When we hear about, read or see scenes from particular times and places, we may be struck by the practices of the people in that place or that time. Killing a young woman to appease the gods is not something we believe in today but I believe there were times and places where people thought it was necessary. There may be people who are still convinced that beating a child or a dog regularly helps the child grow up on the right path or a dog to be brave or obedient but I think the number of such convinced persons is low, and dwindling, I hope.
If, whether through training and upbringing or thoughtful conviction or both, a person believes something deeply, it may be difficult for others, especially in a later time and place where different ideas are held, to understand or sympathize with that person's ideas. Morality and interpersonal relations are likely areas. I have read about ages and times where convictions of one type of human superiority or inferiority were very strong, sometimes assumed without awareness or examination by many generations.
Yesterday, I was introduced to the book by the Catholic theologian and professor Paul F. Knitter called "Without Buddha, I Could Not be a Christian". In it, the author reviews different questions and puzzles of human life and refers to another of his church's thinker's confession that many of life's puzzles and questions related to "pelvic issues". I think that is a very astute phrase. Our pelvises are indeed related to passion, very long-time unions, loneliness, and the very complex matter of the creation and nurture of the next generations.
However, there are many other areas where our convictions change. In many eras, there was no need for speed limits or traffic lights. When I read about deep convictions that wealth = gold and I think of the 500 billion dollars or so that Apple computers and their commercial cousins have earned, I feel sorry for Spanish soldiers tromping through jungles and slaying native peoples in a search for riches. They just didn't understand that good ideas are wealth, too. They could have been sitting at home thinking!
In the Great Course "Why Evil Exists", Prof. Charles Mathews never actually admits that he doesn't really have a single, solid answer but he discusses all sorts of interesting pathways and alleys through the subject. At one point, he tells about a speech by Heinrich Himmler, head of the Nazi project to murder all Jewish people on the planet. He quotes Himmler in a speech that has been captured and preserved on tape. Himmler is addressing his main assistants and states that they and those in their charge have performed well, that he realizes they have literally stacked dozens, even hundreds, of bodies in piles around Europe and the world. He understands their fatigue in their task but they should know they have performed nobly and must continue. That seems distorted to me!
