Ethical Dilemma within Society Assignment
samolg
1 Let’s Take a Walk: Analyzing an Ethical Dilemma Cultures
Let’s Take a Walk:
Analyzing an Ethical Dilemma between Cultures
Full Sail University
2 Let’s Take a Walk: Analyzing an Ethical Dilemma Cultures
Introduction:
For this report entitled Let’s Take a Walk: Analyzing an Ethical Dilemma between
Cultures, I chose to pick a controversial topic that is set closer to home than most - actually right
here in the United States. I will be analyzing the use of the psychoactive plant called peyote, and
how it is viewed as a medicinal, ritualistic, and recreational tool, as seen from the perspectives of
two radically different culturally rooted societies, namely from the Native American Church and
the United States Government.
The Use of Peyote in Native American Culture:
Peyote, a naturally growing plant found throughout certain parts of Mexico and Texas,
was adopted early on in ancient Native American cultures for its medicinal, therapeutic, and
“spiritually uplifting” properties. It is usually dried and eaten, or mixed in with tea and drunk
(and even sometimes applied topically), soon afterwards visual hallucinations and vomiting may
occur which are looked at as a sign of supernatural sickness or “evil” leaving the body (Schultes,
1938). Some might logically call this Mexican cactus the prototype of the New World
hallucinogens, for it was one of the first to be discovered by Europeans and was without a doubt
the most spectacular vision-inducing plant encountered by the Spanish conquerors. Although, it
has been documented as being used by native tribes during the pre-Columbian era for over 400
years, new findings of ancient ritualistic drawings depicting its use have said to date the
sacramental use of peyote back now to almost 3000 years (Schultes & Hoffman, 1992).
3 Let’s Take a Walk: Analyzing an Ethical Dilemma Cultures
A Native American sitting next to a large pile of peyote buttons.
In the late 1880’s, a “movement” of Native Americans was formed called the Native
American Church, which is now a large and extremely well known Native American religious
organization that deals with issues such as religious rights, freedoms, exchanges, and
negotiations between their indigenous people and the United States Federal Government. The
beliefs of this group stem from a much older form of Peyotism, an actual religious belief system
based around the “spiritual” plant and how they believe it to be an actual physical manifestation
of one of their principle deities. Peyotist beliefs vary from tribe to tribe, which aids into the
notion that the culture surrounding the dilemma is high-context, relatively complicated, or hard
to follow. But there is still at least one tribe that shows an unrelenting devotion towards their
traditional customs and beliefs from which we can draw many examples from. They are called
4 Let’s Take a Walk: Analyzing an Ethical Dilemma Cultures
the Huichol (or Wixáritari) people and were geographically isolated up until 1722, almost 200
years after the conquest of Mexico. This reason alone has lent them a culture rich in ancient
tribal traditions and their people seem to hold onto their beliefs tightly, as Franciscan
missionaries attempted to convert the tribe to Christianity for over 100 years before giving up
("Peyote people -," ). The Huichol is a relatively small (around 20,000 members) and culturally
rich society that shares a strong sense of collectivism in their day-to-day behavior and express
their cultural identity through colorful and shamanistic artistic representations (from which they
are now more well known for). Of course, dictated by their beliefs, they use peyote for many
different things including medicine (mental, physical, and spiritual) and religious rituals. From
an ethical standpoint, the Huichol people see no problem with using peyote as their principles
pertaining to this decision most likely rely on what they see as their “constitutional duty” as a
servant of their Sun God, from which the plant descended from. While it may be safe to assume
that the native Huichol people lack a certain amount of ethical relativism and contextualism from
being cut off from the rest of the modern world, they are no more close minded or “primitive” as
modern religious people living in the United States who practice a combination of different
ethical principles, but mostly rely on the more intellectually based categorical imperative. And
while most other Native American tribes simply just use peyote, the Huichol have developed a
whole yearly rite of passage (or “vision-quest”) of sorts where several of the tribe’s younger men
and woman (led by a shaman) are sent on a spiritual journey through the Sierra Madre mountain
range to find, worship, and experience the spiritual powers of the sacred plant. This “Peyote
Hunt” as they call it, is a fascinating ritual dealing in cultural and ethnic solidarity, social drama,
and carefully designed symbology and behaviors.
