Penile Pasting > Vaginal Evisceration?

[Random]

Re: Penile Pasting > Vaginal Evisceration?

How do we balance a sense of non-interference with a responsibility to relieve suffering in our fellow humans?

Through education, minus the stern nun and her yardstick/paddle.

And patience. Lord knows, our own culture took awhile before the famous phrase "all men [and women] are created equal" is finally embraced ... and we still have a long way to go.

[salmoned]

Re: Penile Pasting > Vaginal Evisceration?

The very idea of trying to balance those incompatible positions is abhorrent to reason. 'Educating the ignorant' concerning OUR moral beliefs is is tantamount to claiming moral superiority - the mother with 3 children, 2 of which were mutilated with her consent, now, as a result of outsider 'moral education', needlessly suffers guilt for having allowed the practice. Why must our moral values be impressed on other cultures? If one can accept the perversity of our own cultural practices, why can't one accept the perversity of other cultural practices? Have we hit upon a better system? Or the best system? One measure of the quality of a system is its longevity - which has been around longer? Which leads to a more stable or more viable society? More importantly, why must 'One World Order' be adopted by all? If anyone desires to 'relieve suffering', let them do it in their own neighborhood - there's plenty of suffering right at home [or next door]. After we solve our own societal problems, maybe we'll have enough insight to help [or to not help] others. Admittedly, taking care of your own dirty laundry is not half as fun as meddling in the affairs of others.

The concept of 'human rights violations' is cultural. A human rights violation for one may be a religious/cultural mandate for another. As well, relief from pain and suffering is not an absolute good [or a one-way street]. For instance, if we feed/heal/educate starving millions today, will we be able to feed/heal/educate the starving billions they produce tomorrow? Are we then also openly accepting responsibility for the multiplication of suffering directly resulting from our 'good deeds' of today [or those of yesterday]?

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Penile Pasting > Vaginal Evisceration?

The very idea of trying to balance those incompatible positions is abhorrent to reason.

And yet, many of us can live each day without having a problem doing so. The ability to grasp positions that are in conflict with your own is an amazing tool; it causes one to redefine "incompatible" in a search for solutions.

[salmoned]

Re: Penile Pasting > Vaginal Evisceration?

So true. Unfortunate, but true. People fighting global warming while jetting around the globe, etc. 'We respect your culture, now change it because we can't tolerate your practices', eh? We're not talking about conflicting positions, we're talking about not butting in where we don't belong and haven't earned a voice. We're talking about either creating 'one world order', one set of rules everyone must follow, or allowing diverse cultures/governments to determine their own practices. I choose to advocate for the latter (Despite my own culture physically and emotionally scarring me in my infancy, as noted above) because that system works.

[Adri]

Re: Penile Pasting > Vaginal Evisceration?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,...est=latestnews

This is much more akin to female genital mutilation than circumcision.