On Mon, 25 Oct 1999, Kelly Lynn Martin wrote:
> Every cultural group should be free to make its own choices amongst
> morally neutral practices (the classic example of this being whether
> one cremates or buries one's dead); but no cultural group has any
> right to maintain a morally reprehensible cultural practice, with no
> regard given to whether the practice itself is consider morally
> justified within that culture.
A practice that is morally neutral under most circumstances is not
necessarily morally neutral in ALL circumstances. Fro example, the above
example is a very real issue of sanitation in those communities and
cultures where a good portion of the land is beneath the water table. As a
guess, the Dutch probably tend to cremate rather than bury. Which brings
up the example of what happens to observant jews who die in the
Netherlands? (random morbid curiosity) Or Muslims, since they follow the
same law.
--
_Deirdre * http://www.linuxcabal.net * http://www.deirdre.net
"Mars has been a tough target" -- Peter G. Neumann, Risks Digest Moderator
"That's because the Martians keep shooting things down." -- Harlan Rosenthal
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, retorting in Risks Digest 20.60
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