In order to protect certain inalienable, universal human rights, a just society must place a limit on its tolerance of the practices of other, less just societies. This statement seems innocuous enough, and repeated aloud in most social circles in the U.S. or Europe it is unlikely to draw harsh opposition. Some may even deride it as being a statement of the obvious. Considering, however, that the West is scarcely more than a century removed from the age of colonialism and slavery, perhaps we should be a little shy about affirming any ideology that alludes to concepts like inalienable, universal, or just. […]
Entries Tagged as 'Cultural Diversity'
In the Eyes of the Beholder
Female Genital Surgeries and the Illegitimacy of Universal Human Rights
January 3rd, 2007 · Written by Les Beldo · No Comments
The Best of Intentions
January 3rd, 2007 · Written by Jason Glover · No Comments
Once in a while a friend or relative will inform me, enthusiastically ecstatic, that they are headed off to some foreign land for missionary work. Unassailable on their moral high ground and armed with benevolent yet insidious weaponry – you know, peachy platitudes like vaccines, schools, modernization – their eyes twinkle with altruistic intentions as they expect me to share in their “doing the right thing” intoxication.
Righteous delusions aside, the reality of the situation is that each of these potential mouthpieces for Judeo-Christian cosmology are complicit in an ongoing catastrophe. […]
→ No CommentsTags: Opinion · Cultural Diversity · Extinction · Foreign Aid · Indigenous
Symbiotic Relationship
How Technology is Saving the Rainforest
January 3rd, 2007 · Written by Jason Glover · No Comments
To some, the technological prowess of our culture is seen as the ultimate destructive mechanization – responsible for everything from our current global ecological crisis to the general feelings of isolation and loneliness afflicting the modern world.
But is this necessarily the case? […]
→ No CommentsTags: Current Events · Cultural Diversity · Indigenous · Internet · Technology
Sustaining the Variety of Life
November 3rd, 2005 · Written by Les Beldo · No Comments
A frequent criticism of the popular television series Star Trek: The Next Generation centered around the unremarkable physical appearance of its various alien species. In nearly every episode, the crew of the starship Enterprise would encounter a “new” civilization– a society of life-forms that had supposedly developed in complete isolation from other worlds. Amazingly, the overwhelming majority of these aliens barely differed in appearance from humans, typically distinguished by a small wrinkle on their forehead or nose. This absurdity prompted a critic on Trek’s own website to dub them “Forehead Aliens of the Week.” Even more preposterous than their physical similarity to humans, however, was the utter lack of divergent philosophies and sociopolitical ideals exhibited by these “aliens.”