CAN CRUELITY BE ACCEPTED AS A WAY OF LIFE?

CAN CRUELITY EVER BE ACCEPTED AS A WAY OF LIFE?

If something is considered in one society as tabu or as non acceptable, is it ever ok within other societies? A good question. Just as we are all individuals, so is each country in the world separate from its counterparts. One would like to think that cruel (or what we perceive as cruel) behavior is not ever accepted no matter where your push pin lands on the map.

Below is an exerpt from a blog entry my son made yesterday on his blog site (http://www.charleskinney.blogspot.com/). He is currently teaching English to the villages of Greenland. Currently he is about 600 miles past the Artic Circle in the village of Qasigiannguit.
In this village, as in many in that part of Greenland, dogs run in packs. They are needed to pull dog sleds and are not the toss-the-ball and play-fetch variety as we know dogs here in the states.

"Yesterday, on the way to a parent-teacher town meeting to discuss educational reform, three girls (rough age guess...5 to 7) had cornered a puppy against a wooden embankment. One began to kick it. By the time I got to the puppy, she had her foot on his head, holding him down. I don't know why. The puppy was squealing with pain. She won't be doing that again any time soon. It reminds me of the time last year when I saw kids torturing a seagull in Nuuk, which I never wrote about."

This made me shudder inside at the sheer cruelity of this and brought tears to my eyes I know all kids have a tendancy to be cruel to an animal until they are taught that this behavior is NOT acceptable. But this kind of behavior IS acceptable there. I don't believe it is encouraged, but neither is it discouraged. It is just a way of life for these people. Boredom, the status of a dog in their country, or for whatever other reason turns their hearts to such cruel treatment on others of their society. This is true of spousal abuse and child abuse there, so an animal would come further down the chain for sure.

So my question poised to you today is: "Can cruelity ever be accepted as a way of life?" In our society the answer would definately be NO. In other societies, the answer could be YES. What separates us from other parts of the world? I really don't have a correct answer to that other than our upbringing,which triggers a conscience in us all. All I can truthfully say is that I am glad I am living in a "civilized" country where such behavior is wrong, where a helpless animal means more than a cruel game or way to pass time, and where lines are drawn as to what is cruelity.

ANSWER TO LAST TRIVIA QUESTION: In 1961, StarKist Tuna introduced its new spokesperson, making his first appearance in a TV commercial. Who/what was that spokesman? Charlie, the Tuna, of the "sorry Charlie" ads.
TODAY'S TRIVIA QUESTION: What did TV’s Lucas McCain, Ben Cartwright, Vernon Albright, Jim Newton, Bentley Gregg, Steve Douglas, Andy Griffin, Jed Clampett have in common?
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: If there were no golf balls, how would we measure hail?