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| Yes | 88% | 7 votes | Total: 8 votes | |
| No | 12% | 1 vote |
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Of course it is!
Honesty is a key ingredient in any kind of relationship. Being a cultural relation specially adds to its important. Let us use you and me as a metaphor for two cultures. How would I or anyone expect you to sit with me on the same table discussing our cultural differences and finding a common ground between us, when I am not being honest with you? How can I expect you to believe in what I am saying about myself and how can I believe in what you are saying about yours.
A cultural relation is a bridge between different places, and honesty is like the strength of the foundation. If honesty is gone the bridge is doomed to fall. How do you expect anyone to travel on a bridge that has a life time expectation of 0 hours! Nobody will ever consider a lying friend to be his favorite. Nobody will marry a liar. Nobody will prefer to do business with a liar and certainly nobody will exchange cultural concepts with a liar! If honesty is gone, then so is trust. And if trust is gone, then so is respect...and if all those were gone, then so did the whole relationship!
On the other hand, if we were expected to be honest with each other, the whole process of communicating our different backgrounds will be easier and shorter, and we will be able to soon understand our differences and deal with them. Because the presence of honesty created an atmosphere of mutual respect, and made the whole thing more straight forward. And as they say; Best approach is the direct approach.
Half way of solving a problem is defining it. Culture conflicts are not a light thing to deal with. It creates problems and struggles to adjust. That's why accepting the fact that differences exist and honestly define those differences is a huge step toward solving this dilemma. Once you've done that all is left is to adjust to it. And as difficult as this step may sound to be, the atmosphere of honesty, mutual respect and trust makes things much easier than it normally is.
And hence, to conclude, honesty is extremely necessary for a better culture relation. In fact, it is as we said before at the beginning of this article is a key ingredient for it to even exist. That's why it is very important for us to be honest with each other and sincerely try to understand our difference and respect them.
Learn more about this author, Alyaa El-Kafrawy.
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No
Truth is hard to define. It is a floating target based on what is believed as undeniable. The trouble is that each culture, and person within it, have their own view of reality. Their own Maya State.
Defining truth is not the same as respecting other people and their right to live according to their own religious and cultural traditions. Western cultures believe that it is true that women and men are two equal parts of humanity. The majority of the rest of the world does not share this opinion. So, if there is an absolute right and wrong, then who is lying?
Western society is also fairly welcoming to newcomers. Once accepted, immigrants go about their daily lives and attempt to integrate their views into existing societal norms. When it comes to the rights of certain individuals, there is a marked difference of opinion. So, despite talking a good line about welcoming multiculturalism, it isn't really sincere. Do we really want to hear that women should be stoned in the streets for remarrying instead of joining a deceased husband? It seems that most people would rather be lied to. We would rather assume that anybody that chooses to live here has agreed to adopt some very basic views of human rights when, in fact, they have not.
Every once in a while there is something in the news about honor killings. Sadly, the time span between each unfortunate event is shrinking because people are believing the lie. Cries for help are ignored and Sharia Law is permitted to coexist within our legal system. Cultural relations will not be improved through honesty. Instead, clearly defining not just mutual expectations but, also differences of opinion is the first step toward learning how to live beside instead of on top of each other.
No relationship will be made better if one group firmly believes that the other has no right to exists. This is not even an area for conversation. It is the very reason why the conflict in the Middle East is so difficult to resolve. One side believes strongly in the ability to rationally discuss and negotiate a peaceful resolution. The other honestly sees no place on this Earth for Jews or any of their supporters. Any aggressive or defensive actions taken by the 'civilized side' are used against them as a breach of their own professed values.
When Israel starting bombing because of incessant and random attacks on its citizens, the entire world decided to quickly forget any reasons behind the military actions. It is much easier to forgive savagery by those that never even try to be honest than by those that use it as a last resort. Let us be honest and admit that when it comes to improving cultural relations we need to forget about being honest and start believing strongly enough in our end goals that we'll do anything to accomplish them.
Learn more about this author, Freyda Tartak.
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