Our culture defines us. It gives us pre-conceived ideas of how things should be, and how they should not. But culture is not static. Some of what is common today would horrify our great-grandparents. What is acceptable is fluid, and changes over time. We decide what is 'right' largely based on what everyone around us is doing. Just like these parents. No foul then? Or are there true objective standards that we should all live by, irrespective of geography and culture, outside of space and time? I believe that there are. I believe that there are moral absolutes written into the very fabric of the universe.
What about you? Do you define right and wrong by the culture around you? Do you think some things are kind of wrong but it's ok to do them because everyone else is doing it? What if you moved to Cambodia?
I see your point. Yes, we are all influenced by differences morally and culturally and this is a hard thing. I wish that everyone would live by my way of life but it's not going to happen. There are many things that other countries do that I believe is very wrong and/or immoral but I don't feel I have much power to change anything or maybe this is simply due to a lack of knowledge of not knowing what to do, being it is not my country.
ReplyDeleteIf those practices were to come into my own country, then that is where I feel I am more able to express my concerns and grievances by using all the methods I know within our own legal framework to oppose what is happening. I am not someone who sits on the side-lines complaining without taking action when I know something is seriously wrong. I also don't believe in going with the flow when things are wrong but everyone is doing it, otherwise I become as bad as they are.
I also feel that it is sometimes hard to get someone to understand that they are doing something wrong when they have been raised in a culture where it is normal behaviour.
I've only managed to see a small clip of the film you posted but I will definitely be back to fully view all of it, as the little I saw was very very interesting.
Hey Rum-Punch,
DeleteThanks for engaging with the post and taking the time to write such a considered reply. As you say it is hard to get someone to understand they are doing wrong when they have been raised in a culture where it is normal behaviour. If however, there are moral absolutes that transcend cultural differences, then where do these absolutes come from? I would say that they come from God, who transcends all things. The solution then, is to get people to connect with God and let Him sort out the details. When this happened to me, one thing I found was that I instantly realised that some practices that I had previously approved of (and that were culturally acceptable) were actually, absolutely wrong. I knew this with clarity and certainty, without having heard or read anything in the meantime. The knowledge was inside me, but it hadn't come in by my eyes or my ears. God had sorted out the details. I think that's what's needed here, something more than just swapping one culture for another.
thanks for sharing...
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