So I'm sitting in my social anthro class going through emic and etic point of views and shamanism and all this really really cool stuff!!!
So in anthropology it is in better form to use an emic point of view while doing research on a group of peoples BUT it is also important to keep an etic point of view open as well. This allows you to actually join the flow of the people's (or culture/subculture) you are studying while keeping your own views which allows you to make objective decisions on whether something is really ok(within these certain beliefs) or if it's really wrong(just doing something because they feel like it) such as cannabalism. For example we have the Wari tribe who practice a religious cannabalism; they consume the flesh of the deceased as a funeral right to us, or at least myself being raised the way I am, this seems wrong. But in reality what is wrong with it? The cannabalistic act is being done on a deceased member of their community. It's not like they hunt humans. So in an emic point of view this is totally acceptable, there not hurting anyone.