What is ethnocentrism? Using course material, explain why it is problematic for the social scientific study of religion. How does cultural relativism alleviate these concerns?. Religious Studies

Ethnocentrism is viewing the world through one person's own lense of culture, religion, norms and values. It basically entails that one view is superior to others and is most correct. Ethnocentrism can be problematic for the social scientific study of religion because of many reasons. When studying religion it is important to understand it from an insider's perspective and not through your own view of the world. The act of being ethnocentric is bias and can definitely result in inaccurate studies. Also cultural relativism takes place with ethnocentrism and that means thinking that one culture is better than the other and that is not correct because of the plurality that exists in the world now. It is hard to rank religions or cultures as who's best.