Michael T D Nelson wrote:
Hi Tim,
This is completely off-topic, but I feel as though I should say
something...
tim hall wrote:
Carotinho wrote:
Example: female mutilations in Africa. They are practiced sometimes
by mothers to their own daughters, since they thinks it's right.
Should they be _free_ to think,
I think you've just insulted their culture.
I think that we have to draw a line somewhere between things which are
simply cultural differences, and things which shouldn't be allowed,
regardless of culture.
Sometimes a culture needs to change.
As a much-abused example, one might have argued that slavery was once
part of the culture of many places. However, this simply isn't reason
enough to allow the slavery to continue.
Similarly, people frequently use the argument "But it's traditional" to
support all sorts of things (in particular, I'm thinking of fox hunting
in south-west England).
Personally, I love history and tradition, but I do not think that this
argument automatically outweighs others.
I am actually inclined to agree with you on all these points.
Genital mutilation is horrible in my opinion, but how about we
consider male circumcision or purdah.
Male circumcision isn't the same thing as "female circumcision".
I know. I wanted to change perspective to an issue with a more complex
answer. Freedom, by nature appears to defy pinning down, as one person's
freedom so often turns out to be anothers' limitation. Freedom to earn a
living, freedom to defend one's self and one's way of life even freedom
of expression can all get rather tricky. Free software is no different.
It's easy to be moralistic and idealistic but to change a culture you
have to at least understand it if not be part of it. Controlling it via
rules and regulations requires a vast bureaucracy to administrate it,
which does little for personal freedoms. Round and round in circles,
please don't take it personally if I shut up on this subject now. ;)
cheers,
tim hall
