My husband and I talked at length the other night about attempts that were made to contact un-contacted tribes like those headlined last year. The tribesmen were touted as savages by a lot of people, presumably because it was “us” using our methods of civilization to spy on “them,” who had none.
We discussed what defines and differentiates the civilized from the savage.
My husband is a recently retired Marine who spent a year in Okinawa and Korea. He spent five winters in a tent in the highest elevations of Norway and deployed to the Mediterranean where his ship was diverted to the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Croatia. He crossed the border at Kuwait into Iraq in 2003 and spent time off the coast of Liberia on his way home. While stationed with Marine Forces Europe, he spent a great deal of time in Africa. He is no stranger to adversity and has witnessed much poverty.
His military resume has given him a clear perspective on the world’s have-nots than could be had by any number of Americans whose sole understanding of the ROW (rest of the world) is limited to pictures in the paper. Any bit of travel abroad is often limited to those areas where one is not likely to see children playing in a puddle alongside a dead, bloated sheep.
We discussed the poor in America, many of whom are supplemented by faith-based programs. Even so, many poor people are still hungry and homeless. Would it make a difference if there were no religion? I suggested there would be less war and perhaps more compassion around the world if we were without this condition.
He disagreed, positing that religion is the only thing keeping most people in check. Without a higher power towing their moral line, he asserted, many would be left to their own devices. When their mettle is tested, one of those devices is not a moral center. Such is what some religious do when knocked down the rungs of Jacob’s ladder.
Many Americans have lost their homes to foreclosure because of loans they didn’t understand. While housed, all was well, and most behaved themselves. When homeless, many resorted to crimes like thievery and murder - a savage act by anyone’s definition. As the economy claimed ever more well-to-do, so did ever more savagery come to light.
Post-Katrina looting in New Orleans deftly marked the fine line between civilized and uncivilized, but because the main focus was on the looters’ skin color, the humanness of the reaction to the devastation was lost. The majority of the looters were black because the majority of those in need (without the resources to evacuate) were black. Had the poorest been white, we would’ve seen whites doing the same thing.