Religion myth question; are we judged on a temporal bell curve?

I was under the assumption that morality was supposed to be an absolute, and was unrelated to how culture progresses.
i.e. the fundamental basics of morality is "it's really bad if you do anything to hurt anybody, including yourself"
I'd say that the current stage of culture (whatever that might be) is completely irrelevant to that. If you hurt somebody, you hurt somebody. I don't think anything can change that.

I can offer this: The only real reason that I wasn't cheering the spectacles at The Colosseum in Rome might just be this: "I wasn't there."

But, if I had been.., my nature isn't that much different than that of those who were there.

Meaning..., I get to learn a lesson in morality from people who lost their soul teaching that lesson to me?

Or.., what then?

A grade on a curve with consideration for cultural advancements might condemn me, but it might free them.

It could go either way. Unless the spirits are fair. Then I am 'guilty' with those at The Colosseum, as are you.., and WE drag them out of damnation with our 'innocence'.

That makes sense to me.

I see no reason to believe that people in the past were superior, quite the opposite.

Nor do I agree that religion is carrying on the 'virtues' of the past, whenever something falls out of favor, the bible is "reinterpreted' to fall into line. Consider slavery or women's rights, in biblical times they would have laughed, now they are said to be part of a new 'reinterpreted' scripture.

1) I do believe people are taught to live up to moral standards that are or are becoming unrealistic to our society and the progression of it. However, I believe this often goes hand in hand with change and people are stubborn to change; newer generations are the ones that tend to affect new changes.

2) I'm not certain I completely understand the second question, but I believe the judgement that occurs in afterlife (if you believe in it) is affected by society. It seems that in newer societies there is more emphasis on doing good and being forgiven; more leniency. In days gone past it seems to have been very dire; society and life was harder and thus so was the view of good works and the afterlife. It is often hard to view and understand the complete mindset of someone who lived in a society so foreign to our own that they thought very little as we do.

I am unsure of where you came to think that people centuries ago were on an unattainable level of good. People centuries ago participated in actions that would be deemed immoral by atheists and theists alike today. Christianity (amongst other religions) was very hard, as the people were. In many ways they lived a very strict and disciplinary life, not necessarily a good (moral) life. Morality was different back then, it'll be different again in the future.

I think in some ways we are judged on a temporal bell curve. History teaches us many lessons and if we do not heed them, we are doomed to repeat them. We compare ourselves to past societies and past actions and deem if they are immoral or moral compared to our current notions of immorality and morality. Having looked at the bloody footprints of history, I would say we've got a better handle on morality these days than we used to in the past (we, as in humanity). By no means do we no longer participate in what can be deemed to be immoral acts, not a few centuries ago many participated in slavery and unmitigated national domination campaigns. With the advent of a global society I do think we've made vast improvements, especially in the 20th century.

I hope humanity continues to make judgements of morality and immorality based on the past. Hopefully it'll continue to push us forward and we won't slip back into the nature of aggression that is too often seen and left unchecked. I would give anything if not just to ensure we don't slip back into a past dominated by religious dogma.

Not sure what you mean by these questions.

Do you mean something like comparing the human sacrificing Mayans to tax paying Atheists?

1. I believe that many religious institutions teach very high moral standards which are the same moral standards that they taught thousands of years ago. You point out that it has become harder to live up to those standards (I agree) but that is no excuse to change the standard. Eternal principles don't change. If something was wrong 1,000 years ago then it is still wrong today. Just because it is harder (mainly because more people accept the sin) doesn't mean the standard has changed.

2. As far as judgement, I believe that God judges each person individually. That means that two people who commit the same sin may be judged differently because God knows our hearts, he knows us better than we know ourselves. In my religion it teaches that wherever people end up, they will be happy. Some will benefit from God's presence and some won't, but each will live in a state that makes them happy based on their choices on Earth.