In yesterday’s post, I concluded that in the ancient Middle East, vows were considered so serious that even a vow made under deception was still considered valid and at the end of the day was honored.
This brings me to a very interesting topic on the difference between how the Oriental mind and the Western mind views fair play.
And trust me, having lived in Asia (Japan) for over 16 years now, I’m well aware of the difference.
You may be thinking…
…why didn’t Joshua just cancel the treaty he had made with the leaders of Gibeon since it was based on a lie in the first place?
The simple way to put it is that per the ancient Middle Eastern mindset, that was far from a good enough reason to overturn a vow in the first place.
Here’s what you need to know when it comes to the Asian mindset.
Being able to successfully pull the wool over one’s eyes was actually considered an admirable trait.
I’m not kidding.
In the East, if the one who lies and cheats does so in a clever manner that puts him or her at a distinct advantage, it was viewed as something to boast about.
To the Eastern mindset, it’s not any different than outsmarting your opponent in a game of chess for example.
This doesn’t go over very well in the Western world but here’s another fact that may surprise you.
Western culture (especially America) is a HUGE exception to this rule.
Pretty much every other society in the world holds to a different standard when it comes to making vows, contracts and the rules governing what is and is not fair.
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