Are Some Cultures Inferior to Others? | Nigel Biggar

In this clip, Nigel Biggar discusses whether colonialism is inherently racist. He explores the clash between the British Empire's Christian understanding of equality and the outworkings of racial prejudice.
Nigel John Biggar CBE is Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford, author, Anglican priest, and theologian. He also directs the McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics and Public Life at Oxford which aims to foster a conversation between Christian theology and other disciplines.
In 2017, Biggar initiated the Oxford project “Ethics and Empire” which aimed to scrutinise a purely negative view of empires and argue that they were morally mixed. Some progressive historians and academics voraciously criticised the project for 'attempting to balance out the violence committed in the name of empire with its supposed benefits.'
#colonialism #empire #debate
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See full interview here: • Colonialism: A Moral R...
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Nigel Biggar
/ nigelbiggar
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[@Hibernicus1968]

There is a bit of wisdom from the Icelandic poem Hávamál (a Viking Age poem surviving in a medieval manuscript): "There is no man so good that he has no flaw, nor a man so bad he’s good for nothing." This is every bit as true of cultures. All cultures have their good and bad points, but the ratio of good to bad is much better in some than in others. I think the ratio is a very positive one in Western civilization. I think an enormous number of people all over the world make a similar value judgment, when they vote with their feet, and come to a Western country.

[@pentsmethodology]

If I am looking for a superior culture, I will try to live there. So we only need to look at migration and refugee trends to see where the superior cultures are.

[@paultoro2921]

Ya, imagine having your homeland bombed, parceled out, resources extracted and ransacked by imperial powers, your family and kinsmen murdered, your culture nearly wiped out, and when you try to have democratic elections your party system is rigged by foreign interference, and then you wonder why these "inferior" people are migrating to places that have more opportunity. It's to escape the barbarism inflicted upon them by these so-called "superior cultures."

[@benh.92]

“Relativism is the solution of one who is incapable of putting things in order.” -Nicolas Gomez Davila

[@saimbhat6243]

Well, that is so true. I feel same about the western degener*cy being imported to our lands.

[@kaylenehousego8929]

Thanks for the ongoing opportunity to listen , research and learn.

[@metaspacecrownedbytime4579]

Like some people are more intelligent than others. It is not meant as an insult. It is just true

[@xray86delta]

I agree, but I would also offer that some people are just uninformed to a surprising level. This gives them the impression of being unintelligent, which is often proved wrong after spending some time with that person.

[@markkeneson6806]

​@xray86delta ,yes, education and intelligence are different things.

[@MarkLandrebe-ef5yd]

Not only that, but there is a substantial difference in IQ of Whites & blacks. GOOGLE IT.

[@EternalEmperorofZakuul]

​@@MarkLandrebe-ef5ydits a self fulfilling prophecy when you to videos about Egypt or native Americana

[@crystallinemushroom4803]

who cares if it "offends" others truth is way more important

[@anuragsinha2013]

This should be taught in schools. Is there a good case for colonization of Jamaica, Barbados, Ghana and South Africa. My friends in Africa really want to see that video.

[@JohnWilliams-iw6oq]

I see parts of white culture as being inferior to aboriginal cultures and Japanese culture and yet I see that the reverse is also true. Perhaps we need to learn from each other.

[@macallanvintage]

The only enviable and undeniable superiority within White culture is their SUPERIORITY COMPLEX which they openly inflict upon other skin colours.

[@shaolinabbott9161]

What would European nations have to learn from Indigenous Australians? What can they learn from a stone age civilization that has been romanticised and misrepresented? What is there to learn from people who eat grubs just to survive? kzbin.info/www/bejne/gV6UZKJ8aZqDkNU Australia Would’ve Been Fine Without Aboriginal People

[@Avianthro]

In certain respects, and who (and how, by what value hierarchy) decides what respects are of value for comparison?

[@MA-go7ee]

Can you decide if an aspect of culture that burns the living wives of a dead man along with his corpse is worse than a culture that doesn't? If so, congratulations, you've made the distinction

[@Avianthro]

@@MA-go7ee Of course, I would agree that this is a cultural aspect that's undesirable, but then I'm not part of that culture, and it may very well be that such a culture has other aspects far superior to my own. How would you judge which culture among all that may exist is the superior one, overall, all aspects considered, and how do you decide which aspects are worthy of consideration?? If you've managed to do that, select-describe-delineate the one overall superior culture, what then? Do you set out to impose your culture globally, by whatever means are necessary because you feel it is for the good of all humanity?

[@gregcollins3404]

The bottom line is whether or not you are trying to be a blessing to the people around you. That goes for colonists in dealing with a third world country, or gen x,y,z... trying to change modern culture.

[@AtheismF7W]

the answer is yes.

[@jeremyrainman]

Yes

[@haycockjeff]

They can’t be all the same. So by logic some must be better than others…

[@seasonedbeefs]

Definitely. There is definitely inferior cultures. Look at the yanks

[@mohamedali2858]

Man seeks excuses for those who he love, and do not find them for those who he hate, and if he loves the truth for it self, he will settle the balance of his excuses. And this applies to cultures and beliefs.