5 Let’s Take a Walk: Analyzing an Ethical Dilemma Cultures
A "cosmic portal" made by Huichol Indians during a "Peyote Hunt"
During the pilgrimage, participants symbolically return to their origins and play the role
of their own ancestors. The hunt, or quest, for peyote is equated to a deer hunt and the cactus is
hunted with a bow and arrow. The ritual sequence includes the blindfolding of the novice peyote
pilgrims and their subsequent passage through two different symbolic gateways which contain
different mental and spiritual states that they must get through (usually by either laughing or
weeping). Afterwards, a great celebration is held where participants eat and drink peyote, sing,
and dance for days until finally bringing basketfuls of the sacred cactus back to their home
village ("To find our," ).
So as we can see, even though the use of peyote is wide amongst many of the Native
American tribes, some (such as the Huichol) revere the hallucinogenic plant as a gift from (and
6 Let’s Take a Walk: Analyzing an Ethical Dilemma Cultures
even part and parcel of) the Creator, from this belief system they have been enjoying the physical
and spiritual benefits of the plant for at least hundreds, if not thousands of years.
How the United States Views the Use of Peyote:
Now we will attempt to switch gears to how the United States Government, or even so,
how an average American might view the use of peyote for medicinal or ritualistic purposes.
When the continent of North America was first invaded by Europeans, the societies that
were built were unquestionably constructed to be Puritanical, ethically universalistic, and low-
context. Through this, multiculturalism was thought to be encouraged, yet because of these
values, and the Western conception of race, the ugly truth is that the very universalism that was
meant to unite cultures wound up segregating them, and advocates of the “melting pot” theory
must now deal with attempting to explain the dilemma of how universalism can bond people
together if it is repeatedly overcome by a racism that denies moral agency to oppressed groups
(Hooker, pgs. 347-348). This seems to be the case for the unfortunate Native Americans who
were beyond oppressed, almost to the point of extinction, most notably because the prevailing
European conquerors lacked any kind of cultural or ethical relativism which in turn caused them
to view the indigenous people as subordinate “savages”. Due to these reasons, amongst many
others, when peyote was first discovered as a native drug used in rituals, many seventeenth-
century Jesuits argued that it was to be forbidden and its users were to be punished since it was
connected with “heathen rituals and superstitions”, and was used to contact evil spirits through
“diabolical fantasies”. In Mexico, Christian missionaries banned the use of peyote in religious
practices, the persecution resulting in Spanish conquerors condemning the plant for its “satanic
7 Let’s Take a Walk: Analyzing an Ethical Dilemma Cultures
trickery” (Priya, 2010). At that time and for decades to follow, there was evidently a clash of
cultural values as some perceived the drug to be an extremely harmful substance in the vein of
demonic sorcery whereas others literally worshipped the roots it sprang from.
A depiction of a Jesuit Missionary preaching to Native Americans.
Unfortunately, when conceptions like these (although waning throughout the years) are
mixed in with a modern American culture that is rule-based, low-context, universalizes
rationality, and relatively religious (yet individualistic), the view of these people is sometimes
unfavorable. As is the United States legal system pertaining to peyote, which was illegalized for
decades before the Native American Church brought a case to the Supreme Court in an attempt
to legalize the possession and consumption of peyote for religious rituals in the name of religious
freedom. Still trying to convey the melting-pot (or salad-bowl as many experts now call it) image
8 Let’s Take a Walk: Analyzing an Ethical Dilemma Cultures
of multiculturalism, and now even cultural relativism (as the American society is becoming more
modernized), the court ruled in the favor of the Native Americans stating that certified shamans
and leaders may possess, consume, and distribute peyote to members of the Church for the sole
purpose of religious rituals and nothing more. Just recently, in 2010, the case was brought back
and modified to include all members of the church instead of just its leaders (Priya, 2010).
So now that the government has given the right to Native Americans to use peyote
legally, how is the plant, or drug, actually viewed in modern American culture?
