09-06-2014, 06:37 AM
"All two -legged beings are transplants to these islands."
I agree. But I respect the folks who got here before me and the culture that evolved.
As Carol stated, the culture gaps are huge, the fundamental assumptions about reality sometimes polar opposite. To wit:
Western mythology puts man in charge of nature (and with it, license to control and manipulate as we wish); Hawaiian culture (and most of Asia) puts nature in charge of man.
Hawaiian culture (and its shamanistic cousins in Asia) believe nature is alive and conscious, and tend to assign motives to natural events accordingly; Western culture assumes nature is not conscious and we draw different conclusions accordingly.
Shaministic cultures animate nature with spirits; Western religion (the unscientific crowd anyway) likes its spirits in another world, apart from nature (call it "heaven").
Western culture believes that land can belong to man; Hawaiian culture believes that man in fact belongs to the land.
We've all heard the expression "imperialism." There is also such a thing as "cultural imperialism," the idea of one culture pushing its way of thinking onto another culture. (Kind of like an atheist insisting that religious people stop believing. How often do you suppose the atheist actually turns the believer?) Even if you believe in your heart of hearts that your way of thinking is correct, empathy and sensitivity to other cultures offers many more opportunities than alienating people by challenging their religious beliefs, no matter how illogical they may seem to you.
I agree. But I respect the folks who got here before me and the culture that evolved.
As Carol stated, the culture gaps are huge, the fundamental assumptions about reality sometimes polar opposite. To wit:
Western mythology puts man in charge of nature (and with it, license to control and manipulate as we wish); Hawaiian culture (and most of Asia) puts nature in charge of man.
Hawaiian culture (and its shamanistic cousins in Asia) believe nature is alive and conscious, and tend to assign motives to natural events accordingly; Western culture assumes nature is not conscious and we draw different conclusions accordingly.
Shaministic cultures animate nature with spirits; Western religion (the unscientific crowd anyway) likes its spirits in another world, apart from nature (call it "heaven").
Western culture believes that land can belong to man; Hawaiian culture believes that man in fact belongs to the land.
We've all heard the expression "imperialism." There is also such a thing as "cultural imperialism," the idea of one culture pushing its way of thinking onto another culture. (Kind of like an atheist insisting that religious people stop believing. How often do you suppose the atheist actually turns the believer?) Even if you believe in your heart of hearts that your way of thinking is correct, empathy and sensitivity to other cultures offers many more opportunities than alienating people by challenging their religious beliefs, no matter how illogical they may seem to you.
Tim
A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions--Confucius
A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions--Confucius