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OK, I have not read the whole thread, so bear with me if I repeat or if I say something that has already been refuted, but this seems to be an ideal sort of question for me.
I don't think that one needs to believe in a higher power to believe that people should be treated with respect, allowed their dignity and opportunity for self improvement, and be offered help when help can be found and they could use it.
All the things that were cited as absolute wrongs - slavery, prohibition of miscegenation, genocide - violate one or more of those principle, and, more importantly, violate the underlying priciple to all of them: treat people the way you would want to be treated.
It doesn't take god, and it doesn't take faith in anything other than yourself. All it takes is self-interest, empathy, and a bit of insight into cause and effect.
Now, when some people fail to extend this consideration to others, it can bother me to the point that I lose sight of their humanity, but that doesn't mean it isn't here, just that I haven't figured out a way to effectively dissuade them and am madly frustrated by it.
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Light a man a fire, and he will be warm while it burns.
Set a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life.
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