Violence the Only Way in Tribal Cultures

Submitted by Robin Henry (Australia), Feb 16, 2010 at 03:49

In Australia we have 300-400 thousand people who refer to themselves as indigenous Australians, descendants of the nomadic First Australians. Many of them still live a modified traditional lifestyle as they try to continue their traditions and also try to interface with modern Australia.

Their traditional way was very violent and the reason for it was apparently that because they had no real property, no jails, no money, when a hurt occurred between individuals or families, the only recourse they had was through violence. Today, in the more traditional areas like Central Australia, they are still incredibly violent towards each other committing acts with no apparent thought as to how seriously someone on the other end of the attack will be injured. Females who became of age, an age much lower than our statutory 16 years, were, and still are, fair game, so there are numerous rapes occurring on communities and the associated problems that go with it; STD rates that are very high, high birthrates, child mothers etc.

This is probably how it was with Arabic societies too. The Bedouin lived in the desert where violence was probably the way to solve conflicts. Very, very young girls could be used by men of any age. It's highly likely that this cultural mentality still exists among today's Arabs, many of whom are just a hop, step and jump from their traditional life in the desert.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".