While promoting humanism and skepticism in Senegal and Gambia recently, I constantly heard people talk about the importance of tradition and culture. The consequences of tradition and culture did not seem to matter to their defenders. Some people defended female genital mutilation in the name of tradition and culture. Some defended female subjugation in the name of tradition and culture. Some defended alternative medicine and a belief in the supposed power of magical charms in the name of tradition and culture. Some defended the killing of witches in the name of tradition and culture.
Tradition and culture are practically worshipped throughout the world. In the U.S., White supremacists defended slavery and segregation in the name of tradition and culture. White South Africans defended apartheid in the name of tradition and culture. Indeed, tradition and culture can be used to rationalize the same kinds of crimes against humanity rationalized by religion.
Many—if not most—people seem to believe their traditions and cultures are simply unassailable. They believe that any kind of changes to their way of life would show disrespect to their ancestors. This is especially true in Africa, where ancestor worship is prevalent.
As critical thinkers, we must realize that there are good and bad traditions. Only a fool or a knave wants to preserve harmful practices simply because they have become habitual throughout the population. Why is it such a radical idea to preserve good traditions while discarding bad ones?
While I was in Africa I noticed vibrant, positive cultures and traditions. I noticed beautiful African clothing and hairstyles. I enjoyed great African music and dance. I was greeted with African hospitality wherever I went. I ate delicious African food. These are the kinds of traditions we must preserve.
After Senegal and Gambia I traveled to Uganda. The Ugandan Humanists Association (UHASSO) oversees a humanist school, the Humanist Academy, in the village of Kampiringisa. They had to clear a wooded area in order to build the school. This is the only school in the area. However, in the beginning, many parents in the area would not send their children to the school because they believed that the wooded area was filled with evil spirits. When traditional beliefs get in the way of children’s education, even the staunchest traditionalist needs to wake up and smell the coffee.
Cultural relativism is largely responsible for the rationalization of harmful traditions and cultural beliefs and practices. Many believe that it is wrong for more powerful countries to “impose” their beliefs on weaker ones. For example, they believe it is wrong for the U.S. to use its influence to condemn the practices of the Taliban or the virtue police in Saudi Arabia.
However, this stance is largely hypocritical, because people in weaker countries and their apologists think nothing of condemning the U.S. They will criticize the U.S. for hedonism, pornography, vulgar books, films, music, and television shows, etc. Yet they will say the U.S. has no right to condemn misogyny and homophobia in the Arab world, machismo in Latin America, the abuse of dogs in the Philippines, and so forth.
Someone once said, “Every nation ridicules every other, and all are right.” This is far closer to the truth than the absurd notion that all cultural practices are equally acceptable. Moreover, it is important to understand that human rights are universal and must be defended in all cultures and in every nation.
Animal welfare should also be a chief concern of caring human beings. When I was in Gambia I visited a traditional magic man. He gave me a set of beads and said that if I prayed over them, my wishes would come true. However, he added that, for good measure, I should kill a sheep. Other medicine men break the legs of living chickens and inflict cruelty on other animals in numerous ways. In the U.S., Haiti and other countries, voodoo priests slaughter animals in rituals. One can only imagine how much needless pain, suffering and death have been inflicted upon innocent animals in superstitious practices.
Culture is not static. African Muslims and Christians who brag about their religious traditions seem to forget that their ancestors were animists that were oppressed by Muslims and Christians. Conservative women in the U.S. that brag about tradition should recognize that they did not get the right to vote until 1920. How far back do they really want to turn the clock in the name of tradition?
Another problem is that nostalgia often blinds people to the positive aspects of the present-day reality. For example, many conservative African Americans look fondly upon the days before the civil rights movement when African Americans had thriving business districts in U.S. towns and cities. However, they conveniently forget about the violence inflicted upon them by the Ku Klux Klan, the racist caricatures of Black people in the mainstream media, and so forth. Indeed, he spoke great words who said, “Nostalgia is what you get when you combine a rich imagination with a poor memory.”
The great Filipino activist Jose Rizal broke with tradition. Rosa Parks, who kick-started the U.S. civil rights movement, broke with tradition. Martin Luther King broke with tradition. Malcolm X broke with tradition. Galileo broke with tradition. The U.S. abolitionist John Brown broke with tradition. Indeed, where would the world be if such great individuals lacked the courage and the good sense to break with tradition?
Tradition and culture can be mental and physical prisons and graveyards. Good traditions must be retained, but bad traditions have simply got to go.
CFI SUMMIT
OCTOBER 24-27 2013
TACOMA, WASHINGTON
Joint Conference of the Council for Secular Humanism, Center for Inquiry, and Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
The transnational secular humanist magazine
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