[@boltrooktwo]

If a culture doesn’t have collective purpose it is nearly impossible to have laws for the common good, you need philosophical undergirding for that to be possible.

[@glenncox298]

It’s simple; without a transcendent objective ‘perfect’ standard of right and wrong, ‘might is right’. Nietzsche’s Parable of the Madman captures the essence of the problem perfectly. Some quotes (not Nietzsche) worth pondering, “all denunciation implies a moral doctrine of some kind.” “How can one possibly prescribe a moral principle, or lack of one, without justifying the authority of the source? And yet, this is the level at which so many issues are argued. Whether by talk-show hosts or politicians [or academics or media pundits or big-tech/social media fact-checkers], the opposing positions are constantly and contemptuously castigated as an imposition on their own position, forgetting that at the same time an imposition takes place in reverse when they offer their solution [or lifestyle or culture] as superior.” Moral relativism is a non-entity. Eventually one moral point of view rises above the rest. I just hope it is the one that treats ALL human life as sacred.

[@ergophonic]

There's a name you wouldn't want to spoonerism in the wrong neighbourhood.

[@Vesnicie]

I'm not offended by the word "Bigel". 😉

[@banta-pd8zj]

Go on, we know that it's only the woke that is stopping you from doing what is your right. Isn't that how it goes?

[@MmmMmmm-bs8pt]

'iikhwani wa'akhawati biallah yahal alkhayr ya eibad allah alsaalihin nihna banat 'aytam 'awlad sighar mae 'umiy marida

[@MmmMmmm-bs8pt]

mae 'umiy marida My brothers and sisters, by God, people of goodness, O righteous servants of God, we are daughters, orphans, young children, with m

[@stuartmunro2474]

These are not issues contemporary cultural arbiters want to discuss. I can recall a bunch of students that became very uneasy when I asserted that that period of Aztec culture that was characterized by conquest, slavery, and human sacrifice was not particularly enlightened - for all that the Hidalgos that attacked them were scarcely moral exemplars themselves. There is a kind of cowardice in avoiding such judgments or even the possibility of such judgments. There is a saving grace, that cultures are capable of significant change in quite short periods - contemporary Germans for instance, are often characterized as serious, studious engineers, but late 19th century and early 20th century characterizations were more of lager louts.

[@peterclark6290]

Modernity had to be invented somewhere. It is certainly not contained in any ancient text. For reasons outside their genetics this first occurred in Europe (natural advantages of that region) and after a long and bitter struggle against both hereditary authority and the greed of the church. Warriors made it happen. Those warriors then took those developments to explore the planet. Resistance to modernity is the story of colonialism because humans need replaceable governments, separation of powers, free speech, printing and control of the warriors, etc. It is perfectly permissible to be dismissive of a culture if you also believe we are one race with local cosmetic variations. Tradition is yesterday's solution. _Sapiens_ are inventors, tinkerers, improvement makers who have lost an inordinate amount of genius to the safe and secure.

[@rightfulfuture4]

no, and we shouldn't have done more of it

[@pipnipipa7627mimmahappunchaol]

When children don't understand their roots and Christian values and do not understand what is permissible, children become alienated or one parent alienated ; makes total perished children.. young adults.., destroyed.

[@lollypop2413]

British colonialism typically were based on brutality and plundering the conqured lands...and lets not forget destruction of native culture in many cases....ie SA,

[@22yardsofficial23]

Those native cultures were useless and unattractive for most people

[@jerryhatley5004]

…we are genetically engineered to distrust “the other” and therefore racism or hatred/distrust of others to protect the “home society” will never end….

[@nevbarnes1034]

The West has done a very good job of overcoming that instinct. We are the only people who care enough about the issue to even try.

[@PavelKrupets]

kids react normally to different races.

[@banta-pd8zj]

The other is taught. Some cultures are open to differences just as people are. The opposite is also true.

[@banta-pd8zj]

Inhistime. Until Columbus comes your way, then stuffed you are. Kiss everything you love goodbye. Puts a wrench in your works doesn't it.

[@introvertedmoth]

Colonialism was common across the world in that time and even before, and not just by Europeans. Empires from around the world were subjugating nearby populations, exploiting, torturing, raping, and enslaving them too. The British Empire was simply more successful at colonialism because they had advanced technologically, and they focused on expanding via settlements rather than exploiting local populations for gold/silver (e.g. Spanish Empire). That doesn't make them worse than other empires or tribal leaders that committed unaccounted atrocities.

[@mikegriffiths5881]

Wilberforce is not Rhodes and Nigel Biggar is implicitly conflating these positions in this video. This is justification of racism by slight of hand.

[@dannywlm63]

Yes of course they are

[@benjamintaheny450]

TRIBALISM: the DEFINING and DEFENDING of boundaries to restrict access to resources of a particular territory for exclusive use of the people occupying that location to support the current population and providing for those yet to be born. Is a more objective description of the discrimination between people. The 'trash talking' is social reinforcement of the boundaries. (a crude way of saying: "you are trespassing, get off my grass.") Today's common censored word N**** [Latin for 'black'(colour)] derives from the Romans observation of the most obvious trait, visually identifable, in the sub-Saharan Africans they encountered. [Niger (France) and Nigeria (British) are the countries remaining from the European colonial competition for territorial control.] The terms inferior and superior are VALUE JUDGEMENTS. Invite a vegetarian for a meal and meat-based recipes are an inferior choice(it gets you further away from a desirable end state).

