[Dean's World] Dave Price: Great Moments in Cultural Exchange

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Posted by Dave Price:
Great Moments in Cultural Exchange
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1143773388.shtml


   I'd heard this story before, but was reminded of it by a [1]link to
   Mark Steyn on [2]TKS:

     In a more culturally confident age, the British in India were faced
     with the practice of "suttee" =E2 the tradition of burning widows on
     the funeral pyres of their husbands. General Sir Charles Napier was
     impeccably multicultural:
     "You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also
     have a custom: When men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around
     their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it,
     my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And
     then we will follow ours."

   That seems about right. He doesn't "respect their right to practice
   their culture," nor does he gratuitously belittle them. He just tells
   them what they're doing is wrong and explains the consequences of
   their choice to continue following a barbaric custom that was
   [3]apparently not all that widespread or popular anyway.
   I'm curious what Indian readers think of this, if any happen to read
   this and would care to comment.
   On a totally unrelated note, [4]this has some interesting predictions
   about the nature of future science (via [5]GeekPress).

References

   1. http://www.suntimes.com/output/steyn/cst-edt-steyn261.html
   2. http://tks.nationalreview.com/
   3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suttee
   4. http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/kelly06/kelly06_index.html
   5. http://www.geekpress.com/