Dave Ellis
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- Dec 27, 2011
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And you, my friend, don't know much about the military. However, the point is not to say that the military is some sort of slavery. It is to explain to you that slavery in in the bible is nothing like you imagine it to be.
And back to the same tired old argument we've shot down a number of times before.
During that time, slavery was an act of mercy to those in need. It was an ability to give people a second chance when their did not seem to be another option.
Then why not employ them instead of enslave them? That's not only a second option, but it provides that second chance while still staying morally legitimate.
Yes, there were some masters who were brutal and wicked. Some slaves did live very harsh conditions. There would not be laws and regulations against such behavior if it did not occur. However, God condemned them.
At least you can admit that much now, we are making progress. I should note however, this contradicts your earlier claim about slavery being "nothing like I imagine it to be".
We both now agree that some slave masters were brutal and wicked. God has also allowed this practice to happen.
There are times where God will allow things to happen that he hated. Take divorce for example.
God hated divorce:
"For I hate divorce!" says the LORD, the God of Israel. "To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty," says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. "So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife." (Malachi 2:16)
But God allowed divorce:
"If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house," (Deuteronomy 24:1)
God hated divorce, but He allowed it to happen for a reason:
Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. (Matthew 19:8)
God despised slavery, however He allowed it because it was a consequence of a sinful world.
If he allowed it, that's all that matters. There is no morally justifiable reason for allowing slavery, it is a fundamentally immoral practice.
If your god allows it to happen (even grudgingly, which makes no sense in and of itself), then he is acting immorally.
And besides, as I said before, there's nothing stopping god from saying "thou shalt not own other human beings as property" and consider buying and selling, or selling oneself into slavery to be a sinful act, on par with theft.
You act as if he's powerless to make his will known, because he doesn't want to upset us humans. It makes no sense, is he the all powerful moral lawgiver, or not?
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