On Thu, Apr 14, 2011 at 9:40 PM, ornamentalmind <[email protected]>wrote:
> Those who decide to die while fighting for a cause they believe in are > often called heroes in the USA (and other Western countries). > > ‘We’ on the other hand call those who do so from different backgrounds > than ours terrorists. > First, the word 'hero' has been used in so many ways that I don't have a clue as to its meaning. IMO, football stars are not heros. Nor are any other athlete - unless he does something brave that falls under a category I'd view as willingness for self-sacrifice. Second, in the use of the word that I envision, it is not just that a person is willing to die for his cause that makes him a hero. It is the way in which he dies. The person who jumps on a school bus and tries to stop a terrorist from blowing it up is a hero. The person who jumps on a bus with the intent of blowing it up is not. As to what is ‘rude’ or ‘bad manners’, few would disagree that such issues > are purely subjective and mostly culturally driven…and change from place and > time to place and time. > Agreed. However, it behooves oneself to try and adhere to the cultural behaviors of the society he/she resides in. > Those who wish to follow any one of the countless sets of rules for > the general term of etiquette seldom, if ever, do so just to ‘be > nice’. When more honest, there is almost always an agenda involved. > Yes. For example; in much of western culture using the 'thumbs-up' gesture means 'ok' or 'all is good'. In the middle east it means 'sit on it and spin'. Your agenda in avoiding a 'thumbs-up' in the middle east would be to avoid getting your lights punched out.
