[wwweston]

I'm not sure anyone's advocating for a value-free and uncritical judgment of every last cultural practice, and personally I don't think any practice is above critical review.

At the same time, though, I think it's important to try and bring a holistic approach and an awareness that every culture probably has some such flaws. By "holistic approach" I mean remembering that "slaughter your children before you kill yourself" probably isn't a dangling horrifying imperative, it's probably an intersection of the problematic side of some values that have positive sides as well (for example, you could get it from "good mothers do not neglect the future of their children" + group identity over individual identity + a heavy personal accountability/status culture, all of which have some upsides as well as down). And of course, just like your favorite band, your favorite culture probably has something equally horrifying you accept (millions of abortions, automobile deaths as fact of life, elder neglect/abuse, money as status, whatever...).