Culture and Respect

[kılıç_mehmet]

It was a side-note to the conversation. He mentioned cannibalism being stopped because of public health (prions), which is an example of intervention in a cultural practice. We began discussing prions from there.

Well, not all cannibals eat brains. But those who do usually do so in order to consume some form of a spiritual energy. It is closely intervined with aborginal beliefs, such as the Maori.
After the British invaded New Zealand, the practice stopped.
A similar belief was human sacrifice in Central and South America, where the mighty tribes captured people from the weaker tribes for sacrifice, but when the Spanish came, and conquered all, and forced their religion upon them, it ceased to be.
So, might makes right, as it seems. But were they right in forbidding them their age-old custom of human sacrifice? One ought to consult a third party there, and for the Spanish, that third party was God. Their religion was opposed to human sacrifice, and they forced their religion on the natives to stop it, who embraced it mainly because they realized that not sacrficing humans did not make the world go under, i.e. their God was beaten by the God of the invaders, so they converted.

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Well, might makes right, friend. It always did, and it still does so. History proves it.

History proves nothing more than that people believed it. But just because you are mightier than someone doesn't make your heinous actions "right" or "good."

Well, since this thread is all about relativism, tell me why I should calibrate my right-o meter according to your specifications.