diversity,” or will someone stand up and say, “The little girls might have preferred the Christmas trees”?

It begins with calls for compromise and compassion which leads invariably to demands for special status in the form of special entitlements and special programs and privileges and more tolerance and understanding and more money (of course) and, naturally, more “respect.”  Inevitably, there will be those who become offended and will require compensation as ultimately charges will be laid over any and every perceived or imagined indiscretion or infringement on someone’s ethnic or cultural or religious sensibilities. It never ends…

Why are we surprised when the tentacles of a religious/political agenda are seen winding their way into every crack and crevice of every level of government, modifying, manipulating, tinkering, and tampering until the democratic process is turned into a gutted, sorry shell of its former self? In 2017, the Canadian government passed a motion (M-103) which, in essence, is a blasphemy law that makes the criticism of Islam a criminal offence. Is it still “diversity” when it stifles diversity of opinion?

How does a modern, enlightened society, boastful of gender equality and equal opportunity for all, accommodate those newcomers whose customs and traditions are found to be fundamentally incompatible with that society? Do tolerance and inclusivity have no limits? Are we required to welcome the practise of Voodoo? Must we ignore a tradition of cousin marriage or polygamy? What about the Hindu caste system and the rather primitive custom of tossing widows onto the funeral pyre? Are we expected to be alright with the practise of public lashing? Must we show respect and tolerance to those who foster extreme antagonism toward women, gays, apostates, Jews, and Christians? Are we so intent on virtue-signaling our kindness and generosity that we must abandon all else? Does a commitment to diversity necessarily imply that we must forfeit our most cherished liberties as stated in the Declaration of Human Rights as well as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

How is it that those who make the loudest demands for “diversity” are often the least supportive of the humanist principals that if practised would, more than anything else, ensure diversity for all? Most importantly, why are we reluctant to discuss such questions? And why does the Prime Minister get to call Canada a “post-national state” with “no core identity” while citizens who pay for this cultural rot are labeled bigots if they disagree?

“Diversity,” a well-intended, politically correct word, is being exploited. It is being used as a “cloak of invisibility” to cover up the very lack of diversity that exists in some segments of society. Under the banner of diversity, some communities claim exemption from assimilation with mainstream culture, yet remain viciously intolerant of the slightest hint of diversity on the part of their individual members. In such monocultures, conformity reigns supreme and diversity is conspicuous by its absence!

A society is more than simply a collection of distinct communities.

When people congregate en masse and block traffic or occupy parks under the pretext of prayer, is that diversity or is it group think? Where is the diversity when entire communities vote unanimously according to how they’ve been coached? That coaching came in the form of the Canadian Muslim Voting Guide which was created expressly for the purpose of influencing (“to assist and enlighten”) Muslim voters in the 2019 federal election. This conformity masquerading as diversity is all paid for by the unsuspecting taxpayer.

Where is the diversity when women are required to adhere to a religious dress code for fear of being ostracized from the community?

Let’s have more of the kind of diversity that comes with the individual citizen’s right to exercise their freedom of conscience and freedom of expression.  In the spirit of real diversity, let’s set aside one day each year in which every woman, regardless of background, creed, or culture, gets to feel the breeze in her hair and realize the exhilaration and dignity of liberty, hard-earned by freedom-loving women of the past. Let’s have a National Non-Hijab Day.

If diversity is worth anything, it must support the individual’s right to be distinct, to be different and, within the limits of the law, to be free! As Ayn Rand said, “The individual is the smallest minority.”

But it was never about real diversity. And it was never about the individual. When the government throws tons of money at pushing and promoting ethnic and cultural and religious diversity, the individual gets lost in the parade. Why are we surprised when the culmination of all this identity politics contributes to an atmosphere of divisiveness and disunity?  And why would newly arrived citizens want to assimilate when they are continually being incentivized not to?

A society is more than simply a collection of distinct communities. To obsess on group diversity is to accentuate group differences and thereby diminish our shared goals and human commonalities.

There are those who would make this country the same as the place they left. They self-segregate. They insist on remaining distinct and diverse and separate from mainstream society. They refuse to assimilate until, of course, the government handouts arrive, at which point they embrace “inclusivity.” In the real world, “diversity” and “inclusivity” are still pulling in opposite directions!

In recent decades, as large numbers of people from other cultures flooded into Europe, it was assumed that they would eventually assimilate and adopt the values and standards of their host countries. Europe is still waiting.

It matters not, one’s colour, gender, race, or religion. But ideas matter! Child marriage is a bad idea! Female genital mutilation is a bas idea! Honour killing is a bad idea! Pretending that all cultures are the same is a bad idea!

Is it still diversity if legal standards and procedures are suspended? Is it diversity when police are reluctant to apply the rule of law to visible minorities for fear of being labeled “racist,” or is it capitulation to the Diversity Mob?

When diversity  supersedes all societal norms, standards, customs, and conventions, when it ignores or distorts our foundational laws and our constitutional rights, when it alienates and demonizes decent, fair-minded people, then diversity becomes a negative force and may well be our greatest weakness.

When everything is seen through an equity lens, when government employment opportunities are open to everyone, with the exception of white citizens, is that still diversity?  “Reverse discrimination” is still discrimination! And tyranny by political correctness is still tyranny! 

The integrity and strength of a free and democratic society is best served by ensuring the irreversible and irreducible rights of the individual. When we fail to defend the rights and freedoms of all, of each and every citizen, we begin to observe the gradual, yet inevitable, erosion of our own liberties. It is happening today, in real time, right before our eyes.

How sad it is to see the pandering politicians along with the academics, the media and even the courts, as they bend and scrape, apologize, submit, and surrender and sell out this great country, this wonderful culture – enablers all!

When diversity  supersedes all societal norms, standards, customs, and conventions, when it ignores or distorts our foundational laws and our constitutional rights, when it alienates and demonizes decent, fair-minded people, then diversity becomes a negative force and may well be our greatest weakness. ♦