@Campo, I don't think anybody is going to argue about your decency in helping the girl pick up her bike, but not all of your examples are like that.
@Neddy: I agree with a lot of what you say, but saying that things are 'cultural' doesn't make them sacred - culture is in the process of change all the time, and there's nothing wrong with reasoning about what those changes might be. So I don't spit on the street, and nobody is offended by my not spitting. But I agree with you about not Commanding people to adopt what I may think of as better practices, first because I'm not so smart as to think I'll always be right in doing so and secondly because it offends people and is likely to be counterproductive.
And Campo, I'm not saying that you do this, but you often write as if you do.
None of this should be hard to understand. It's not cultural differences that have to be a problem, it's that cultural arrogance almost always is.
@Campo: I agree, everything within your perimeter is indeed your responsibility, but your perimeter intersects those of others at some point so that much of it is within their perimeter too, they may have different ideas about responsibility, and unless they've elected you General it's a good idea to work out what the responsibilities are collectively. IMHO.
@Campo: I didn't see anything about AIP, which sounds scary, on the site, but I didn't search it thoroughly. Although I'm not terribly worried about the dangers of vaccinations (although it seems the jury is still out on some of them), it does bother me when the state wants to be my father. Parents are, ipso facto bottom line, authoritarians, and sometimes act as if their children are private possessions; when the state assumes parenthood of the people (e.g., confucian ideology, which is not dead in China, and also among marxist-leninists), the people have little recourse, and considerable tendencies, to behave like children.
Then again, there is a significant amount of bad parenting around, and I think kids should be considered to have 'rights'.
Who's to decide these things?
I kind of liked the atmosphere around the old Workers' Cultural Palace, and I'm not seduced by the identification of tall buildings with 'progress'. As for the name - "what's in a name"? Perhaps the state might ease off a bit about presenting us all with the identities that they would like us to have.
@ Tiger: as you say, for many societies. But the issue of wealth and power often seems to play a part in differing levels of religious attachment among different classes and subgroups within a 'people' as well, as well as in differing types and degrees of attachment.
Religions from 'abroad' have been accepted all over the place for a long time - e.g., the acceptance of forms of Christianity by Germans, Ethiopians, Mexicans, etc. at different times in history. The idea of climate change is different, unless you want to categorize scientific methodology itself as a religious doctrine, which can lead to an interesting philosophical argument, but I don't think we ought to go into it here.
@ octobersky: OK, but the fact is that religious beliefs change over time anyway, at least partially as a function of changes in material circumstances - e.g., rain gods are just not going to remain as important to people who, in their daily lives, are decreasingly reliant on rainfall. So I don't think it can all be seen as a simple matter of native-religion-appropriate/religion-from-outside bad - it's not simply some matter of 'brainwashing' imposed from the outside, since a real 'brainwash' would require complete control over local minds etc., which is always an impossibility, even with a lot more information control than any bunch of missionaries ever had.
Not quite what you'd call a jumping place, but not bad at all for rather standard US-type meals, not overly expensive, and with a really good salad bar that's cheap, or free with most dinner dishes after 5:30PM. You can get a bottle of beer or even wine if you really want to, but I've never seen anybody do it - maybe that's just to take out. Chinese Christian run, and they hire people with physical disadvantages, who are pleasant and helpful. Frequented by foreign (mostly North American) Christians and Chinese Christians - was started by a Canadian couple associated with Bless China (previously, Project Grace), who are no longer here, but no religious pressure or any of that. Steaks are nothing special, and I avoid the Korean dishes, which I've had a few times but which did not impress me.
As a shop and bakery, it's very good bread at reasonable prices, of various kinds (Y18 for a good multigrain loaf that certainly weighs well over a pound. Other stuff too, like granola and oatmeal that is local, as well as imported things, including American cornflakes and so forth, which some people seem to require.
Large portions, seriously so with the pizza, which is Brooklyn/American style, I guess. Convivial, conversational, good place to drink with good folks on both sides of the bar, especially after about 9PM.
Committee proposes renaming Kunming's Dongfeng Square
发布者I kind of liked the atmosphere around the old Workers' Cultural Palace, and I'm not seduced by the identification of tall buildings with 'progress'. As for the name - "what's in a name"? Perhaps the state might ease off a bit about presenting us all with the identities that they would like us to have.
Celebrating a Miao Christmas in Yunnan
发布者@ Tiger: as you say, for many societies. But the issue of wealth and power often seems to play a part in differing levels of religious attachment among different classes and subgroups within a 'people' as well, as well as in differing types and degrees of attachment.
Celebrating a Miao Christmas in Yunnan
发布者Religions from 'abroad' have been accepted all over the place for a long time - e.g., the acceptance of forms of Christianity by Germans, Ethiopians, Mexicans, etc. at different times in history. The idea of climate change is different, unless you want to categorize scientific methodology itself as a religious doctrine, which can lead to an interesting philosophical argument, but I don't think we ought to go into it here.
Getting Away: Descent into a giant Guizhou sinkhole
发布者Looks like some pretty challenging climbing - congratulations for having a go at it.
Celebrating a Miao Christmas in Yunnan
发布者@ octobersky: OK, but the fact is that religious beliefs change over time anyway, at least partially as a function of changes in material circumstances - e.g., rain gods are just not going to remain as important to people who, in their daily lives, are decreasingly reliant on rainfall. So I don't think it can all be seen as a simple matter of native-religion-appropriate/religion-from-outside bad - it's not simply some matter of 'brainwashing' imposed from the outside, since a real 'brainwash' would require complete control over local minds etc., which is always an impossibility, even with a lot more information control than any bunch of missionaries ever had.