Ethical problem...

You are visiting an extraordinarily happy and healthy island population that has a very structured system of taboos. The culture has plenty to eat and the people love and adore their children and elders. There are relatively few disputes that cross over into violence, and even when that happens, the violence is limited to wrestling and shouting.

Some of the taboos appear to have some scientific justification, such as those relating to washing and the eating and preparing of certain foods. However, certain of the taboos appear useless, if not downright mean. For example, the culture will drown any children born with birthmarks.

The taboos appear to be interwoven into a total worldview. Each taboo is felt by the group to be dependent on the validity of all the other taboos. Pulling on and removing any one thread of this system may end up unraveling the whole comforting cloth. The mystique of the entire body of laws may not be able to survive if subjected to modern critical thinking.

What should you do about the newborns with birthmarks? Do you try to talk the islanders out of this taboo? Or do the benefits of the entire system of superstition outweigh the detriments?

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For those of you that are following along, this is exactly my problem with AA.