8mm
Posted on 07/04/2007 1:43:16 PM PDT by wagglebee
BRASILIA, July 4, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Brazilian university professor claimed that the practice of infanticide by indigenous tribes should be respected as a cultural practice, the Telegraph reports.
Dr. Erwin Frank, an anthropology professor at the Federal University of Roraima, Brazil, is quoted in the Telegraph as having defended the violent practice, saying, "This is their way of life and we should not judge them on the basis of our values. The difference between the cultures should be respected."
Certain tribes believe that some babies are "cursed" and therefore do not have souls. Such children include those with physical disabilities, females (or any children of an undesired gender), babies born to unwed mothers, twins or triplets. These "cursed" children are sometimes smothered by leaves, poisoned, buried alive by parents or simply left to die of exposure.
Dr. Marcos Pelegrinia, a doctor working in the Yanomami tribe district, stated that 98 children were killed by their mothers in 2004, the Telegraph reports.
The non-profit anti-infanticide campaign group Atini, also known as "Voice for Life", noted, however, that the exact number of annual infanticides cannot be pinpointed. Official agencies do not step in and stop the abuse for fear of meddling in local customs. As a result, the deaths of many babies are officially recorded as death by "malnutrition" or "undetermined causes."
The Brazilian couple that founded Atini, Marcia and Edson Suzuki, worked for over 20 years with the Suruwahara Indians in the Amazon Basin of Brazil. Mr. Suzuki described their mission, saying, "We are fighting against doctors and anthropologists who say we must not interfere with the culture of the people."
Referring to those who defend infanticide as part of a cultural tradition, Marcia Suzuki states on the Atini blog, "We respect the cultures and the differences, but above all we respect the human beings with no distinction."
At present, a new law that would abolish infanticide, called Muwaji's law, is being debated in the Brazilian Congress, states the Telegraph. The law is based upon the fundamental right to life that is sanctioned in both The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Brazilian Federal Consitution.
In an address to the President and Brazilian Congress this March, Mr. Henry Afonso defended the law, saying, "The practice of infanticide is not justified, however much anthropologists wish to defend tradition and cultural practices of certain peoples. The number of sacrificed children per year in this country is far from few; victims of a cultural practice that many times is more important than the most fundamental human instinct: Preserving life itself."
Read story by the Telegraph:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06...
Read full address to the Brazilian Congress on Muwaji's law:
http://voiceforlife.blogspot.com/2007/05/muwaji-honoured-in-...
Voice for Life blog:
http://voiceforlifewhoweare.blogspot.com/
It's interesting, of course, that the technology that makes the postmodern Bible scorner's life so easy was set in motion by stupid, benighted Bible believers like Newton and Boyle and Cauchy.
Will they draw any conclusions from the fact that these laudable fellow practitioners of infanticide, the Yanomani, are the most primitive and violent crew of heathen remaining on earth (other than Planned Parenthood)?
I doubt it.
That’s OK -—Napier’s words bear repeating...
That's funny. People who accept everything about evolution except that it is random, purposeless, and unguided are sneered at as "creationists in disguise." Yet these same people turn around and insist that evolution "doesn't exclude G-d."
So G-d doesn't guide evolution, but He is not excluded by it. Just what kind of G-d are we talking about here? The "gxd" of eighteenth century deists?
That's some neat trick--using evolution to create without guiding it.
I don't believe in just any "gxd." I believe in a very specific G-d. And I am a former chr*stian, not a current one.
I doubt it.
They'll probably defend them as beyond the critique of western science and rationalism (unlike "rednecks") and not only defend their practices as equal to that of any other (again, a courtesy they don't extend to "rednecks") but then turn around and claim that this is another beautiful "indigenous" culture that mercifully managed to be spared "genocide" by the murderous followers of the Biblical G-d. Oops, and where did that "cultural relativism" of theirs suddenly go?
I am a Christian and believe in God and have no qualms about writing His name in full -- God, no dashes or other items.
Who said God doesn't guide evolution? Not me. Nor would I say that God didn't set up the mechanisms of our solar system. To my way of thinking, it and evolution are systems set in place that carry out God's will and we must adjust our behavior accordingly to adapt to that system. The Bible tells us how to adapt our behaviour to God's laws. I do say that there's a very comforting consistency in Survival of the Fittest, natural selection/evolutionary principles, and the demonstrated fact that human societies that select Biblical guidelines for survival have thrived while those that have rejected it have failed.
Evolution IS intelligent design by God.
Shhh. Don't tell the other evolutionists at FR. They'll call you a creationist.
It’ll be our secret! ;^)
Most Christians don't, but neither do they ridicule Jews who maintain Jewish tradition and omit vowels.
I didn’t know that. Thanks for enlightening me. I’ve always wondered!
I didn’t mean it as a criticism, but there is a reason for it and it goes back thousands of years.
.
Of course, then since all cultures are relevant and no one can point fingers at another in judgment.....
This puts it out in the open. I’m afraid he’s not alone.
(However the professor of the anthropology course I took
years ago forthrightly said this was one way those cultures
were worse than ours — not that ours was perfect — and
to be aware of what some of his colleagues meant when they
spoke of respecting other cultures.
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