"You may be called upon to make the first advance into the midst of entire tribes that have never known any kind of government control, where people are a law unto themselves and where savagery is the way of life..." (page 69/70)
This passage intrigued me in the novel "Peace Child" because it shows how an untouched, uncivilized culture without law accepts and embraces cruelty, and demonstrates that treachery is honoured. Is demonic behaviour man's instinct and natural way of being? This made me question the impulses which exist among human beings; should we live by the rules, in a peaceful way? Or seek out instant gratification through violence to exhibit our sovereignty among others? In the case of the Sawi tribe and Don Richardson it is savagery vs. civilization. Because of the way I've been raised (back to the world of cell phones and french fries) I have been accustomed and been persuaded to believe that savagery is evil and the civilized world is good - much like Tolstoy's belief where Christ is light and secularism is darkness. Today we think we are decent, 'we are the kind of people who would never dismount and perform sadistic cruel practices.' We only know what we know - the passage strained the wheels turning in my head. Would I too have been like the Sawi if I had been born into the world lacking government control? Do you think you would have adapted to their way way of life - or do you strongly believe you have a moral compass within you which would have led you in the right direction?
"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."
-Article 1 from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
2 comments:
Sharssa - I really enjoyed your blog. You are a talented student. I read each blog and commented on each one but somehow it didn't show. I am so sorry but you did get a good grade. Mrs.Mc.
Are we civilized? It disturbed me a little seeing how you automatically classified our society as "civilized", which I obviously don't agree with. I'm sure that the Sawi, at least before the intrusion of the missionaries, thought themselves civilized; even Stone Age people, when they first made the wheel, probably thought that they were pretty civilized. Personally, I think that men (and women) will always be barbarians. Even in our modern "civilized" culture, we love cruelty; why else would wrestling and boxing and Super Bowl and horror movies and so on be so popular? Laws simply restrict us in our never-ending quest for evil. But then again, maybe I'm being too pessimistic. It wouldn't be so bad - or even hard - to make myself believe that we are in fact civilized.
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