If you claim that all slavery and all slave-owners were by definition evil
I have not advocated such a claim, nor have I suggested that you or anyone else do so.
what you've done is set up an "us" and "them" situation where "those evil people" did something WE would never do. You've divorced yourself from their moral failings
I most certainly have not. Holding someone responsible for their actions does not absolve me of my own, and neither, for that matter, does holding me responsible absolve them. If we both rob a bank, and then we call each other bank robbers, does this then mean that NEITHER of us are bank robbers because that would make us hypocrites?
you've failed to recognize that all humans have the capacity both for great good and for great evil, regardless of the social conditions in which they live
On the contrary! If anything, I believe my view supports an even more complex concept of human moral capacity. Individuals are not merely good OR evil, they are good AND evil; capable of healing with one hand while slaying with the other, without mincing words as to which is which. Their character cannot be fully defined through any single facet, which is why I do not believe that accepting the wrongness of their endorsement of slavery represents a devastating threshold from which there is no return. In fact, I feel that sterilizing them of the accountability for their behavior and resting it on the conditions on their environment neutralizes the human element and its moral capacity, leaving it to the whims of time.
you divorce yourself from the possibility that you could have done the same things in a similar situation, and that you still do, and that there's progress to be made here. Humanity is not perfect.
If it is not perfect then you must not imply that it can be held to no wrong unless it believes so. And the very idea of progress indicates superiority to the past. If the evil of an action is relative concept, what motivation is there for progress? By ending something for being wrong, you must first establish is as wrong – essentially creating the very thing you mean to destroy. Why consider the social ramifications of your actions when you know they will forgiven tomorrow?
Would I act the same way as anyone else given the same background? Possibly. Would that remove the burden of my responsibility? No. Does it remove anyone else's responsibility? No. I'm sure I've contributed to many bad (and good) things which I am ignorant of, yet these things are no less what they are because of my ignorance and I expect them to be recognized as such. The deed is done, and the deed is all the matters. Good intentions are irrelevant to me. I do not punish people for their mistakes, but I do ask that they accept responsibility for them.
If you wish to look less critically at both modern and ancient values, that is, of course, your choice.
*snort* Of course, opposing your opinion inevitably means I don't examine things as critically as you do. That is a cheap and underhanded tactic, and I will not put up with it from you if you wish to continue this discussion.
Part 2
If you claim that all slavery and all slave-owners were by definition evil
I have not advocated such a claim, nor have I suggested that you or anyone else do so.
what you've done is set up an "us" and "them" situation where "those evil people" did something WE would never do. You've divorced yourself from their moral failings
I most certainly have not. Holding someone responsible for their actions does not absolve me of my own, and neither, for that matter, does holding me responsible absolve them. If we both rob a bank, and then we call each other bank robbers, does this then mean that NEITHER of us are bank robbers because that would make us hypocrites?
you've failed to recognize that all humans have the capacity both for great good and for great evil, regardless of the social conditions in which they live
On the contrary! If anything, I believe my view supports an even more complex concept of human moral capacity. Individuals are not merely good OR evil, they are good AND evil; capable of healing with one hand while slaying with the other, without mincing words as to which is which. Their character cannot be fully defined through any single facet, which is why I do not believe that accepting the wrongness of their endorsement of slavery represents a devastating threshold from which there is no return. In fact, I feel that sterilizing them of the accountability for their behavior and resting it on the conditions on their environment neutralizes the human element and its moral capacity, leaving it to the whims of time.
you divorce yourself from the possibility that you could have done the same things in a similar situation, and that you still do, and that there's progress to be made here. Humanity is not perfect.
If it is not perfect then you must not imply that it can be held to no wrong unless it believes so. And the very idea of progress indicates superiority to the past. If the evil of an action is relative concept, what motivation is there for progress? By ending something for being wrong, you must first establish is as wrong – essentially creating the very thing you mean to destroy. Why consider the social ramifications of your actions when you know they will forgiven tomorrow?
Would I act the same way as anyone else given the same background? Possibly. Would that remove the burden of my responsibility? No. Does it remove anyone else's responsibility? No. I'm sure I've contributed to many bad (and good) things which I am ignorant of, yet these things are no less what they are because of my ignorance and I expect them to be recognized as such. The deed is done, and the deed is all the matters. Good intentions are irrelevant to me. I do not punish people for their mistakes, but I do ask that they accept responsibility for them.
If you wish to look less critically at both modern and ancient values, that is, of course, your choice.
*snort* Of course, opposing your opinion inevitably means I don't examine things as critically as you do. That is a cheap and underhanded tactic, and I will not put up with it from you if you wish to continue this discussion.