There's Such A Thing As Way Too Much Respect For Other Cultures
Here's biologist E.O. Wilson in "Consilience" -- a book I'm just finishing -- on the absurdity of cultural relativism:
"If ethical standards are molded by culture, and cultures are endlessly diverse and equivalent, what disqualifies theocracy, for example, or colonialism? Or child labor, torture, and slavery?"
A tweet (and story here by Lucy Kinder in the Telegraph/UK):
Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, 27, who was born to a Muslim father but brought up a Christian by her mother, was convicted on Sunday in Khartoum and given three days to recant her faith or face a possible death sentence."We gave you three days to recant but you insist on not returning to Islam. I sentence you to be hanged," Judge Abbas Mohammed Al-Khalifa told Mrs Ibrahim, addressing her by her father's name, Adraf Al-Hadi Mohammed Abdullah.
Mrs Ibrahim also faces a sentence of flogging for adultery on the grounds that her marriage to a Christian man from South Sudan is considered void under Islamic law. She will be given 100 lashes. Because her father was Muslim, she was considered by the court to be the same.
Sadly, this is barbarism as usual in Sudan.
A 2015 story from Sudan from The Guardian by Zeinab Mohammed Salih:
Twenty-five Muslim men, including three teenagers, are facing the death penalty in Sudan after being charged with apostasy for following the wrong version of Islam.
Tell me again how all cultures are equal and equally deserving of respect?
Well, since religion is nothing more than a misplaced belief in an invisible friend in the sky, she readily recanted her faith and switched to a new invisible friend, right?
Turns out, she didn't recant her faith. She held out, filed an appeal, was released and re-arrested, was freed again, hid out in the US Embassy, and eventually made it to Rome in 2014 with help from the Italian government. She now lives in New Hampshire.
Non-believers frequently underestimate the role that religion plays in the lives of the faithful and deep meaning that it brings to their lives. Thousands throughout history have suffered excruciating agonies rather than renounce their faith.
Conan the Grammarian at September 16, 2018 8:14 AM
Sweet Christ in Heaven, Dorsey has fucking lost the plot.
Crid at September 16, 2018 12:17 PM
We are not permitted to judge other (lesser) cultures, because they are oppressed. We can judge US culture as the worst ever because they are the oppressors. See how simple the New Left makes things? For other examples, note how feminists don't want to be judged, but judge men, or gays don't want to be judged but make fun of "breeders". It is tendentious reasoning all the way down.
cc at September 16, 2018 4:43 PM
gays don't want to be judged but make fun of "breeders".
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Somehow, I thought that attitude pretty much disappeared about a quarter-century ago - that is, ever since gay couples started getting bold enough to adopt, use sperm clinics, etc. (Leaving aside famous gay celebs who have done that, the fictional "Dykes to Watch Out For" couple Toni and Clarice had a boy in 1993. I doubt the author would have written that story if it were unheard of at the time. Or if it weren't legal for the unrelated gay parent to adopt. Chances are it WOULDN'T have been legal if gays hadn't been pushing for that, beforehand.)
Which is not to say that childfree people, nowadays, don't use the word "breeder" constantly, online - but they seldom do so in "mixed" online company, since they don't want to be rude. Never mind in real life, when they're among strangers, since they know they're outnumbered.
lenona at September 17, 2018 7:51 AM
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