Where Do American Public Attitudes towards Differences Come From - Essay Example

God made man superior to all creatures by blessing him with the highest intelligence and the sense to distinguish between things. On top of that, God guided man through the Prophets and the Holy Books at different points in time so that people know what they may do, what they have to do, and what they have to abstain from. Religion lays the basis of civilization as it embodies the complete code of ethics to guide human behavior.

Although the teachings of different religions differ from each other, and so do the views and perceptions of the nations following them, yet almost all religions have similar stances over ethics and moral values. Over the centuries, these ethical standards and moral values have grounded in the cultures and have become the most important criteria upon which human behavior is evaluated. Over the passage of time, societies have become increasingly multicultural, which has in effect, promoted learning and adaptation to different cultures.

As a result of this, people all over the world have developed particular views and notions about differences on the basis of religion, gender, and sexual orientation, etc. Although attitudes about differences are believed to be inborn, these attitudes really are learned.  Diversity of cultures is one factor that drives society’s attitudes about differences. Let’s take societal perceptions about homosexuality as an example. In un cultural societies e.g. Iran and Pakistan, people at large hold negative perceptions about homosexuality whereas in multicultural societies e.g. Canada and South Africa, there is so much acceptability for homosexuality that gay marriages are legal in them.

This is largely the influence of different cultures on each other, and that these attitudes are learned rather than inborn. An example of this is the illegalized gay marriage in the USA. Gay marriage is still illegal in the USA because, despite its claims of being so, the USA is not really multicultural. The same point has been argued by Brooks in these words, “We don't really care about diversity all that much in America, even though we talk about it a great deal” (Brooks).