Page 29 - Cultures and Organizations

14 THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE

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to you”—which reads like an affirmation of the moral circle. Religious
prescriptions such as “Love thy neighbor as thyself” serve the same pur-
pose. Religious sects tend to draw their moral circle around members of
their own community. Moral rights and duties, as well as rewards in the
afterlife, are granted only to members of the faith. Religion, in essence and

whatever the specific beliefs of a particular one, plays an important role in
creating and delineating moral circles.
Nations and religions can come into competition if they both attempt
to delineate a society-level moral circle in the same country. This has fre-
quently happened during our history, and it is still happening today. The

violence of these confl icts testifies to the importance of belonging to a
moral circle. It also shows how great a prerogative it is to be the one who
defines its boundaries. Through visits and speeches, new leaders typically

take action to redefine the boundaries of the moral circle that they lead.
Some societies and religions have a tendency to expand the moral
circle and to consider all humans as belonging to a single moral commu-
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nity. Hence the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and hence calls
for development aid. Indeed, animals can be drawn into the moral circle:
people form associations or even political parties to protect animal rights,
and pet animals are solemnly buried. However, in such a vast moral circle,
rights and duties are necessarily diluted. Historically, religions that were
tolerant of religious diversity have lost out against those that were more
closed on themselves. Most empires have disintegrated from the inside.
Rules for dealing with bad people and with would-be newcomers also
differ across societies, of which we shall see examples in subsequent chap-
ters. We humans are continually negotiating the boundaries of our moral
circles, and we do it in ways that differ across cultures. Culture is about
how to be a good member of the moral circle, depending on one’s personal
or ascribed properties, about what to do if people are bad, and about whom

to consider for admission.

Beyond Race and Family

Gert Jan once took a night train from Vienna to Amsterdam. An elderly
Austrian lady shared his compartment and offered him some delicious
homegrown apricots. Then a good-looking young black man entered. The

lady seemed terrified to find herself within touching distance of a black

man, and Gert Jan set to work trying to reestablish a pleasant atmosphere.
The young man turned out to be a classical ballet dancer from the Dutch