[@NapoleonBonapartepdrquay]

Blah! blah! blah!

[@dadbosworth6838]

Not sure about our medicine and agriculture being superior?

[@pikeman6774]

Superior but abused?

[@karlkeating2803]

You're not sure about our medicine being superior to that of, say, the Aztecs or their contemporaries the Elizabethans, neither of whom had any pain relievers whatsoever (aspirin--the first pain killer [aside from whiskey, perhaps] was invented only in 1892)? Or our agriculture being superior, such that there no longer is any famine in the world except as a direct consequence of political/military abuse, as compared to prior centuries when millions died each year due to crops ruined by weather or pests?

[@stigcc]

Peak clown world

[@patrussell8917]

each culture attunes to location and traditions that have become bred into them none are better than others but some moral aspects wont be acceptable to others creating the difference

[@mimimckenna7286]

Yes some cultures are worse than others... just look around you

[@rah7868]

First define what "are some cultures inferior to others" means.

[@jeremyrainman]

There is no need to do that. Any culture that fails to protect its children from harms that limit them the full use of their mind+body are inferior to any culture that protects and nurtures its childrens mind+body. That's just one example, there's plenty of other examples of ways that cultures could be or are superior or inferior.

[@OutnBacker]

He did that - for at least 5 minutes.

[@pentsmethodology]

Put simply, it means that wherever the refugees and migrants are going - thats the superior culture. Why else would they risk their lives to do it?

[@banta-pd8zj]

Jeremy, well said that bigot.

[@banta-pd8zj]

Oh why stop there when we're on a roll. All these two were defining was their place of privilege, ie how do we justify treating others like rubbish. Wherever the colonists have been, violence is de rigeur. I am not aware of any people subjected to colonisers to not resist colonialism tooth and nail. Racism is the justification of brutality, oppression and exploitative behaviour. Always.

[@Denito451]

It's very lucky that all humans do not have the same issues as say dogs, where a Red Setter is the most intelligent and smarter than all other dogs!

[@banta-pd8zj]

That's absolutely right. Not the slightest hint of breeding in these two dogs.

[@lollypop2413]

Red Setters are known to be disobedient

[@mikkip2302]

What about iq differences between races. Is it a myth?

[@stuartmunro2474]

Flynn has done some work on this. There are issues with the validity of English language IQ testing of non- English populations. Asians consistently outperform Westerners in the real world, but their IQ scores appear to be linguistically depressed. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Flynn_(academic)

[@Urbanmystic123]

Under British colonialism a half million to 1.5 million Kenyans were tortured/murdered...

[@pablorages1241]

YES ... objectively YES !

[@vipanpuri5073]

Who are you

[@banta-pd8zj]

They won't tell you.

[@mehranjangh]

The cute thing is that the gentleman comes from the position that his culture is the best which while might not he racist is obviously silly, so no cutie pie, you are not right

[@no-body-22]

Why is he not right? Why do you think that he thinks that?

[@mehranjangh]

@@no-body-22 I'll give you a few reasons among many: 1) he believes cultures to be not the result of environmental factors but their cause 2) he belives that there are objective criteria to judge a culture's worth 3) he does not recognize that there is actually no such thing as a culture, take any moderate sized city and see how many different "cultures" you can detect there and try to somehow define that city's cultures 4) he does not follow his thought process to the end, what if there is an objectively supreme culture, what would one do with such information? Destroy other cultures? Or learn to live with them? If the latter, then what difference does it make even if one culture is better than the others?

[@someguy5977]

Kind of hard to ignore the elephant in the room: People of most other cultures want to move to his culture. Even if they claim to hate his culture, they still want to move to his country and set up little enclaves where they collect government aid to support themselves for little work thanks to another culture which is supposedly not superior.

[@edanderson8087]

I guess some of what you mentionef applies to Planned Parenthood and the Gaits Foundation and their Eugenics agenda

[@MarkLandrebe-ef5yd]

Where have advanced/complex inventions come from, going back 200 years? The answer is White countries, especially the USA. No one can debate this fact. So, I will allow you to answer the question of superiority. Name an important black Inventor /invention, on par with the computer.

[@EternalEmperorofZakuul]

Ahem . . . . . . . . . . . Nothing

[@richg2881]

Exchange the 'N' with the 'B' and the 'B' with the 'N.'

[@neetpride5919]

Nigel Biggar AKA Niggar

[@frederickburke9944]

This conversation is extremely racist. Wildly racist. If you don't see that, you don't know what "racism" means today.

[@pennypothoneypot634mimmahappun]

When children don't understand their roots and Christian values and do not understand what is permissible, children become alienated or one parent alienated ; makes total perished children.. young adults.., destroyed.

[@christysamuel8725]

Yes