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As I read it, "human males that are marrying 10 year old females" is not a homogenous group.  Some cultures may (I don't know--and who is an expert on all cultures?) marry their children at 10, but the children won't live together (maybe in a separate hut) until after the puberty rites have finished.  And then they're free to divorce, maybe, but they then become brother and sister--

--and who lives in a single culture?  There is my culture, my personal habits and beliefs, which interacts with the various cultures of the people I have regular contact with, out to the people I will never meet but maybe read about, and on out, to the edges of nature, to the edge of the atmosphere, up into the electrical regions...maybe one of the leading researchers in quantum mechanics has grandparents who were married at ten, lived happily, and so she has no in-built prejudice against the institution...

...so which institutions are evil?

Religion (Rumi; Lao Tse; Krishnamurti)--are they humans or gods?  And what do their gods say about humans?  And can we understand what they say; can we imagine (or fantasise) the structure of the culture, the lives--how were they lived?

Well, how are they lived right now?  Whose culture is malign?  Whose individual culture is destructive of the wider cultures; who seeks to limit human experience through words.  Some gods don't go away just because people stop believing in them.  Imagine a sun worshipper from maybe 400BC--pick a country--and then wake them up exactly where they died, first thing in the morning, just as the sun breaks the horizon.

The sun!  The god rises!

Two weeks later they have enrolled in a course--because she is intelligent.  Now, is worshipping the sun a religion?

The way I'm understanding these conversations is...that we need to find out who's in charge, coz things are fucked up, guv.  And the BIG BIG fuck ups (killing)...or maybe killing isn't a big fuck up?  War...Dying means the sun goes out--for you.  No more sun god.  Or maybe when you die you expand--whoosh!--up and out, finally!, but no....there's gravity pulling you back for another swing round--okay, people believe crazy things, but they act within various boundaries--and each culture needs a means of dealing with sadists--those who turn against the tribe; (I'm in your tribe: I would like to have a U.N. passport--I would only be allowed to travel in countries recognised by and recognising the U.N.  I would swear allegiance to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories."
PREAMBLE

    Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

    Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

    Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

    Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

    Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

    Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

    Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Article 1.

    All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.



Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.
by rg (leopold dot lepster at google mail dot com) on Tue Jan 22nd, 2008 at 05:46:23 PM EST
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