Peace Child

Do ethical values originate in the opinions of particular societies? If a society agreed that treachery was to be considered a virtue, would treachery then become truly ethical? If not, where do true ethical values originate? If all ethical systems are equally valid, can one culture rightly judge the values of another culture?

Peace Child, by Don Richardson, shows the conflict that arises when a group of cannibalistic tribes in New Guinea are confronted by the message of Jesus. In the Sawi culture, treachery is celebrated as an ideal. "The Sawi child is trained to obtain his will by sheer force of violence and temper," Richardson writes. From childhood, the people have learned to carry out "retaliation against everything that offends them." The author observes that "when treachery is philosophically justified, true peace is impossible."

In the book, two ethical systems clash: Treachery versus Love.