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“Civilization is not something absolute, but relative. Our ideas and concepts are true only so far as our civilization goes” (Franz Boas, anthropologist).
Before I break to the discussion, I would like to talk about the major key words in this context. Civilization is basically a group of people that have similar beliefs and rituals. It’s not only restricted to beliefs and rituals; civilizations could also be people with similar economic or socio-political backgrounds, and could also be divided in different cities in the world, rather than being restricted to one single city. When I say absolute, I mean something that is the same universally, regardless of any factor such as place, economy, political system, etc. When I say relative, I mean it’s subjective to different factors and differs from place to place and time to time depending on the situation at that given point of time.
Coming to the argument. I do agree to the statement that civilization is not something absolute. Civilization is relative as it changes overtime as we humans constantly develop and evolve from our beliefs, surroundings and lifestyle to something better than what we were. The first humans weren’t born the way we are today in the 21st century. We’ve had many civilizations before us who have worked for a better future and have evolved from what they were. Each and every civilization had different beliefs and is different in its own way, just as we differ from the past civilizations.
Similarly, each and every civilization has their own beliefs and rituals that they follow. And it is not necessary that those rituals and beliefs are accepted and followed other groups or civilizations. Each and every civilization takes these things in a different way. For example, there are still some rituals that are followed by some religious groups since ancient times that people today frown upon. One of them being the ‘baby tossing’ ritual, that is followed in South India since the past 700 years, especially in the state of Karnataka. In this ritual the baby is tossed in the air from the top of a temple to people who are waiting below the temple with a cloth to catch the baby. It is believed to bring good luck to the community. Just like any antient ritual, this seems like an odd thought. How would it bring luck to the community by putting a baby’s life in danger? There are a lot of people or religious groups, not only in India but also outside the country that frown upon this ritual, depending upon their beliefs.
Another such example is the ritual of ‘human sacrifice’, that is followed in parts of Africa and India. In this ritual people kill a fellow human being or better known as sacrifice his/her life by killing or murdering one or more human beings on holy occasions. It is believed to be done as offering to God on these occasions. Just like the other antient rituals this seems odd. How is the killing of a human being in anyway good towards humanity? Like all other rituals, this is also frowned upon by other religious groups and people as their beliefs differ from them.
Coming to the conclusion, I do agree to the above statement given by Franz Boas. Each and every civilization or religious group has their own beliefs and rituals and is not absolute. Their beliefs and rituals are true only to the extent of their civilization or religion. Difference in civilizations is not only restricted to rituals and beliefs, but also to economic factors and socio-political factors that change from time to time.
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