Monoculture of the Mind: Western Superiority Towards Eastern Religions
Many Western beliefs tend to shun Eastern cultures and religions, and this leads to a lack of biodiversity of religions and beliefs in the United States. Once we unravel the monocultures of our minds, we can begin to accept the biodiversity of cultures and religions that are from the Eastern world!
It is no surprise that there are certain discriminations or biases that we hold as a society. We are born in certain monocultures that have led to our binary thinking, even though we try to play off the America is the most advanced in thinking, our hidden monocultures are coming to the surface (perfect example: 2016 Presidential Election).
What are monocultures? Monocultures — whether in agricultural or intellectual practice — are neither tolerant of other systems nor sustainable. Theorist Vandana Shiva uses this idea to explain the “the effect of “modern,” Western, dominant knowledge systems on local, indigenous knowledge” which can also be applicable to the Western dominance over religion.
But using the same concept that Shiva uses to describe the discrimination and the monocultures of the land, we can use this same theory for the dominance that Western perspective has on the diverse religions and cultures of the Eastern world.
When many Western perspectives see any Eastern religions and culture, there is always a sense of otherness invoked. A mentality of us vs. them comes into play.
The first example of this can be how many of the Eastern religions become ‘mythologies’ because of the Western ideals. This is true when concerning the Gods and Goddesses of Greece, Egyptian, Indian, Chinese, and many other religions, they become reduced to mythology since the central religion of Christianity seems to focus on one God. So many of these cultures are often seen as weird or strange because they do not seem to follow the basic guidelines of Christianity. For the sake of this article, I am going to place my focus on Indian religions (plus Indian religions are the only ones I actually am well versed in).
Many times I have overheard some poor sap say something like, “the elephant head god” or “the lady with the multiple hands” and “the blue colored God”, but god forbid if someone referred to Jesus as the “guy with the beard!” (See what I did there).
Instantly, when people talk about the Hindu religion, they almost seem to mystify and ‘other’ it very quickly. It becomes mythology at its best since people cannot really find any relation in the religion due to the exterior forms of the deities.
Sadly there have been too many times where I have to put out a disclaimer every time I have a friend come into my room and see my badass tapestry of Kali Ma.
Whenever my friends or anyone really comes into my room, they are instantly alarmed by this image. At first they seem to double take and glare at the photo when I’m looking away, and then they proceed to think that I have seances in my room since there is such a ‘menacing’ photo of Kali Ma on top of Shiva which next to my alter space. Just when the sweat drops start forming on their faces, I step in to offer an explanation for Kali Ma.
I begin with the fact that Kali Ma is the defeater of demons and the liberator. She helps defeat patriarchy, and the representation of the Divine Feminine. The response either helps people understand a bit more, or it only frightens them more. But regardless, there is a sense of instant ‘otherness.’ Our Western monoculture of the mind refuses to let us think that Hinduism is an intellectual and profound religion, and yet it leads us to think of it as fantasy of ‘strange’ deities that look like fairy tail characters (even though Hinduism is one of the oldest religions).
But this brings me to another Indian religion: Sikhism. Sikhism is the 5th most popular religion in the world, yet it still is still mistaken for Muslim.
I guess one can argue that it can be understandable why many think that Hinduism is almost fantasy like when compared to Christianity’s ‘one God’ belief. Many people like the idea of monotheism, and this is why they seem to dismay polytheistic religions. This would be true, but what about Sikhism?
Sikhism is a monotheist religion, and yet I would wager that many people were most likely drawing blanks when they think of Sikhism even though they have definitely seen Sikhs in the US, Canada, England and basically all around the world, yet many would not know who I was referring to. The image on the left is a Sikh man, yet people would most likely associate him with Muslims. But why? If it was really about having a religion that focused on one God, then why is it that people still would not know about Sikhism, which is ‘othered’ as well?
Ultimately, this reveals that many of the Eastern religions are ostracized regardless of their polytheistic or monotheistic beliefs. This is precisely why Western perspectives need to be challenged, and there needs to be a biodiversity of religion in the US.
Once there is a biodiversity is established in the US, then there will be no ‘othering’ of people and their different beliefs. We can work towards a more accepting tomorrow which understands the differences of our diverse people and backgrounds. There will be less conflict and distrust over certain religions, and people can practice as they please.
