Ethical Relativism and Absolute Taboos - Part I
I. Taboos
Taboos regulate our sexual conduct, race relations, political
institutions, and economic mechanisms - virtually every realm of
our life. According to the 2002 edition of the "Encyclopedia
Britannica", taboos are "the prohibition of an action or the use
of an object based on ritualistic distinctions of them either as
being sacred and consecrated or as being dangerous, unclean, and
accursed".
Jews are instructed to ritually cleanse themselves after having
been in contact with a Torah scroll - or a corpse. This
association of the sacred with the accursed and the holy with
the depraved is the key to the guilt and sense of danger which
accompany the violation of a taboo.
In Polynesia, where the term originated, says the Britannica,
"taboos could include prohibitions on fishing or picking fruit
at certain seasons; food taboos that restrict the diet of
pregnant women; prohibitions on talking to or touching chiefs or
members of other high social classes; taboos on walking or
traveling in certain areas, such as forests; and various taboos
that function during important life events such as birth,
marriage, and death".
Political correctness in all its manifestations