Universal Truth

Every culture develops what they believe to be true. Americans believe that everyone should have freedom of speech. Christians believe that you should follow the message of Jesus Christ. Muslims believe women are children and should be treated like property. The English believe that you have the right to rule the country based on your parents. At one point Germans believed themselves to be the superior race. The Aztecs believed sacrificing a human would make their gods happy. All of these beliefs, at one point, were or still are seen as truths. These are just a few examples, but in reality every culture holds They took an idea and decided it was absolute and therefore fought to protect it. How can all these be truths though if they are not seen as the truth by everyone?

I think labelling an ideal a cultural truth is misleading. Instead I think these are strong beliefs that become a fact to a majority of people. I don't think it is very likely that anything can be an ultimate truth to everyone on the planet. This is especially true in the respect of ideas that aren't solid. The idea of one omnicient being, although widely accepted by a majority of the world, has proven time and time again that everyone in the world does not have the same views. Even through physical force this idea could not be changed from a belief to a truth. This leads me to raise questions about the ideas behind the Truman and Bush doctorines. These both state that democracy should be pushed far and wide. The Truman doctorine goes farther and states that Communism should be completely obliterated. Two presidents in what is considered to be the most powerful country in the world have written what they believe to be truths. These documents can be used to destabilize numerous governments and potentioally kill hundreds of people. Democracy is purely a political belief, but in America this has become a political truth. This is the perfect example of how cultural truths can become lethal.

When people believe an idea to be an absolute truth, they become blinded by it. Cultures close their minds off to the possibility that their truth could be a lie; an illusion fabricated to make meaning or re-enforce dominance. The idea of a "cultural truth" has rarely been a good thing throughout history. Many people have been pursecuted because of the beliefs of others that had been made into "truths". When people are hurt because of a truth, that should be a sign that it is not a truth. So are there any "cultural truths"? I think when it all comes down to it, there are strong beliefs that people have. They may become facts to some individuals, but when they are put on a large scale they have the potential to hurt others. Any sort of "manifest destiny" of any idea may have devastating results. Cultural truth is a myth that has been wrongly titled and the attempt to spread it has only been regressive.