Relativism

Today in school i stumbled across this thing called relativism. I think that its a very interesting viewpoint, and so Ill just babble on about it for a bit.

Relativism originates from ancient Greece, and was started by a group of philosophers known as Sophists. They argued that all morality was relative (hence the term relativism), and that the sence of whats wrong and whats right varied from place to place, from time to time and from person to person. Perhaps the essence of relativism is found in Protagoras' famous saying 'Man is the measure of all things'.

Cultural relativism is simply the idea that the moral code of people varies from culture to culture. What we may regard as right someone else may find completely wrong and vice versa. This is called the diversity thesis - because of the diversity across and within cultures here can be no one true morality. Ina famous example, the King o Persia asked the Greeks and the Callatians to swap their funeral practices (the greeks burnt ttheir dead, the Callatians burried them). It turned out that neither the Greeks or the Callatians were ready to accept the other cultures' funeral practice as they saw it as being wrong.

Which brings me onto why i chose to write about this in my blog. See, in out current word so many things are deemed as unnacepteable. Adultery, murder, stealing etc. These absolutes, ie. rules have been forced upon us ever since we were children. We accept them as being right simply because weve been taught so. But are there perhaps situations where these rules dont apply? Would a mother stealing to feed her chld be doing a bad thing? Would killing someone in self-defence be wrong? What about commiting adultery as a result of blackmail? Perhaps these examples are on the extreme side, but they show a weakness of the rules of our socity - it assumes that when doing these things, one's intention is always wrong and that the consequences and always bad.

That short little explanation was just to show you the angle that im coming from. Lets face it - our society regards homosexuality as wrong, bad, ugly and even disguisting. People love telling gay jokes, or making fun of the way they act or behave. The word 'gay' in inteslf has become a synonym for shit, bad, stupid, fucked up, wrong, you name it. That new phones is gay, that footballers playing style is gay, gay, gay, gay. Which is why relativism interested me. It gives people with different idealogies the chance to set their own moral code, based solely on their set of beliefs and values. It leads to a kind of peacefull acceptance between different viewpoints - if people are allowed to do what they want theyll learn to stay out of each others way. Of course a major weakness of relativism is that different viewpoints may go directly against each other e.g The catholic church against homeosexuality etc.

My 'idea' would be to create a getaway place for gay or bi teenagers to meet-up etc. It would be a place only for us with no outside interference. we'd be able to share our thoughts and feelings (which we clearly need - thats the main reason we crate blogs). We could feel safe and accepted withouth having to worry about being seen/caught. Of course, having some rules would be unavoidable - we couldnt allow nom-teenagers as that could cause safety hazards for the youngrer ones etc. But it would be a step forward. The problem is few people accept the existance of bi or gay teenagers. In fact, some time back on TV, there was a programme which assured that homosexuality was something comparable to a diesease, and that you were born with it.

From my personal experience I know that isnt true. Even thinking about coming out makes me stop thinking about it. I know i wouldnt be accepted in my school, by ost of my freinds even my family. But why? What is it thats so wrong about it? I guess that people will say 'oh its simply wrong'. Yet how can they say so if theyve never experienced it? Our modern world belives in freedom, and were all expected to be straight,yet without ever experiencing homosexuality or bisexuality how can we decide being staright is the right thing for us? Other poeple will give religion as the reason. Yet where in the bible does it say homosexuality is wrong? Does Jesus not teach that love is most important? However, both religious leaders as well as the media fail to accept our arguments. I hope, that one day, the church will look back and see that what theyre saying has been wrong. That, people will realise homofobia is in fact a form of witchunting. We say weve moved on - weve given black people freedom, women better standards of life, stopped witchhunts etc. BUt is it so? Can we really say were no longer the same barbaric people we were a few hundred years ago? What im wondering is how long can people keep running away from the truth about having a different sexual oreintaion? When will there come a point when well be treated normally, not as aliens but as people?

It is this negativity and even hostility towards us that has forced so many fo us, including me to be secretive about our beliefs, which only worsens the problem. There are things wed like to try (not neccesserarily of a sexual nature), or say, but were forced to stay hidden and pretend were normal. Its like being inside a glass cage - you can see others, observe others, and yet you dont have full freedom.

Ok, so there you have it - some of my views and beliefs. I understand that you may not agree with them, but at least try to understand them. Im looking forward to hearing your opinions about all of this.