Because most of our cultural heritage is still engrained with the European ideologies of
centuries ago, it is still generally shunned upon, as are most illegal drugs in the U.S. As
mentioned, America is an extremely low-context, monochronic, rule-based and ethically
universalistic culture, and to this day the society as a whole is relatively more religious than any
other nation (Hooker, pg. 344). Most citizens get their information or “modern mythology” from
media and entertainment sources such as television and the internet, which has arguably been
instilling a concept for decades that all illegal drugs are bad and subjugate the youth of our
nation to moral degradation, or that users of psychoactive drugs, natural or manmade, will lead to
other such heinous and criminal acts such as murder, rape, or suicide. On an ethical level, it
seems most Americans are still coming to terms with their universalistic, categorically
imperative, and utilitarian principles, for most still think that the drug is bad either because their
local priest or a news anchor tells them it is, or that it will somehow contribute to lowering the
advancement of society (or mankind) as a whole if it were to be accepted (the same way
pharmaceuticals drugs are accepted, but that is a topic for another report!).
9 Let’s Take a Walk: Analyzing an Ethical Dilemma Cultures
An ironic picture of Elvis meeting with President Richard Nixon to help with the "war on drugs".
How I Personally View the Use of Peyote:
When I first started researching for this paper I assumed I would lean in the favor of the
Native Americans, and after doing the research that I did I found both sides to have an equally
favorable (or at least “admirable”) ethical standpoint on the matter, but I still lean towards the
more culturally and ethically relative argument for the consumption of peyote by religious
Native Americans. What we have here are two radically different cultures simply trying to
preserve a tradition that has been revered as “right” for many years within their respective
cultures, of which both can be said to practice some form of universalism in order to flourish or
pass down customs.
10 Let’s Take a Walk: Analyzing an Ethical Dilemma Cultures
Using my own natural method of ethical decision making, I always rely on the principle
of consequentialism first, where I found there to be little good or bad consequences to taking the
drug in moderation (reports are too inconsistent). Then I shifted to a more utilitarian view where
I tried to acknowledge how being for or against the dilemma may influence the greater good of
the people involved as a whole; I thought to myself, there is a much larger chance of the Native
American people deriving “happiness” from peyote then there would be people who abuse it
outside of religious practices. Personally, I have tried peyote when I was younger and I didn’t
like how it clashed with my monochronic personality where I feel the need to always be “in
control” (which is undoubtedly a product of the American culture I was raised in).
From that thought stemming from the principle of utilitarianism, I started to be able to
view peyote in an even more positive light. Then after learning more about where both cultures
came from and their values and beliefs, I was then quickly able to move my principles into
ethical relativism and contextualism where I could then view ritualistic peyote usage with an
open mind, finding it not only acceptable, but detrimental to the survival of the rich and ancient
culture of Native Americans.
Personally, I find the effects of hallucinogens unsavory.
11 Let’s Take a Walk: Analyzing an Ethical Dilemma Cultures
References:
Hooker, J. (2003). Working across cultures. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Peyote people - the huichol indians. (n.d.). Retrieved June 24, 2012 from
http://www.peyotepeople.com/people.htm
Priya. (2010, September 21). [Web log message]. Retrieved June 24, 2012 from
http://www.talkingdrugs.org/does-the-government-have-the-right-to-ban-peyote
Schultes, R. E. (1938, October). The appeal of peyote (lophophora williamsii) as a medicine.
American Anthropologist, 40(4), 698-715. Retrieved June 24, 2012 from
http://www.americanethnography.com/article.php?id=20
Schultes, R. E., & Hoffman, A. (1992). The tracks of the little deer. Retrieved June 24, from
http://peyote.org/
12 Let’s Take a Walk: Analyzing an Ethical Dilemma Cultures
To find our life: The peyote hunt of the huichols of mexico . (n.d.). Retrieved June 24, 2012 from
http://www.therai.org.uk/film/film-library-catalogue-vol-i-contents/to-find-our-life-the-
peyote-hunt-of-the-huichols-of-mexico/
Waters, A. (2003, August 5). Native americans use peyote in ancient prayer ceremonies .
Retrieved June 24, 2012 from http://peyote.com/peyote/native.html
Images:
http://thecriminalinside.wordpress.com/2010/01/08/the-peyote-ritual/ (2010). Peyote-indian
[jpeg]. Retrieved June 24, 2012 from
http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv189/Agonistes/peyote-indian.jpg
http://www.washingtonpost.com (2012). PEYOTE -09_1328291041 [jpeg]. Retrieved June 24,
2012 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_404h/2010-
2019/WashingtonPost/2012/02/03/Foreign/Images/PEYOTE%20-09_1328291041.jpg
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