Cultural Relativism

Although I did not pay much attention to the proof of cultural relativism, I do agree with many of the statements James Rachel explains in the article. The statements made are true for the general majority of humanity, and I would hope that in reading the article, many people would realize that they should be more open-minded. Rachel put it perfectly when he said that "our own way of living seems so natural and right that for many of us it is hard to conceive of others living so differently." Many people tend to forget that their own way of life is not the way for the entire world.
I especially liked the section where Rachel states "when we examine what seems to be a dramatic difference, we find that the cultures do not differ nearly as much as it appears." When faced with a "dramatic difference" more people should take a step back and ask why the other culture is that way. "Many factors work together to produce the customs of a society. The society's values are only of them...The difference is in our belief systems, not in our values." Humanity as a whole generally agrees that murder is wrong, but the other little, "strange" cultural beliefs usually have a story or reasoning behind them. And, personally, I find these strories to be really interesting most of the time. Not eating cows because of reincarnation, and eskimos limiting the number of infants because of their hard and somewhat dangerous lifestyle all make a lot more sense when the reason why is understood.
This article reminded me a lot of Things fall Apart and just American history in general. The white man comes in, believing that every other belief system is primitive and stupid, and he brutally attempts to wipe out an entire culture without even trying to understand the other side. And now, having recently seen the new movie Avatar, I can easily relate this article to that movie. The blue people were very spiritual on their planet, much like the indians. However, in hopes of financial gain, our people came and destroyed many of the important spiritual focal points.
Basically, the main point of this article is to keep and open mind, and to not reject something just because it is different. Different cultural societies put more weight on different aspects of society, with due reason. Personally, I think more people should be like King Darius who "thought that a sophisticated understanding of the world must include an appreciation of differences between cultures." Don't make judgements and don't assume...because when you A-S-S-U-M-E you make an A-S-S- of -U- and -M-E.