Normally, people feel comfortable with the same stereotype, and most cultures have an innate tendency to typecast a person. This is borne more out of insecurity than from anything else. There is a suspicion, and a deep rooted fear that outsiders can do a damage, even if they may not be meaning that at all. At times it is also the power game, where people try to create stereotypes, but mostly it is to do with the comfort zone.
This starts from the level of the family, and may reach beyond it in an organization, or a nation as well. Lot of times, people even resort to punishment to save the concept of a stereotype. Be like us or we will make you suffer is at the core of most of the activities related to that. Why? As told above, it is from the fear and because of the concept of propagation.
In the current world, this attitude can lead to a lot of misery because there is no way we can stop the influx of culture, or of people. I would say, to each, its own. Diversity should be something that should be cherished, because no culture or religion preaches anything unethical or immoral. It is left to the people what they want to adopt. Every culture is rich, and there is a lot to learn from any culture, and one can do that without becoming a stereotype of that culture.
Religion or culture does not preach lack of ethics and morality, and to indulge in power-play. It is on the agenda of a few people who indulge in all this. There are a lot of other things to correct in today’s world, as we are moving on from one crisis to the next. I would say that there are better things to do. It is time now to be more spiritual than being a proponent of any religion. I feel that the world is moving towards that, and these things can only stifle the peace and prosperity in the current times.
The simplest thing to do is to accept diversity, stop indulging in unethical and immoral practices and power-play as no culture or religion preaches it, and find better things to do.