For example, in one tribe
tattooing may be a mere matter of personal liking, of no importance
and with no group-judgment upon it; yet certain habits with
regard to it may become widespread. In another tribe certain tattoos
may be thought to be enjoined by the god, and their neglect deemed
a matter of serious importance to the tribe as a whole; tattooing may
here be said to be a part of the tribal morals. To us moderns it is
probably a morally indifferent affair; but if we should learn it to
be seriously deleterious to the body, it would again become a moral
matter. In short, morals are customs that affect, or are supposed to
affect, a man's life or that of his tribe for weal or woe. Obviously,
this discrimination is not consciously made by savages; indeed, to
this day, such distinctions are enveloped in a haze for the average
man. Men do not realize the raison d'etre of morals. They follow them
because their fathers did or their fellows do; because they inherit
instincts that drive them in their direction or inevitably imitate
those who have formed the habits before; because they feel a pressure
toward them and are uncomfortable if they hold out against it. When
pressed for a justification of their conduct, they are usually surprised
at the inquiry; such action seems obviously the thing to do, and that
is the end of it. Or they will hit upon some of the secondary sanctions
that have grown up about these habits the penalties of the law,
the commandment of the gods, or what not.
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