The contrast between different and cultures and their moral standards is often met with controversy and conflict. Every set of moral standards is almost always defended by its people that it represents because it describes what they believe, or what they have been taught to believe, as being morally good. The quote from Herodotus describes this concept:
“For if anyone, no matter who, were given the opportunity of choosing from amongst all the nations of the world the set of beliefs which he though best, he would inevitably, after careful consideration of their relative merits, choose that of his own country. Everyone with exception believes his own native customs, and the religion he was brought up in, to be the best.
Every group of people with a set of beliefs has the instinctive quality of believing that their beliefs are superior to those of other groups, and this thought process often leads to the further assumption that they are also “better” people, and that they other groups are inferior to them, and even savage.
Personally, I witness this in a variety of ways during everyday life. We are surrounded by a community of people, the Amish, who have a completely different belief system than us. We often ridicule and belittle their way of life because we naturally believe that ours is better. For example, the Amish do not use modern technology like cars and electricity. We are so against the thought of living in this manner, but most of us have never experience the possible advantages of refraining from such things.
In my opinion, I do not think there is a perfect belief system. All of them have their flaws, but again that my vision for perfect moral codes or based off of my raising and experiences. The way that I would establish my judgment of other cultures would be by examining the harm that is enforced on others through their way of life. Eating the bodies of their dead fathers, while it is unappealing, does no harm to the society. Cremating bodies does not either. However if a culture believes that a portion of their society is inferior to the rest and they treat them harshly, then that would be an example of a moral code that I would feel comfortable with justifiably disapproving.
