Friend Stephen:
I think I tend to agree more with you than against you on this matter. My only point was to advance the question. I don't believe that my slave-holding ancestors believed that they were committing an immoral act. My point is that their opinion was not relevent. A more powerful body believed that their institution was immoral. We fought them, we lost, and ultimately we have all come to believe that human bondage is an immoral act. I'm not a biblical scholar, but suppose, that Gabriel had not blown his horn and the walls of Jericho had not fallen, does this lessen their immoral acts, just because they believed them not to be immoral. BTW, in some family papers, I found a document dated 1847 which indentured a caucasian couple in exchange for tract of land. I have not fully read it, it was late and 19th century handwriting is rather difficult. Just an example. Would we consider this immoral? John