Morality
changes from civilization to civilization , from culture to culture , and
from society to society.
What is immoral in one culture is moral in another. The martyrs
of one country are traitors the of other. The
saints of one land are the demagogues of others. The law of one country is
cruelty in other country. The
religion of one society is more
pure and higher than other. The
manners and behavior also shift
from place to place. What is sordid in East
is normal in West, and both have
equal arguments to prove their point. The heroes
,gods and even the animals of
myths are entirely different from each other. Thus mankind as whole is
segregated in huge segments and of creeds ,cults , religions, cultures and
civilizations. Yet this is not the end ; with in single
society there are certain
classes , which stand on different
backgrounds ; each class has it's
own level of morality and immorality. If there is some immorality which is done
by some influential personality , then the law is twisted to present it virtuous.
Man
by nature slants his thinking towards his own loss and profit , which hides reality. Man
sings or chants or hymns or praises
gods not to
thank, but in want of more. The zeal
of an African savage dancer will turn
cool if he comes to know that spirits of ancestors can do him no harm nor benefit ; or if it become
the god of Plato which is lifeless and has no interest in mankind. While the
Yuweh of Israelites is more vital and living though jealous and revengeful
,still adored and worshipped , for
He has the power to raise and terminate his chosen one. In Hinduism
centuries ago sex was a branch of religion , (The
Kamasutra ,) While in all most all the religions of the world give no
comments about it , but
Hindus never thought it vile, as a result they have evolved a huge
number of paintings and sculptures representing it
explicitly in their temples and holy places.
The
Kings of the past which today seem
tyrants and cruel and corrupt were
not thought like this in their own times. They had a class behind them , whose
all ambitions and advantages were
concerned with them. When Cromwell died , Charles ii was imported from France ,
though his father was beheaded by the English
people - and he was considered a
traitor ,but no longer they could tolerate a man who only thinks of a number of
people. Thus the restoration of Charles ii happened ; because most of the people were in loss.
The
marriages of Pharaohs with their
aunts developed, because they could
not risk to mete out the kingdom. Cleopatra married his brother not that she was
in love with him ,but to keep the
reins of government in her hands ,
though he was much younger than her. It was never immoral for them , they could also do
it; because they were the
incarnate gods . We can find a number of gods in Greek myths who have done
strange deeds , from rape to incestuous crimes , yet they are gods and people
worshipped them. Even the highest Zeus dethroned his father and
married his sister ; yet a god and no one ever talked of his lewdness.
As
soon as the world came into existence , religions also
sprouted up . Since the dawn of civilization prophet after prophet came
to conduct the misguided nations , no
one ever considered slavery a blot , a scar
, a cancer on the face of humanity.
The reason was that slavery
was so deep rooted and common ,
rather have become a necessity, and
nobody ever bothered to call it humiliation
of man . It is so
unthinkable that a man deprives man
of his liberty , yet it existed for centuries and centuries. If any one ever
said any thing, it was to treat
them with kindness.
Countless
bloody wars and furious battles
have been fought through out the history to snatch the treasures and land
of each other. Stronger nations always mercilessly massacred and killed and
destroyed the weaker nations . They attacked them because they were greedy and
indolent . They had their own lands in which they could till up ; their own
women ; but it was sheer lust for an
easy wealth and women ; or better
to rob than to work . A single man who robs a bank is robber -
when thousands of men collectively rob a nation , they become conquerors.
We erect monuments and palaces and sacred shrines to remember them and advice
our children to follow them . No one says that Alexander the great was an evil
general who butchered thousands and thousands of men with out any reason, or
Genghis Khan or Napoleon - ruthless human killing machines ; because whole the
nation shared the booty. Thus when a crime is committed by majority, then it's
no crime at all .
Francis
Drake was a famous pirate in Queen
Elizabeth age. During one such adventure he brought precious gifts for queen
which he looted from Spanish ship. The Queen raised him
to knighthood and he was called Sir Francis Drake, and
became apple of the nation , because he shared the plunder with them all.
Dryden the great poet and critic of
England saw four kings in his life time ; with accession
of every new king he leaped
from Roman Catholicism to Protestantism and wrote a huge number
of books to defend the faith of kings. A successful man in worldly life
does not mean a man of character . It is not necessary for a
great man to posses virtue.
Aristotle
the great master: the wisdom of whom even today no one can deny , had
a mistress and illegal children too ; himself
ran an academy where he taught the highest knowledge ,yet
no one dared to raise a finger towards him - because it was
a natural thing
for his people. Plato the teacher of Aristotle and
a great thinker of a
grand Republic regards
women and slaves very inferior
:a little higher than animal , still he is not unjust, for in his time women and
slave were
thought like this. When it comes to Socrates who rebelled against the
tyranny of kings ;he is very just and upright , almost a giant
, who hates hypocrisy and lie even if it cost his life. When Crito (his
pupil) met him in jail and pledged him to apologize only nominally. He said
"We must not regard what many say of
us; but what he , the one who has understanding
of just and unjust. And therefore you begin in error when you suggest that we
should regard the opinion of the many about just and unjust , good and evil ,
honourable and dishonorable. Do you ever watched the performance of a gymnast,
people cheer and
praise him , but the one, the
teacher rebukes him -because he knows where his pupil has gone wrong". In
other words people judge one another by their own perception of right and wrong
a; every right or wrong perception has some personal prejudice attached to it.
The real thing is that there is no absolute right and wrong , every thing is
right somewhere.