conflict of cultural norms theme

There is material conflict because people have different moral codes and there is a specific situation in which the codes appear to be incompatible.

Notes

This theme applies if there is a conflict situation in which at least one side won't back off because of some cultural idiosyncrasy which is notably different from that of the other side. The theme notably does not apply if the reasons both sides perpetuate the conflict because of such relatively universal values as: self-preservation, greed, etc.

Examples

In tng1x04 "Code of Honor", The Ligonian leader Lutan thought it quite reasonable to kidnap Tasha, a lowly woman as he saw it, for his intrigues and was then honor-bound to stand his ground. The Federation people, on the other hand, saw things differently and could not abandon an officer just because she was female. Thus a material conflict became inevitable.

33 total · 11 choice · 16 major · 6 minor

Story	Level	Motivation
ds91x06	choice	Tosk bloodsports were morally objectionable to humans, who felt they could not stand idly by while such things go on.
ds94x01/02	choice	Worf was brought onto the space station to deal with Klingon visitors who, with their Klingony ways, were causing trouble amongst the more human-like species.
ds96x07	choice	Jadzia and Worf face cultural complications on the road to their traditional Klingon wedding ceremony.
ent1x08	choice	The Vulcan's circumspect way of communicate personal matters with T'Pol lead to suspicion and conflict with the humans lead by Archer.
ent2x22	choice	The humans, and especially Tucker, felt that they could not stand idly by when they learned that the Vissians treated a third gender among their species as second-class citizens while refusing to see anything wrong about it.
novel: A Passage to India (1924)	choice	Virtually all the conflict in the book stemmed from friction between British and Indian people rooted in controversy over the British Raj.
tng1x08	choice	The humans could not stand idly by as the Edo subjected Wesley to their draconian punishment for a minor infringement: death for stepping in a flower bed.
tng4x04	choice	The humans could not stand idly by and let Jono be abused, as they saw it, by his rough-and-tumble alien foster parents. Jono had trouble getting along with Picard because the latter did not approve of obnoxious loud music, hammocks, and high pitched alien humming.
tos1x27	choice	Kirk could not stand idly by and let the Organians engage in something so unspeakable as "non-violence". The Organians, on their part, were repulsed by the bellicosity of human and Klingon alike.
tos3x02	choice	The Elasians expected everyone else to show their royalty the same respect they did. They were mighty offended when Kirk would not up with it put and threatened to put the petulent princess over his knee.