Cultural Relativism
On first blush, the term “cultural relativism” might seem like an enlightened, positive thing. After all, it would seem to involve an attempt to understand peoples and life styles different from one’s own, and understanding is, of course, a good and positive thing. Cultural relativism might involve “putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.” It might serve as a counter force to the chauvinism that members of a very successful and wealthy society such as ours may harbor against those perhaps less fortunate than ourselves. It might be a hedge against the smug elitism that engenders envy and resentment is some parts of the world. So, for these reasons, cultural relativism might be expected to be a welcome force in our world.
But, there is another side to relativism. When used without discretion, it can be a force for retrogression, primitivism, barbarism and evil. It turns out that not all of societal norms, practices and customs are morally equivalent. If we maintain merely a few moral axioms we find that some cultural practices are NOT relative, but are ugly and repulsive.
By a few moral axioms I don’t think we have to get too complicated. By moral axioms I mean merely the following: 1) A respect for the dignity and integrity of every human being. 2) A respect for the freedom of each human being. 3) A desire to foster a society where the first two axioms can thrive. That’s it. If we insist upon just these three axioms, we can, and indeed, MUST, make judgements about cultures and religions that are NOT relative.
I make these points because there are those that claim ALL cultures are EQUIVALENT, and this argument is used to turn a blind eye to horrendous cultural and religious practices that are taking place in parts of our world even TODAY.
Now, I do admit that all cultures and religions can be found to have deficiencies. Our own culture can be faulted, for example, in not defending the rights of the unborn (who, of course, can’t defend themselves). Another example might be the human trafficking, sometimes resulting from poverty, sometimes from avarice, that occurs in some Asian cultures even today. It’s also true that cultures can evolve over time and eliminate deplorable practices such as slavery or child labor, and the moral judgements we make on these cultures can change over time as practices and traditions change.
Now, having acknowledged the fact that no one culture is above criticism along these lines, I would like to take a moment to consider a number of very objectionable practices taking place in some Islamic societies even today. I’ll list three:
1) Honor killings. These are almost universally carried out against women. The executioner is often a husband, but it may be a father or even a brother. It’s estimated that nearly 50% of the victims are tortured prior to death. It is true that not every honor death is Islamic, but, as reported recently in the Middle East Quarterly, 91% of honor killings worldwide are committed by Muslims. NINETY ONE PERCENT! And the punishments meted out for this crime in some Islamic countries are EXTREMELY light, when they are meted out at all. In Pakistan, for example, a family can nominate someone to carry out the honor killing of a disobedient (or “Westernized”) daughter. Under Pakistani law, the family is allowed to “forgive” the killer afterward, at which time the murderer WILL NOT BE PROSECUTED.
2) Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Though this is sometimes referred to as “female circumcision” in reality it involves removal of the clitoris and results in decreased sexual pleasure (at best) or often in a life of painful sexual intercourse. The World Health Organization estimates that there are 200 MILLION women alive today that have undergone FGM. Now some apologists claim that FGM is an “Africa problem, not an Islamic problem.” To that claim, I would point out that it takes place NOT just Africa. The National Health Service in England, for example, recently reported that, despite the fact that FGM is illegal in England, the Health Service treated 1,700 cases of FGM between April and October of 2014!
3) Extreme intolerance of homosexuality. In many Islamic cultures, homosexuality is punishable by death. I am not talking about whether the local bakery will or won’t bake a gay wedding cake. I am talking about EXECUTION. For some reason, it has become very popular to execute homosexuals by throwing them off parking garages. Why this method has become popular I don’t know, but I was able to watch a video on line recently of this barbaric practice. It boggles the mind.
There are many other practices that can be brought up: child marriages, wife beatings, stoning or whipping for adultery, strange hygienic practices, and more. But, without going into the details of all of these, my point here is that SOME cultural and religious practices are NOT relative and are NOT morally acceptable, and SHOULD NEVER be tolerated. That includes late term abortions, human trafficking and the deplorable practices described above. I would hope that all people can see beyond the obfuscation of “cultural relativism” and come together to condemn, and ultimately, end these practices. Not as an affront to the cultures and religions involved but as compassion for ALL humanity