When did America reach it's moral peak?

There have been countless sermons, editorials, and newscasts relating to the moral decline of America. If that is so, then I would like to know from an historical perspective, what high point have we tumbled from? At what point in our country's history did we reach our moral zenith, before we started our slide into the abyss?Coffee House, perhaps?(:raig

Thread moved here from the Proposed New Topics forum.

Depends. If you're white, it's somewhere in the 1950's. You know, before those troubling "civil rights" laws.

Well, it would have to be before slavery was introduced, and before Indians were killed and their land stolen.I would put 1492 as the date when the moral rot set in.

The neighborhood definite took a turn for the worse in 1607 and really deteriorated on Nov. 21, 1620.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

The moral high point was obviously in August, 1969 in upstate New York at a festival called Woodstock. Equal opportunity sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll for all, is what I heard about it. Been slidin' downhill ever since....

I think the US, like most of the world has been going up and down all the time, in a "moral" sense (by which I would define a commitment to values that are positive for human freedom, and something else by others).There may also be a disconnect between the govt and the populace at large.The US hit its highest peaks at the nation's inception, the end of prohibition, WW2, civil rights victories (both racial and free speech) during the late sixties early seventies (that was also one of our cultural high notes... as long as one forgets Vietnam).We have generally been in decline since then, with only a few bright spots here and there. The order of the day is giving up freedom for security and as long as that continues will remain in decline.Western Civilization hit its highest peak about the same time as our revolution. The whole rennaisance and rise of the libertines thing. It hadn't seen such a high point, since its deep march south after Constantine converted to Xianity.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

"nation's inception" - If you mean the Declaration of Independence, okay, I'll buy that."end of prohibition" - Ah, yes. Pursuit of Happiness at your local pub, without government interference. As long as you pay your liquor tax, that is."WW2" - Yup. We beat the Japs and Nazis with a segregated military."civil rights victories" - Now that was a true moral high point involving the whole population, minus the Southern White Conservative Christians who stayed on the sidelines."...as long as one forgets Vietnam" - Sorry Holmes, can't do it. That little tiff shaped my attitudes for decades to come. Moral high ground on one end and moral bankruptcy on the other.(:raig

I'd take it from there through the beginnings of our current govt under the Constitution. I think it would be odd to disregard the ingenuity and boldness that went into creating the articles of confederation, scrapping it when it wasn't working, and then building a whole new Constitution on principles not enacted as a basis for govt for over a millenia. Yes. Are you being sarcastic? The nation threw off a terrible yoke it had placed on itself for no reason, resuming freedom for the people. I said there could be a difference between the govt and the citizenry. Despite segregation colored americans made fantastic contributions to the war effort. I was not referring entirely to the fact that we beat someone at war. This was a pivotal period in history and I think we held on to most of our honor throughout that conflict. I think you have not understood my post. I was not claiming that these were golden moments of US History where everything was sunshine and roses. The question was what was the nation's moral peak. As I said I think we have gone up and down and those were peaks with the periods before and after the peaks sloping downward.They may not have been very high peaks (compared to other nations), and some were higher than others, but they were the peaks.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

I understand your points now. But didn't the Civil War account for anything?? That was a watershed event in my book.(:raig

That is a fantastic question and I seriously am still debating on whether I could consider it a high point.I think the south had a right to secede, regardless what I thought of slavery. I still do not know what to make of our war to keep the union together.Maybe it has to be a high point because without the union together it would never have gotten as strong as it has?While slaves were freed, that was more of a token gesture at the time and blacks still faced discrimination and incomplete freedom for about another century. I might even point out that blacks were murdered by whites in the North who resented the idea they'd have to fight simply to give them freedom.I'm very torn on that event, and so can't really say if I'd call it a high point.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

If the end of prohibition was removing a terrible yoke, then it could be argued that the end to the prohibition of abortion (Roe vs. Wade) could also be viewed as throwing off a terrible yoke. For women, anyway.(:raig

Yes, I consider Roe v Wade as part of the many civil rights issues decided during that time period I mentioned. There were also free speech rights won during that time as well.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

quote:

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While slaves were freed, that was more of a token gesture at the time and blacks still faced discrimination and incomplete freedom for about another century.

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Although not an aim of the war itself, Reconstruction may count as the Golden Age for black freedom, for Southern African-Americans anyway. Even when Reconstruction ended, it took some time before all of the rights were finally completely eliminated. So the Civil War itself may not count as a high point, perhaps the unintended aftermath might count.

Are you enough of an optimist to say that there will be several moral high points ahead of us?And just for the sheer halibut, what would you say the next one will (should) be?(:raig