Living in a Multicultural Society

Living in a multicultural society can be a wonderful experience. It is a chance for its ‎members to enjoy human richness culturally. When it is a mosaic of communities, one ‎has the chance to know people of different religious and cultural backgrounds. But there some who are sceptic about multiculturalism.

But in the present time many multicultural societies, especially in Europe, are ‎suffering discord among its various communities. In the past, some of these ‎communities were arriving immigrants. Their first priority was to get sources for ‎survival. But the new generations of these communities have become full citizens, ‎enjoying full rights. So their demands differ from those of their ancestors or parents ‎who were just immigrants, struggling to adapt without having any political agenda to ‎influence the course of societies where they happened to be. ‎

However, their children are faced with identity problem. Legally they are the citizens of the countries where they were born. ‎But emotionally, they yearn to their origins. Because of the political power they now ‎have, they try to make their points. Some are members of parliaments, governments ‎and other high circle.‎

But the problem with some communities, especially Muslim ones, are looking to other ‎Muslim countries where there are religious tendencies that try to influence them. One ‎result of this is the birth of fanatic groups who become representative of terrorist ‎organisations. The dismantlement of a terrorist group –grown in UK but of Pakistani ‎origin - is an example of this.‎

Here we have an exchange case. As the West is exporting many of its lifestyle to ‎Muslim countries, with bad or good consequences, Some Muslim countries are ‎exporting their lifestyle to Muslim communities in the West. There are examples of ‎religious practices calling for tolerance, as there are others calling for extremism.‎

As the world has become a small village, where ways of life infiltrate different ‎societies easily, all societies should foster moderation. All populations should be ‎exposed to foreign cultures for appreciations and not for developing prejudices. In this ‎case, communities of different cultures will be a link between the host country and the ‎countries they come from. Such communities should work to improve the image of ‎their countries of origin, instead of being the cause of their embarrassment and shame.