Are all cultures equally valid morally?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Are all cultures equally valid morally?". Your opponent's style: Christopher Hitchens

The answer is a simple no, if we use the westren colture as a model for morality, than how can any non western country be equally moral pracitcing things that would be considered immoral in the west

You've got it backwards. Western culture as the moral yardstick? That's precisely the problem. The West enslaved continents, colonized half the world, and committed genocide—all while claiming moral superiority. Your argument assumes Western values are objectively correct, but they're just... Western. Non-Western cultures practiced sophisticated ethics for millennia before Europe had plumbing. If we're measuring morality by outcome, many "immoral" non-Western practices—community care, land stewardship, conflict resolution—actually work better than Western individualism that leaves people isolated and broken. You can't declare yourself the referee and then act shocked when you're the only one keeping score.

ha gatcha, you just[ proved that not all cultures equality valid morally with your argument which means i win hehe

Nice try, but you're confusing "cultures differ" with "cultures aren't equal." I never said that. I said Western culture isn't the *standard*—that's the opposite of your argument. You claimed the West is the moral model and non-Western practices are immoral by comparison. I said that comparison itself is bogus. Saying "your yardstick is wrong" doesn't mean I'm accepting your yardstick. Equal validity means we judge each culture by its own coherence and outcomes, not imposed external standards. The fact that cultures differ morally doesn't make one objectively superior. You still haven't explained why Western values should be the universal measure. You're still lost.