Culture - Anthropology. the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another.

Humanity’s development of culture is an amazing thing. Humans have developed processes and beliefs that allowed them to survive far from the African savannahs where we evolved. Cultures also have evolved faster than human biology, allowing humanity to adapt to new technology and philosophies. Unfortunately, humans are less likely to discard obsolete cultural practices than obsolete technology. Hell, sometimes they are enshrined in law and religion or we have day long festivals. 

The question is how do we judge a culture? There is a school of thought that cultures can only be judged within the confines of their worldview. That’s valid from a scholarly perspective, but doesn’t necessarily help in the world outside academia. So how do we judge a culture?

I judge cultures based on their attitudes toward liberty and science. Cultures that value personal liberty and scientific advancement are superior to those treat humans as parts to a collective or refuse technological advancement. 

Some cultures condone actions that are so against my beliefs that I can only label them as savages and barbarians. In this day and age, the biggest offender of that is Islamic culture. 

For those of you who say Islam is a religion, not a culture, you’re both right and wrong. When Islam the religion was spread, it brought along with it the Arabic cultural values of Mohammed to the point it became it’s own culture (see definition above). There are variations, but the fundamentals of Islamic culture are the same. The tenets of personal liberty are not present in Sharia law. Science is eschewed for the myths of the Islamic religion. Those that go against the culture are not just shamed, but are subject to physical punishment up to and including death. This is savagery. This is barbarity. 

This is why cultures must be judged on the real world.

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