Why I’m Euro-centric

I have been accused of holding a “euro-centric” view in my new book “God is God: God is the Creator and Law-Giver” and to this charge I plead “guilty.” Right off the bat, I should note that I am an unapologetic and unabashed American Jew which automatically places me in the euro-centric category along with my fellow Americans and my fellow American Jews. If I were an Iranian Muslim or an Indian Hindu I would’ve most likely written my book from a perspective influenced by those respective cultures.

Yet, I realize that the accusation of euro-centrism has nothing to do with nationality or religion per se but, rather, the accusation is specifically aimed at me as a white American. And yet, it occurs to me, America is at least by principle if not always by practice a pluralistic society when it comes to race, ethnicity and religion. Indeed, American culture is, by principle, a pluralistic culture that strives to honor the individual first and, in that sense, America has been and largely remains an exceptional culture.

So, I suppose, it is that principle, the principle of pluralism, that I embrace as an American who holds an American-centric view.