As a way of resolving difference, Western civilization is given to isolating the elements of other civilizations and placing them in its own conceptual categories – categories formulated by the 'white', 'Christian', and 'progressive' race. This categorization privileges the Western gaze and enables it to declare itself as the universal norm for others to emulate. It is a system for gaining control. On the flip side, many raised in dharmic cultures suffer anxieties related to being non-white, non-Western, non-Christian, and so on. Their identities are enhanced by imagining themselves in the
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