> How do you resolve problems that stem from cultural/historical
> pathologies? Surely, in the west, the "belief" that property is more
> important than life is also a pathology. And that belief is responsible
> for as great a degree of soul and body murder as the sexual butchery
> that organizes tribal life in Africa. This is not a trivial question and
> the solutions aren't easy. But I refuse, refuse, refuse to accept a
> cultural relativism that basically just sweeps everything under the rug.
>
> Joanna
I guess I'm more cautious about assuming my moral superiority. What do you say to African women who claim that your position is an example of imperialism? Once again, the noble whites have to demonstrate to backwards Africans how to live in a "civilized" way.
This issue is way more complicated than you want it to be: substitute any of the cultural practices we engage in for FGM: do you honestly believe some group (with more military might or financial power than we have) should dictate to us--for our own good--that we abandon something we consider to be important to our way of life?
Moral standards are not self-evident or universal; this has been well documented in historical and anthropological research. I guess people don't think through the consequences of this: if there is no universally agreed upon gold standard for morality, then it is incoherent for anyone to claim that the moral standards in one society should be used to judge the behavior in another.
Cultural relativism? I guess. But I think it's important to keep in mind that moral certitude through the ages (think the Crusades, the Inquisition, the rise of the Nazis, Vietnam, Iraq today) have led to far more chaos and problems than the position I'm outlining above.
Is that an argument in my favor? --Depends on your moral standards!
Miles