Page 114 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

Considering Diversity

Culture and Credit

It is sometimes surprising to speakers who come from a Thus, although most of those raised in a Western cul-
traditional Euro-American background that practices they ture fi nd nothing wrong with borrowing money, some Mus-
take for granted as being acceptable are held to be morally lims consider such a practice not just unwise but morally
wrong in other cultures. For example, taking out a loan for objectionable.
college expenses, a car, or a new wardrobe is routine for We mention this story because we have heard countless
most Americans. However, those who practice the religion speeches on topics that involve credit or paying interest on
of Islam may fi nd such practices morally unacceptable. As a loan. We actually heard a student boast in a speech how
reporter Fahizah Alim explains in an article about a Sacra- he capitalized on the “bull market” by using money from
mento, California, restaurant owner, Khaled Umbashi, many student loans to purchase stock. This student emphasized
Muslims view the interest charged today by banks as riba that with a rate of return of 22 percent on one stock pick,
(usury), which is forbidden by the Qur’an. Umbashi refuses he was making 14 percent on the $5,000 student loan on
to borrow money to improve or advertise his restaurant be- which he was being charged 8 percent interest.
cause “his Islamic religion forbids him from borrowing the Clever as our stock-wise student was, his ethics might
funds and paying interest on that loan. . . . ‘Our Islamic reli- be questioned by students in general. Certainly the Mus-
gion prohibits paying or charging compounded interest,’ says lim students in his audience were given pause by his
Umbashi, a native of Libya.” speech.
Not all Muslims agree with this interpretation of the Knowing and respecting culturally diverse moral princi-
Qur’an. For example, Asghar Aboobaker, a Muslim who has ples is often essential to your success in a culturally diverse
written on the topic, holds that “this is a very complicated society.
issue, and there are many, many camps.” On the other hand,
Irfan Ul Haq, a Muslim businessman, economist, and au- Source: Fahizah Alim, “No Credit: For Muslims, Asking for a Loan
thor, believes, “Much of the world’s fi nancial crisis has to do Is a Question of Religion,” Sacramento Bee, 29 August 1998,
with the interest based system.” Scene, 1, 3.

We need to be careful not to exaggerate cultural differences, however. Phi-
losophy professor James Rachels, for example, points out that different cultures
often agree on underlying principles but disagree on how they are to be applied.
For example, he notes that even apparently inhumane practices, such as that of
the early Inuit, who once left the elderly to die in the snow, are grounded in the
need of the family to survive in a harsh environment. Rachels argues that “the
Eskimos’ values are not all that different from our values. It is only that life forces
upon them choices that we do not have to make.” 4
universalism
The philosophy that there
Are There Rules for Every Situation? are ethical standards that
apply to all situations re-
In contrast to ethical relativism is universalism, the philosophy that there are gardless of the individual,
ethical standards that apply to all situations regardless of the individual, group, group, or culture.
or culture. Immanuel Kant, an 18th-century philosopher, developed such a phi-
losophy. He proposed the categorical imperative: “Act only on that maxim categorical
5
through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” To imperative
will the maxim be universally applicable means that you would want everyone to Immanuel Kant’s ethical
principle that we should
obey the same rule as you are proposing. act only in a way that we
Suppose, for example, that you think it’s acceptable for anybody to lie at any would will to be a univer-
time, so you propose, as a universal rule, that lying is permissible for any reason. sal law.
What would the result be? Lies would deceive no one because lying had be-
come the rule. Thus, a universal law that lying is permissible would in fact make 81