Byrds, Buddhists, and Local Cultures

The Byrds version was prettier sounding, but they didn't sing all the words. What good is a folk song without all the words?

If some Buddhists came to Beaglesonia I would expect them to abide by my rules, since I own the place. We also have a law in Michigan that says you can't harass or interfere with somebody who is legally hunting. Now if I invited those Buddhists to come visit Beaglesonia, I would refrain from hunting while they were here. I wouldn't have to, I would just do it out of courtesy for my guests. Of course I wouldn't invite them during deer season. If they dropped in uninvited, like those Jehovah's Witnesses who caught me naked in my garage, it would not be reasonable for them to expect me to accommodate their sensibilities. If I was visiting their country, I would expect to abide by their local customs while I was there. If I didn't want to do that, I wouldn't go visit their country.

The thing with Phineas Fogg is a bit more complicated. I suppose he didn't consider himself to be a guest in India, since it was British territory. I agree, though, that the lady having been educated in England was not relevant. I don't think he knew about that until later anyway. Burning the lady was almost certainly illegal under British law and, if Fogg had the time, he could have just reported it to the authorities. As it was, he had to make a life and death decision on the spur of the moment, and he did what any self respecting Englishman would have done under the circumstances. A modern day equivalent would be if an American was in Saudi Arabia and saw that they were about to stone a woman to death for adultery. In that case, he would have no legal authority to intervene but, if he didn't, he would never forgive himself. Of course, if the stoning occurred in the U.S., he might just make a video of it and sell it to the news media. (sarcasm here) All kidding aside, what's up with those people who use their cell phones to record an assault or a murder instead of using it to call 911?

As I understand it, those cartoons in France were just stupid, like that racial stuff you mentioned. Publishing them was probably ill advised but, of course, that doesn't justify killing all those people. I think the terrorists went out right after that and shot up Jewish synagogue that had no connection with the silly magazine. People like that have no respect for civil rights and cultural diversity.