Cultural Truths

Cultural Truths.

"Does our culture determine our truth? And what does our rejection of other people's truths look like, from an individualistic to a nationalistic perspective?"

The first characteristic of truth is that it corresponds with reality. But from being immersed within one culture to judging another culture, we would always be prone to bias.

The second, and more objectively measurable, characteristic of truth is that it is free from contradiction. Such contradictions should be self evident even to those participants within their own culture.

Truth in regard to cultures relates to cultural truths; societal truths and not scientific truths. Scientific truths about our World should be independent of culture since by definition they would need to be repeatable and verifiable within each.

And so cultural truths relate to our value; to those things that we would hope to hold true for ourselves. That is to those things that participants, within a culture, value both positively and negatively. Hence they may not be objectively true like the Scientific truths, but we hold them as true because that is what we value and appreciate, and what we would want our children to value and appreciate. The first characteristic of truth can have no bearing here. However the second is tell tale of who we really are.

For the most obvious contradictions within cultural systems occur when there is a disparity between values as they are promoted and values as they are enacted. That is when hypocrisy is present within the enactment of values that we hold dear to ourselves, or when the values that we deride appear within ourselves.

Off course whilst we might be able to judge other cultures based upon this criterion, it would be prudent to first judge our own. "People in glass houses should not throw stones".

So we must ask of ourselves, "Are we hypocritical in the values that we promote, or hold true".

And then we would, if true, experience severe trauma.

For,

Are not Palestinian Children the most worthy of Children's rights. Whilst they are unjustly criminalised and held without trial behind Isreali bars? And we, by saying nothing, condone such savagery?

Is not Hamas a democratically elected body? And yet the international community feigns to ignore its legitimacy.

Why is a man that caused a war, by a malicious lie, still honoured in these isles and abroad? That is whilst hundreds of thousands of people have died for not making Iraq a better place.

In these terms our cultural truths are proven to be the worst.

And then we have so little regard for other people's truths because they do not fit with ours.

By this measure our rejection of their truths is solely bigotry.

Shafeesthoughts :)


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