This month our issue was guided: the ideas and core values evidenced by the theory of cultural relativism. In short, cultural relativism states that every society is unique, and that nobody has the right to criticize the society or the beliefs of another person as being objectively correct or incorrect, only that they should be judged as different. The clear connection here is between our society, and that of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart.
It is for that reason that I am going to throw that example out the window. It's TOO obvious a connection, and a boring one to have to spell out for people who already know its logical conclusions. I'd like to take this instead idea to task in Oedipus. I think that this idea strikes closer to home in that way. Our modern American society is derived (in part) from the beliefs and systems of our Roman ancestors (not to disregard the Germans or Saxons, but let's focus on the Romans for now). The Romans considered the Greeks to be highly advanced. They respected the achievements and culture of the Greeks, incorporating many Greek achievements and beliefs into the Roman society. War machines is an obvious example, but not the only one. Food, music, architecture, all were either direct copies of Greek achievements, or were influenced by them. Consider architecture; what is the difference between a Greek column and a Roman column? A student of architecture would find such ignorance insulting in the extreme, and could hold an hour-long debate on the merits of each. Consider, however, an analogy; if I were to take a Hershey bar and put it in a Snickers wrapper, would it stop being a Hershey bar? The same holds true for the architecture of the Romans. A column by any other name is still a column, and in many cases the column was the biggest difference between two such buildings.
Now let's take a look at Oedipus. We, in our modern society, are appalled at the fact that Oedipus killed his father. And yet, Greek society would have permitted it. The Greeks were an honor-based society, and valued their pride and achievements above all else. Therefore, the greatest insult to a Greek would have been one directed at his honor, rather than a perceived lack of ability at writing literature or for having a crooked nose. Arguments over family honor often turned into blood feuds which would span decades, and result in massive bloodshed. Moreover, we as Americans aren't free from the stigma of killing our fathers or brothers either. The American Civil War is rife with stories of friend killing friend, brother killing brother, and fathers killing sons over their beliefs. The Revolutionary War went even further, having fathers label their sons traitors and their sons labeling fathers as cowards, all while STILL killing each other.
Thus, who are we to criticize Oedipus for killing his father, for reasons the Greeks themselves would have found acceptable. Granted the provocation might have been relatively minor considering it was a father and his son, but neither party was aware of the fact, and so for both of them the duel was perfectly acceptable in their eyes, and in fact necessary for both parties to live or die with their honor intact.
Fast-forward to modern day, let's take a look at the new crusade; the war on terror in Afghanistan. We, as America, are still in Afghanistan to hunt down and fight terrorists wherever we can find them. Well and good, personally I believe that the war must continue or our own children will fight it again in 20 years. Chechnya is a good case-in-point. However, the war on terror has led to vast misconceptions regarding Islamic culture and beliefs. The modern media would have us believe that muslims are all wearing semtex vests under their white turbans and overly long beards. That's not true at all, but we as Americans see it that way because all of those who have wronged us in Afghanistan and in 9/11 used the Islamic religion as justification for their actions. The same stereotyping would occur if the terrorists had declared war on hamburgers or apple pie. We as Americans find ourselves in a unique position; that of the world's only remaining superpower (at least for now). China is rising, and Russia was once as great as ourselves (and some would argue that Russia is making a comeback under Putin's almost-dictatorship, me among them). It is our responsibility as the world's superpower to ensure that we do not fall into stereotypical responses to different cultures. Rather we must set the example for other nations to follow.
I disagree with Cultural Relativism because of the premise that there is no right or wrong between various cultures. Well by that logic, there is no right and wrong at all, and morals are just a myth or a bedtime story for little children. Morals and beliefs change, but there are still universal constants. The Ten Commandments are possibly the best place to start when it comes to understanding western cultures and their ideals. All ten commandments were a part of western society at one point or another, and many still are today. Muslims do not hold the same ideals, and yet they abhor murder for example. Thieves in Islamic countries face dangerous lives too. In Islamic cultures, it is customary to punish a thief by cutting off his or her hand. We as Christians would find that barbaric, but Muslims might find our practice of locking such people in a metal box for twenty years to be barbaric as well. There are universal morals however in that stealing is wrong and must be punished. The "how" of that punishment IS open to cultural debate, and if such a debate were to rage for millennia there would be no clear answer. What is important is that all cultures hold certain truths to be self-evident, and thus I disagree with Cultural Relativism because the core beliefs upon which it is founded have been proven false. A solidly built house on a sand foundation will still collapse, often under its own weight, and theories such as this are no different. The foundation of Cultural Relativism is flawed and thus collapses under its own weight.
Good David!
ReplyDelete