To ask if there is a definition of a cross cultural honorable man

[ConfusedWife1234]

Do you think that there is a definition of a honorable and worthy man which transcends all cultures? Which qualities would he have?

OMG. I have the flue and this thread makes no sense it should read: do you think there is a cross cultural definition of an honorable man?

No, because culture and society define honour.

And you do not think there is something all cultures can agree on?

Nope. Especially not across history. In some cultures, polygamy, rape and wife-beating is deemed completely honourable.

I was going to say that I think "kindness" is theoretically universal. But then all religions seem to have exceptions to that, like the Bible advising the killing of witches, (and being a pagan myself that's rather irritating.)

I think you can to a degree if you use the main religious texts as your guide. They have very similar themes around rules to live by

Gemma I would love to know more about this.

Not necessarily. I was shocked by some stories in Singapore. A young girl there was applauded for whipping her younger sibling. She was considered to have taken on the role of her absent parent.
A traditional heroine chose to breastfeed her husband's grandmother through a famine to preserve the wisdom of her elders, sacrificing her child to do so.

Very different qualities from western. Also, nepotism is seen as the right and natural order in some cultures, and a western meritocratic view would be thought 'unnatural'.

That’s a good point...

It’d come down to how the man treats other men. Not stealing their goods, coveting their wife etc

Confusedwife - well for a start the 10 commandments feature in both Christianity and Judaism. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if the basic creed of being nice to each other and don't kill, steal etc. features in Islam, but have to confess I know nothing about Islam or the Koran.

Picklemepopcorn Is it still seen like this in Singapore or is it just old texts?

The girl whipping her brother was on an 'inspiring stories' tv series about 18 years ago. She lived with grandma because parents were drug addicts, and she raised her little brother including corporal punishment. She would have been about 12 maybe, and her brother 8.

The feeding the grandmother thing was an ancient story, but celebrated in a theme park. If you can imagine a park with huge tableaux telling cultural stories, myths and legends, it was one of those. So an old story, but still retold. The interpretation suggested the dutiful woman honoured her elders. Clearly that expectation is no longer there, but it once was. And even 20 years ago, the retelling didn't have any kind of post script commenting on it.

I don't know how well I've explained that.

Basically, virtues are not at all universal, and our current value system is simply that- ours and current.

Being a good athlete/ sportsman

I cant think of anywhere that doesnt celebrate sporting success