You have a history of humans in your head that is not correct.
You have your history wrong, our moral values'/ethics originated in Judaism 4,000 years ago and was then refined and expanded by the ancient Greeks 3,000 plus years ago and Christianity got them from the Greeks. Aristotle's ideas were fundamental to Catholic philosophy. That is how ethics is taught in universities with 95% of the education concentrated on the ancient Greeks and none on Christianity.
The bible belt is in the south not the north. It was the enlightenment in the north, indeed the world, that insisted on an end to slavery and it was ending around the world at that time as the west was waking up to its inhumanity.
If it was the church, then why didn't the church force it to end anytime from 300 AD through 1800 AD that is when they had the most power?
Slavery ended because humans reached the age of enlightenment whereby enough people saw it was too wrong to allow to exist. Education ended slavery!!
That is it a simple matter of education. And as we continued to become educated we allowed women to vote and ended segregation.
If you think things were better in the past tell that to minorities who suffered under segregation or women who suffered under misogyny!!!
Ethics requires understanding!! Look how many evangelicals think Trump is great and was sent by god ot save us, when in fact he is the most terrible of depots and a danger to the world he is so dumb and so mean.
Ancient Greek ethics[ edit] Socrates, as portrayed in Plato's Republic, articulates the greatest good as the transcendent "form of good itself". [6] The good, Socrates says, is like the sun. The sun gives light and life to the earth, the good gives knowledge and virtue to the intelligible world. It is the cause of goodness in people and actions, and it also is the cause of existence and knowledge. The pursuit of and love of the good itself (rather than any particular good thing) Socrates thought was the chief aim of education and (especially) of philosophy.
In his personal life, Socrates lived extremely morally. He was chaste, disciplined, pious, responsible, and cared for his friends [7] In Gorgias he defends the notion that it is better to suffer injustice than to do it. The Greeks found this paradoxical, but Socrates both argued and lived this philosophy consistently. That is because the doing of evil damages the soul, which is the highest part of humans. [8] In the Republic, Socrates is challenged to defend the view that we have reasons to be moral that do not come from rational self-interest, in response to Glaucon's arguments in Book 2. The Republic develops the view that being a good person in an ethical sense involves achieving internal harmony of the parts of the soul. However, Plato's ethical ideal, as expressed in the Republic, still has much in common with the Homeric conception of the leader of a tribe or city: the successful running of the city and the internal harmony of the citizen who runs it is the main ethical aim, and there is little mention in Plato of any strictly moral obligations the ruler may be under.
Aristotle's ethics builds upon Plato's with important variations. Aristotle's highest good was not the good itself but goodness embodied in a flourishing human life. His ethics are based on eudaimonia, variously translated as "happiness," "prosperity," "flourishing," or "success." A "great-souled" citizen who lives a life of virtue can expect to achieve eudaimonia, which Aristotle argues is the highest good for man. Following Plato, Aristotle gives a significant role in moral life the virtues, fixed habits of behavior that lead to good outcomes; the main virtues are courage, justice, prudence and temperance. The highest form of life is, however, purely intellectual activity. [9]
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It was Chistians, in this country, that stopped slavery. You think without Christian morals, we would have stopped slavery? Think again. Do you know that slavery in the Middle East is rampant? Your Islamic friends have a religion that has not evolved since 800 AD. Christianity has evolved quite a bit. The Western world's moral values, which you deride so much come from Christianity. Our respect for women and desire for their equality, as well as our respect for minorities, tolerance of other religions, tolerance for LGBTQ, and tolerance of all sorts of stuff comes directly from New Testament values. "Judge not, lest ye be judged." "Turn the other cheek." "Love thy neighbor as you love yourself."
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