Dan Mellis
Thorsredballs
It's there. We all know its there. I'd like to get into it, listing the arguments I've heard and my refutations of each. I'd welcome people to point out flaws in ny understanding or refutations, and equally as interested to hear new arguments about it.
1: It isn't slavery, it's indetured servitude.
For your hebrew slaves, sure. That rule didnt apply to the slaves taken from other nations, who were bought and sold as property.
2: It's an old testament thing, the new testament releases christians from the old ways
Paul said "slaves, obey your masters, even the cruel ones." It's very much a new testament thing, too.
3: every 50 years they had to let them go
So? 50 minutes of slavery is immoral.
4: In the context of the time there was nothing wrong with it
There're three ways to come at this. The first is we're not in their time, so it's still wrong when preached in our time as the "truth". However, that may be a strawman argument. Another attack could be that if god does offer objective morality, it stands to reason that if it is immoral now, it was immoral then but they got it wrong. My preferred argument is that if you can write off that part of the bible due to historical context, then you can do the same with the notion if god (e.g. it was the only way they could explain the world they lived in and control their people)
5: god is the law on morality, so slavery is moral even if we choose not to accept it.
In that case, so is executing your wife for wearing two types of fabric. If you want to claim that slavery is moral because god said so, you'd be forced to accept every single thing in the bible as your only moral guideline. If you want to try and get me to accept that, you have to first prove that any god exists, then prove that it is the christian god.
Again, more than happy to hear where my reasoning is flawed, please explain though so I can correct it.
Also, I'm not interested in being preached at, so if you're thinking of doing that please don't (especially if you're gonna say that point 5 is correct. you can guarantee I'll burst a vessel trying to ignore those comments)
1: It isn't slavery, it's indetured servitude.
For your hebrew slaves, sure. That rule didnt apply to the slaves taken from other nations, who were bought and sold as property.
2: It's an old testament thing, the new testament releases christians from the old ways
Paul said "slaves, obey your masters, even the cruel ones." It's very much a new testament thing, too.
3: every 50 years they had to let them go
So? 50 minutes of slavery is immoral.
4: In the context of the time there was nothing wrong with it
There're three ways to come at this. The first is we're not in their time, so it's still wrong when preached in our time as the "truth". However, that may be a strawman argument. Another attack could be that if god does offer objective morality, it stands to reason that if it is immoral now, it was immoral then but they got it wrong. My preferred argument is that if you can write off that part of the bible due to historical context, then you can do the same with the notion if god (e.g. it was the only way they could explain the world they lived in and control their people)
5: god is the law on morality, so slavery is moral even if we choose not to accept it.
In that case, so is executing your wife for wearing two types of fabric. If you want to claim that slavery is moral because god said so, you'd be forced to accept every single thing in the bible as your only moral guideline. If you want to try and get me to accept that, you have to first prove that any god exists, then prove that it is the christian god.
Again, more than happy to hear where my reasoning is flawed, please explain though so I can correct it.
Also, I'm not interested in being preached at, so if you're thinking of doing that please don't (especially if you're gonna say that point 5 is correct. you can guarantee I'll burst a vessel trying to ignore those comments)