Why do we no longer allow slavery?

Question

There are lots of references to slavery in the bible including detailed instructions of how slaves should be treated. Its clear that it was His will that we should be allowed slaves. Isn't the abolition of slavery in direct contradiction of Gods word?

How do we explain why christian nations, such as the USA and UK, have allowed this situation to arise?

Adara - What makes you think I've only read part of the bible? I wonder if you've actually read it yourself as its impossible to read it and not reach the conclusion that God approved of slavery. Perhaps you're in denial of this?

Northstar - Which actual passages in the bible make you think that God hated slavery? AFAIK there are no specific references to a hatred of it. This sounds more like a rationalisation that you have created for yourself.

Answer 1

It seems to me that Christians are rather selective in which bits of 'God's' word they choose. They quote the bits that suit their purposes and forget the bits that don't.
The Bible was written by men (I do mean men) over the centuries and all of it culturally specific to bronze and iron age cultures in the Middle East and is certainly no basis for a modern society.

Answer 2

As time passes, rules and regulations changes. Because at the time of writing of the bible, slavery is widespread so there should be rules to ensure the slaves are treated well and equally. Since slavery is a bad action it should be banned as every being is equal and have rights. When Galileo states that the earth rotates around the sun his work was banned by the church as it opposes the Bible. In the end, what have we got? The earth really rotates around the sun. Some things need to change as it is deemed fit at the moment but not now. Thats why slavery is not opposing God. God see that the slaves are mistreated and there is no way slavery could be eradicated at the moment so he proposes rules to hold their rights.

Answer 3

There are lots of things in Biblical society that was not God's will. The Bible records the history and life of many people in the Bible.
Slavery was the normal thing in all or most societies thru out the history of mankind. It was considered the normal thing, tho that doesn't mean it was right.
You have to realize this, then realize that the UK and the USA were the FIRST to STOP this practice in the world.
Because black slavery is the most recent in history it affects those living today. But it had always been so for all societies that conquered other lands.

Answer 4

The slavery in the Bible is more like indentured servitude..not like the abominable conditions that African Americans had to endure...beatings, torture, never free, families split up..etc. In fact there were sever penalties for mistreating slaves/servants in the Bible.

Even indentured servitude had to be ended for the reason that people were taken advantage of by dishonest masters that never released them and treated many as poorly as African American slaves. Indentured servitude was a means by which innigrants could get a ticket on a ship for passage to America..serving for a set amount of years and then being released, sometimes with land....prblem was many dishonest masters would charge them high prices for things that weren't specifically guaranteed in the contract and would use that as an excuse to extend the contract. Like everything else..it looked a lot better in the brochure.

Answer 5

This question really has me doing "LOL" several times to use internet-speak. Or should that even be multiple "ROFL"?!

A world where everyone took the Bible literally and things were organised as such would be a very difficult world to live in. Slavery was outlawed because, Bible or no Bible, people had the decency to realise that it was against human rights in the end. Basic human rights, not what is stated in the bibie. Horay for the reforms and reformers of the Victorian age is certainly something I would say and endorse.

Answer 6

Your references are to the 'Christian Bible' and thus the 'God' you refer to, presumably is YHWH of that ilk.

You will recall, due to your expressed intimate familiarity with this sets of documents, that the precise point at which this 'God' was adopted by the apparently not too enthusiastic 'Children of Israel' ( remember that at this point there were no 'Jews', merely the semitic descendants of the Hyksos invaders of Egypt circa 1850 bce ) was when Moses had his session with YHWH on Mt. Sinai, or whichever mountain it was, because even that small detail is not clear.

The point is that YHWH's 'special offer' to Moses and his followers was that he would make them his 'Chosen People', and he would be their own special 'God'. At no point did YHWH claim to be the only 'God' on the market, he just insisted that they take him to the exclusion of all other 'Gods'. Sure, he did imply that the others weren't quite up to his 'snuff', but what else could you expect from a peripatetic storm 'Djinn' in a sandalwood box being carted around the Sinai wilderness ? YHWH showed every sign of very 'human' psychosis, including a particularly virulent form of paranoia.

He most certainly approved of slavery, in the same sense that George Bush approves of dictatorship, as long as he is the 'Dictator', YHWH approved of slavery as long as he was the 'Enslaver' !

And that is the catastrophic price that the Children of Israel paid then, and, in a very real sense ( see the Kaballah ) are still paying now.

Slavery is the very antithesis of what we human beings are all about. And we all 'Know' this in our heart of hearts, and always have done.

And YHWH ?

I say beware of peripatetic 'Storm Gods' offering to make you their 'Chosen People', and check the terms of the contract very carefully, make sure that you know what, exactly, you are being 'chosen' for.

The entire two thousand year history of the so-called 'Christian Church' has also, in it's way, been a story of slavery, slavery of the mind, just a control mechanism.

God's word !

Baa ! Humbug !!!

{{{{{{{Cosmic Freedom}}}}}}}

Answer 7

Who believes slavery has ended? Just because slavery is no longer one race or another does not mean that slavery does not exist. We, the people of the United States, yes all of us are slaves to our very own government, politicians and large corporations. All of which control our every move and more and more everyday.

Answer 8

Although the essential nature of the spiritual teachings are unchanged, the social teachings of the Bible for the most part are no longer relevant to the current level of advancement, as are Islam's no longer relevant. However, in their day, they advanced the people far beyond what was going on at the time. The social teachings of religion are ever-advancing while the spiritual teachings are renewed and expanded with the appearance of each new universal educator. You can trace it though an unprejudiced historical study.

Answer 9

First slaves were set free every 7 years, and could go if they wanted to. But after Jesus death a new order came in but Paul still talks about slaves in his epistles. There is still much slavery going on in the world today. Sad but true.

Answer 10

Well the fact is slavery is wrong no matter how you try to look at it. The bible teaches us to love one another, and treat others as you would like to be treated. Jesus' teachings show that slavery is wrong. Though during the time it was common. In many of the Islamic nations slavery is still practiced. They take Christians, Jews, and others and make slaves out of them. So slavery is still allowed and practiced in some places. That is a real shame.

Answer 11

Fortunately the U.S. and the U.K. are not Christian nations, but secular governments with Christian majorities. Most Christians no longer follow rules that cause torture and murder.

Slavery is wrong because reason tells me it requires the complete oppression of another person's freedom to live as they please. Indentured servitude in the ancient world was no different, and it's impossible to rationalize the term 'slave' as anything but oppressive.Slavery is the equivalent of turning humans into oxes for manual laborer, with no social or economic benefit for the person ordered to work.