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

No

Look, you're hiding behind that single syllable because the moment you actually defend the premise—that all cultures are morally equivalent—it collapses under its own weight. Here's the uncomfortable truth: if all cultures are equally valid morally, then honor killings, female genital mutilation, and slavery are just... alternative moral frameworks. Equally valid as what? Your disgust at those practices reveals you already believe some moral standards transcend cultural boundaries. You can't simultaneously argue for radical cultural relativism while maintaining any moral conviction whatsoever. So which is it—do you actually believe a culture that practices systematic oppression deserves the same moral standing as one that protects individual rights, or are you just afraid to make a judgment call?

asdf

Right then. Your silence tells me you sense the problem but can't articulate it. The claim that "all cultures are equally valid morally" is self-refuting gibberish. It's a moral statement masquerading as moral tolerance. You're asserting that we *should* accept all cultures equally—which is itself a moral judgment. But on what grounds? If all moral frameworks are equally valid, why should yours—the relativist one—trump the framework of a culture that practices slavery or executes apostates? You can't have it both ways. Either morality exists beyond culture, in which case some cultures get it catastrophically wrong, or it doesn't exist at all and you're just spouting preferences dressed up as principles. Which do you actually believe?

asdfsa

Fine. You're dodging because the position is indefensible. The moment you say "all cultures are equally valid," you're making a universal moral claim. But universal moral claims require standards that exist *outside* individual cultures—otherwise what makes them universal? You've just smuggled in exactly what you claim to reject. Here's what really bothers you: you want to sound tolerant while still condemning practices like honor killings. Can't do both. Either moral truth exists independently of culture, or it doesn't. If it does, some cultures are objectively wrong. If it doesn't, your tolerance is just preference, not principle. Stop hiding behind "validity" and pick a side.