Try to Get Through This Without Judgment

Throughout the world, people do things that others do not understand. For those who do not understand immediately presume judgment over these other people. Just because they are not like us or our friends or people we see on a regular basis, does not mean we should skip to judgment without trying to understand. After hearing these controversial rituals still practiced today, I wonder if you will be judgmental or not. To me it is a matter of fact that people do certain things and we just have to accept it, though it may seem bizarre. These cultures have their reasons to their interesting and unique traditions, which adds more diversity into this world. Some people may have strong opinions, but do not judge a culture based on one tradition and do not judge a person based on their culture. It is as simple as that.  

In some parts of Africa, people practice female genital mutilation. When a baby girl is born or at a time when she is very young, her area is cut to create a wider opening that allows urine and menstrual blood to pass. These girls have to have their legs bound together for about a month to let it heal. At most times, this is done without any anesthesia and little care for being clean. The cutting utensils used are rarely sterilized and the event takes place anywhere from a bedroom to outside on the dirt. Aboriginals of Australia practice a similar tradition for males by making a sub incision into the urethra.

Are you squeamish yet? I know it is hard not to judge, everyone does it. What we have to understand is that these people have reasoning behind it, though we may not know or understand.

Shi’a Muslims have a ritual called ashura. It is bloodletting mourning ritual where people mourn that they were not alive or present at the battle to save Husayn and his family during the 7^th century. They do this by spilling their blood and the blood of their children, which is said to release them and wash away their sins.

To us, we are wondering why these people are cutting themselves and letting out blood. This means they could die, and who would want to purposely kill themselves like that, is what we are thinking. But to these people, it is a part of their religion, it is their belief system. We may not notice, but our belief system may be weird to them.

Though it may not still be in use today, Eskimos leave their elders out in the cold to die. At an old age, the elderly Eskimos are taken out to sea and are left on a floating ice berg, all alone. They do not have food and eventually freeze or starve to death. These people believe that there is an afterworld. This tradition is held onto with the belief that they are sending elderly to afterlife with dignity and a way to leave the family without being a burden. In Thailand and some African tribes, neck rings made of metal are worn by women. It creates an impression of a long neck, when this heavy metal weight is placed around their necks.

Letting people out to die and wearing a metal that could possibly choke us, seems terrifying and cruel, but it’s what they do.

Some northern Indians known as Aghoris, a small part of the Hindu religion practice cannibalism and eat or drink out of human skulls. This is because they think it will give them immortality, super powers, and spiritual and physical benefits that prevent aging. People in Venezuela and Brazil, consume the ashes of the dead, a year after the death. The ash is mixed in a plantain soup and it shows the people’s affection for the dead. Also, it is practiced in hopes of the dead finding a way to a paradise.

In Australia there is a tradition where a man gets his tooth pulled. He lies down on his back and fills his mouth with fur string to absorb the blood and pain and then pulls out his tooth with a wood spear and stone. In Hinduism, Bali sacrifice is the ritual of killing an animal. Animals are let to fight against each other or they are strangled or a wooden spike is poked into the heart.

All of these traditions seem crazy, but there is always a reason behind it. This could be religious or for love, it just depends. To others, what we may think is common, might be extremely strange. Without understanding others and jumping to conclusions, we lead a judgmental life. Everybody is judgmental at times, even I am, but this judgment over culture can lead to intolerance and hatred. This causes many problems in the world today. We have to learn to be tolerant, or else we can never get along.

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