David Thornton - "Ethnocentrism"

Ethnocentrism is a term which I have thought about a lot lately. It basically is a term describing the tendency for people to think of their own ethnicity or culture as central or most importance in the modern world. This perspective on humanity is something that I believe inhibits many people from Sacred communication and relationships. The people or culture that is considered insignificant are affected negatively in the way that their beliefs or traditions are considered to be less than the ethnocentric’s. This causes dissention and even segregation between people of different cultures. The people who tend to have ethnocentric tendencies are led to a prideful view of their own religion or cultural values which inhibits them from having relationships with other people of different cultures or belief systems. Ethnocentrism has a negative affect on Sacred Communication and is something which must be addressed in our modern society. This is because people can learn a lot about what they believe themselves by exploring the beliefs and values of others. If a person is led to believing that their cultural values or beliefs are more central to humanity than others then they are lessoning the possibilities of understanding in what they really believe.