Thursday, August 28, 2008
Only a Sin
In the movie The Kite Runner, the father tells his son that the only sin is theft: if you kill someone, you rob them of life; if you take their property, you rob them of comfort; if you destroy their memory, you rob them of happiness. He might also have included lying, an act that robs one of truth, but his point about theft causing harm is well-taken, and it serves as an entry to discussion on violence.
Stealing stories is also an act of violence, especially those upon which cultures depend. Theft of sacred stories diminishes their usefulness and demeans ceremonies and rituals in which they are performed. Stealing names for commercial exploitation likewise. Yakima, Cherokee, Apache--what right have manufacturers to these names?
Knowledge, too, is stolen and misused. Knowledge systems are fractured for marketing, disintegrated and distorted for power. More harm is done, more sins committed. If this theft is not a crime, then it is only a sin, and what is a sin in a sacrilegious society?
Stealing stories is also an act of violence, especially those upon which cultures depend. Theft of sacred stories diminishes their usefulness and demeans ceremonies and rituals in which they are performed. Stealing names for commercial exploitation likewise. Yakima, Cherokee, Apache--what right have manufacturers to these names?
Knowledge, too, is stolen and misused. Knowledge systems are fractured for marketing, disintegrated and distorted for power. More harm is done, more sins committed. If this theft is not a crime, then it is only a sin, and what is a sin in a sacrilegious society?
