Where: Tan Lac Vien (2114 Murray Ave (Squirrel Hill), Pittsburgh, PA 15217)
When: 4/14/2016
RSVP at: http://www.meetup.com/CFI-Pittsburgh/events/229060855/
Center for Inquiry – Pittsburgh (formerly PSF)
A little change of pace for this months topic, although not too out of the ordinary. This month, we are discussing the ethics surrounding the interactions (or lack thereof) between remote indigenous cultures and the modern world. For our jumping off point, we have an article in the NY Times about the killing of a mixed race “impure” baby, something which is common practice among the culture in which it occurred. The remote island is technically part of India, although the people who live on the island may not have made that choice.
This begs the question: do we have the right to go into these autonomous cultures and dictate to them what is right and what is wrong? If their society views infanticide of “defective” or “impure” children as acceptable, do we have the right to enforce a different set of societal rules on them? And what about the contact with our modern society – not at their request but by our encroachment on their remote territory? What gives us the right to essentially annex their land and place it under our jurisdiction, when they have lived there bothering no one for centuries? There are a number of remote peoples in South America as well as other parts of the world that makes it important to address this issue.
So let’s discuss it. See you there!
To learn about all the secular groups in Pittsburgh, visit the Pittsburgh Coalition of Reason website…and you can follow Pittsburgh Secular Freethinkers and CFI on Facebook!
*CFI-Pittsburgh strives to be an ADA compliant organization. Please email pgh@centerforinquiry.net to request accommodations.
Thursday, April 14 at 7:00 PM
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