Response to "What should society do for “uncivilized cultures” like the Sawi?"

Response to the question, "What should society do for “uncivilized cultures” like the Sawi?" As a Christian myself, I might personally answer to the question from a Christian mission in mind. Bearing in mind, however, that society includes people other than Christians, and writing under an impression or guess of what the generally socially accepted terms are, I would respond as the following:

One thing I think society should not do is to exploit the people living by primeval practices. Determining what exploitation is may be a topic on which another thread of discussion can take place, but to give somewhat a rough definition for this post, I would say that the kind of exploitation that should not take place is taking away viable means of living. That may concern the indigenous land ownership, employment of native people into newly coming industries, etc. From that it transits, that society should allow a fair treatment that allows a viable living option – not only for the current generation but also for the next. That might concern education that prepares the people to live with (and , ideally, not be exploited by) incoming people from a modernized world. One might question, should societies even interact with these people? Or should they just leave them alone? That may be subject to another discussion (I would, as Christian, lean towards yes, interaction is necessary, but for the sake of evangelism and missions more importantly than material developments), but assuming that interactions will take place one way or another eventually fair treatment by the modernized societies (or ensuring the fair treatment and prohibiting exploitation), I think, is necessary.

Also, should there be ethical practices of the modernized societies that the cultures unexposed to modernization don't have (that is, if there are unethical practices, such as purposeful treacherous cannibalism as that the Sawi used to have and headhunting, which I believe are unethical), then the modernized society or people from it likely would have to make efforts to make changes in that regard. Not to equate modernized with ethical, as the modernized part of the world can still have its load of immorality, but as those who can observe something wrong in the customs that the people who practice them don't realize, the people of the the more modernized world should try to promote the ethical practices (that is not to say that practices of indigenous people all are totally unethical; I mean what I wrote about promoting ethical practices in the aspects where the groups that are not yet modernized have an unethical custom).

Having said that, with my belief that what is right and wrong needs to be measured by what God tells humanity and ethics are tied back to God, I think I would, to go back into the more personal thought on approaching the matter as a Christian, keep in mind Christian evangelism and missions even in the promotion of ethics. So that's where I am.