Dear Canem Malum,

I have argued neither for nor against Cultural Relativism. I just pointed out that Marx was against it.

David F- Thanks for the clarification.

I thought that I'd finished with this discussion but
the latest comments have aroused my interest.

A few thoughts - are we able to really understand
others well enough to actually be able to evaluate
their way of life? And don't our attempts to
homogenize the world end up causing chaos - for
example Western attempts to impose Liberal social
structures on the Middle East shows currently?

Dear Foxy,

We not only put our values on the nations which do not share our culture we put our values on other western nations. We along with our allies tried Germany for war crimes. Nazi Germany probably did not regard their actions as criminal. We consider female genital mutilation as criminal and would like all nations to consider it as criminal.

What do you think of the war crimes trials and trying to eliminate female genital mutilation all over the world. I am sure the people who practice female genital mutilation do not call it by a translation of that term.

Dear David F.,

Regarding war crimes - there are the laws of war.
There's a whole body of such laws ranging from
specific military regulations to the provisions of the
Hague and Geneva Conventions, to the principals laid
down by the Nuremberg and Tokyo war crime tribunals.
These laws say that all is not fair in war. That
there are limits to what belligerent man may do to
mankind.

The Hague Convention of 1907 put it that:

"The right of belligerent to adopt means of injuring
the enemy is not unlimited." In other words, some
acts in war are illegal and certainly the massacre
of the 6 million Jews under Hitler qualifies as
an illegal and heinous act. As a war crime.

As for FGM? It may be acceptable in certain parts of
the world but it is illegal in Australia.

Dear David F.,

You asked what I thought of people trying to eliminate
FGM all over the world.

I agree with its elimination and ma glad that it is
illegal in this country.

According to the World Health Organisation FGM includes
procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to
the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

The procedure has no health benefits for girls or women.

Procedures can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating,
later cysts, infections as well as complications in
childbirth as well as complications in childbirth and
increased risk of new born deaths.

More than 200 million girls and women have been cut in 30
countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM
is concentrated.

FGM is considered a violation of the human rights of girls
and women.