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Originally Posted by afa
Very well said, and I agree.
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Thank you.
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Speaking as a Muslim (officially, at least) I find that an interesting take on the prohibition against pork. Never thought of it that way...
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Every society has taboos and behaviors that may seem odd or even abhorrent to an outsider. If you look closely enough, all such things stem from the dictates of survival, and at one time helped to preserve the society which evolved them. The problem is that societies evolve for the same reason organisms do: to adapt to changes in the environment in which they live. Practices developed for the survival of the group may actually become anti-survival if the environment changes, but cultural patterns change with glacial slowness.
An example is that fact that sex outside of marriage by an unmarried woman is punishable by death by stoning in some societies. Dig a little, and the reasons become apparent. In such societies, functions that might be performed by local governments here are performed by family networks. Such societies often also have arranged marriages. Marriage in such societies is not a love match between a man and a woman: it's a political and economic alliance between families, made by the families for the benefit of the families. The feelings of the bride and groom may not be considered, and the arrangements may in fact be made when both are too young to
have feelings about it.
In such a society, a young unmarried woman is valuable currency in negotiating family alliances. Family alliances are crucial, because any effort you might undertake requires the cooperation of others and blood ties are important methods of securing cooperation. A young woman who loses her virginity outside of marriage becomes debased currency, damaging the critical relationships between families, and destabilizing her society. No surprise the society should evolve draconian punishments to try to keep it from happening.
The society I live in looks at arranged marriages with blank incomprehension and death by stoning with horror, but it stems from different roots and evolved different customs. The functions served by family networks over there are handled otherwise here. The key point is that the culture you grow up in is what you consider right and normal. People from cultures which still practice arranged marriages may often think our idea of marriage as a love match between a man and woman is barking mad, and wonder what love has to do with marriage. From their perspective, it doesn't, and our notions
are barking mad.
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Dennis