Next consider the military hero, who gains heroic stature by way of courage in battle, or by
otherwise facing certain defeat and emerging victorious. Former presidential hopeful John
McCain, whom even his political opponents laud as a war hero for having not only endured
years of torture as a prisoner of war but also for continuing to serve his country afterwards. Do
his patriotism and mettle reveal our society’s true character? Certainly not. They reveal only
that we admire his courage, fortitude, and strength.
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On the other hand, consider a third type of hero: the champion of social causes who inspires
and incites society to meaningful political and social change. Such luminaries as India’s
Mahatma Gandhi, America’s Martin Luther King, South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, and Poland’s
Lech Lawesa come immediately to mind. This unique brand of hero does reflect, and indeed
must reflect, the character of the hero’s society. After all, it is the function of the social
champion to call attention to the character of society, which having viewed its reflection in the
hero is incited to act bravely--in accordance with its collective character.
In sum, I agree with the speaker’s claim only with respect to champions of society’s social
causes. Otherwise, what society deems heroic reflects instead a basic, and universal, human
need for paragons--to whom we can refer as metaphors for the sorts of virtues that for lack of
character we cannot ourselves reflect.Issue 104
"Rituals and ceremonies help define a culture. Without them, societies or groups of people
have a diminished sense of who they are."
The speaker asserts that rituals and ceremonies are needed for any culture or group of
people to retain a strong sense of identity. I agree that one purpose of ritual and ceremony is to
preserve cultural identity, at least in modern times. However, this is not their sole purpose; nor
are ritual and ceremony the only means of preserving cultural identity.
I agree with the speaker insofar as one purpose of ritual and ceremony in today’s world is to
preserve cultural identity. Native American tribes, for example, cling tenaciously to their
traditional ceremonies and rituals, which typically tell a story about tribal heritage.
The reason for maintaining these rituals and customs lies largely in the tribes’ 500-year
struggle against assimilation, even extinction, at the hands of European intruders. An outward
display of traditional customs and distinct heritage is needed to put the world on notice that
each tribe is a distinct and autonomous people, with its own heritage, values, and ideas.
Otherwise, the tribe risks total assimilation and loss of identity.
The lack of meaningful ritual and ceremony in homogenous mainstream America
underscores this point. Other than a few gratuitous ceremonies such as weddings and funerals,
we maintain no common rituals to set us apart from other cultures. The reason for this is that
as a whole America has little cultural identity of its own anymore. Instead, it has become a
patchwork quilt of many subcultures, such as Native Americans, Hasidic Jews, Amish, and
urban African Americans--each of which resort to some outward demonstration of its
distinctiveness in order to establish and maintain a unique cultural identity.
Nevertheless, preserving cultural identify cannot be the only purpose of ritual and ceremony.
Otherwise, how would one explain why isolated cultures that don’t need to distinguish
themselves to preserve their identity nevertheless engage in their own distinct rituals and
ceremonies? In fact, the initial purpose of ritual and ceremony is rooted not in cultural identity
but rather superstition and spiritual belief. The original purpose of a ritual might have been to
frighten away evil spirits, to bring about weather conditions favorable to bountiful harvests, or
to entreat the gods for a successful hunt or for victory in battle. Even today some primitive
cultures engage in rituals primarily for such reasons.Nor are ritual and ceremony the only means of preserving cultural identity. For example, our
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Amish culture demonstrates its distinctiveness through dress and life-style. Hasidic Jews set
themselves apart by their dress, vocational choices, and dietary habits. And African-Americans
distinguish themselves today by their manner of speech and gesture. Of course, these
subcultures have their own distinct ways of cerebrating events such as weddings, coming of
age, and so forth. Yet ritual and ceremony are not the primary means by which these
subcultures maintain their identity.
In sum, to prevent total cultural assimilation into our modern-day homogenous soup, a
subculture with a unique and proud heritage must maintain an outward display of that
heritage--by way of ritual and ceremony. Nevertheless, ritual and ceremony serve a spiritual
function as well--one that has little to do with preventing cultural assimilation. Moreover, rituals
and ceremonies are not the only means of preserving cultural identity.
Issue 105
"The way people look, dress, and act reveals their attitudes and interests. You can tell much
about a society’s ideas and values by observing the appearance and behavior of its people."
This statement generalizes unfairly that the way people look, dress, and act reveals their
attitudes and their society’s values. In my view, while in certain respects the habits and
customs of a people are accurate indicators of their attitudes and values, in other respects
they are not.
Turning first to the way people look and dress, certain aspects of the outward appearance of
a culture’s people do inform us of their ideas, attitudes, and values. A society whose members
tend to be obese might place a high value on indulgence and pleasure, and a low value on
physical health. A general preference for ready-made, inexpensive clothing might indicate a
preference for practicality or for saving rather than spending. And, a society whose members
prefer to wear clothing that is traditional and distinct to that society is one that values tradition
over modernization. In other respects, however, the way people look and dress is not a
function of their attitudes and values but rather their climatic and work environment.