jar writes:
The claim made by you (and I asked several times just to make sure we were addressing the same issue and you confirmed that it was the issue) was that the 1800s in the Us were a Golden Age of Christianity driven by the biblical principle "Love thy neighbor as thyself" and that they used that as the sole guide in morals.
I think your definition of neighbor is 'unBiblically' broad. Were the Native American's really the neighbors of the Anglo-Saxons simply because they lived next door? Were the Canaanites the neighbors of the Hebrews?
When the proto-Americans left Europe to escape religious persecution that was practically a replay of Exodus. What could be more Biblical than going all Manifest Destiny and stuff on the descendants of Cain or Ham?
No, manifest destiny was not very enlightened or Christ-like. But it was Biblical. Or at least it was until some progressives decided that equal rights applied to non-neighbors. Stinkin' Whigs in American clothing.
Edited by NoNukes, : Fix a stupid your/you're error