Slavery (on Thursdays)

[Ben Davis]

I've started a new tradition of sorts. I call it "Thor's Day". Every Thursday I post s lot of atheism-related stuff on Facebook. I'm trying to stick to a theme each week, too. Last week was misogyny. I posted a few verses that said women had to submit, yada yada, you've all heard it before.

Expect to lose some 'friends'!

Of course, a lot of Christians tap danced the Hell out of it. And supposedly some stuff was mistranslated (a wonder that no "good" verses are ever mistranslated lol). So, to try to stay intellectually honest, I promised I'd do more research before next Thor's Day's topic.

There's always mistranslation or misinterpretation: there are as many of them as there are christians who will tell you about them. It's standard apologetics. The most effective responses question how any of the 'infallible' word of god can be trusted if god can allow mistranslations in it. There's no need to get in to the specifics that will likely derail your thread: do you really care if Aslan's mane was golden yellow or golden brown?

This Thursday I want to do slavery... what are the typical Christian defenses of biblical slavery, and what's the best way to counter them?

The 'indentured servitude' and 'prisoners of war' defenses are common examples of the 'cultural context' arguments you're likely to face: you've seen one on this thread. My response is generally this:

1. You agree that god's law mandates, condones and legislates slavery
2. You think this makes it okay for human beings to be owned as property
3. Your morals have been horrifically skewed by biblical teachings

It is morally wrong to own another human being as property, for any period of time, for any reason: there is no context in which it becomes right. Consequently anyone who opposes slavery on moral grounds is more moral than yahweh.