In today’s world, it is hard to understand the
premise of cultural relativism. It’s hard for me to understand how the Islamic
culture, for instance, has any meaningful use in society and how it relates to
the Catholic culture I grew up in. After reading James Rachels’ article “The
Challenge of Cultural Relativism”, the one thing that stood out to me was when
he wrote, “There is no ‘universal truth’ in ethics- that is there are no moral
truths that hold for all peoples at all times”(p. 53). I found this statement
to not be true as the one thing I found that I could relate to throughout all
cultures was the common goal that every culture shared. Each culture’s people
are supposed to be set out to have the goal of helping others to advance their
culture and people in society. Whether it’s the new, technologically innovative
culture of the United States or the rugged Eskimo culture where infants are
killed, the common goal of the culture is to further the people’s place in
society to increase their chances of surviving. By no means do I agree that
killing infants is good, but I can see that the Eskimos do this so no child has
to suffer and don’t force others to suffer as well, therefore strengthening the
culture instead of hindering it. I can see the common goal of all cultures in Things Fall Apart as two distinctly
different cultures both look to strengthen their culture and to help other
members’ out. The Umoufia clan, with their sacrifices and war history, use
violence to make peace with their Gods so the clan, the families, and their
crops can continue to prosper and not falter. Sacrificing a son, like
Ikemefuna, keeps the peace so the multiple people can prosper instead of just
saving one life. The Christian missionaries, on the other hand, focus on peaceful
promises to attract people away from violence and to provide a safe place for
the outcasts. Two different cultures both with the same goal to create
stability and peace throughout their culture. Personally, I don’t see any
positives to killing infants, sacrificing kids, or sending terrorists to kill
others for their faith. However, I do see that these actions are believed by
these cultures to be actions that better their culture and their society.
