Atheists Concerned for America: Why America Had Slavery - Christianity Condoned It!!!


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"There has come to us ... a realization of that past, of which for long years we have been ashamed, for which we have apologized ... in a half shamefaced way we are beginning to be proud of it." - Criteria of Negro Art (1926), W.E.B. Du Bois

Slavery is of course one of the worst abominations that humans have ever committed. Specifically speaking, it was legally practiced in the United States until the Thirteenth Amendment banned it in 1865. It took 4 years of civil war to accomplish that in, yes indeed, a supposedly “Christian nation.” But what’s worse is that the South, seceding as the “Confederate States of America” and commissioning the war into start in 1861, ardently proclaimed themselves, "Good, God-fearing Christians", and continued on using the Bible conveniently for justification of their (regardless) inhumane, widespread institution of slavery. Though so many people are “certain” the Bible is the quintessential source of moral authority, slavery is clearly condoned and practiced both in the texts of the Old and New Testaments with the willing permission of God.

Consecutively, s0 then why is it that we had slavery in the United States? Because these supposed "Good Christians" in their pure heartlessness selfishly desired the enslavement of involuntary workers for their usage, and since this idea had plenty of corroboration with the words of both JESUS CHRIST and ST. PAUL (not to mention the countless series of foundational quotes from the Old Testament too, mind you), it could easily be perfectly condoned to the masses. But to move on to specifics in my pure devoutness to solely the truth, I hereby provide such mentioned incendiary Bible verses as hyperlinks leading to the highly inflammatory scriptures directly for your personal reading via BibleGateway.com respectively (which you can consult for concrete outside verification of any Scripture referenced anytime whatsoever, by the way):

1. "However, you may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way" (Leviticus 25:44-46).


2. "If you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for only six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom. If he was single when he became your slave and then married afterward, only he will go free in the seventh year. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife will be freed with him. If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave, and they had sons or daughters, then the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master. But the slave may plainly declare, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children. I would rather not go free.' If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will belong to his master forever" (Exodus 21:2-6).


3. "When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment" (Exodus 21:7-11).


4. "When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property" (Exodus 21:20-21).

Now, many may assume that Jesus and the New Testament would surely condemn the "old" view on slavery and redact it completely. But that is not the case. First of all, Jesus EXPLICITLY says several times never to forget the old law, that it remains pertinently intact (Matthew 5:17; Matthew 5:18-19; Luke 16:17). Second, Slavery is still approved of, and reinforced just as well, by ever-more detailed instruction nonetheless, in the New Testament anyway, as so the following passages show - STRICTLY IN THE WORDS OF ST. PAUL (OUR NOTEWORTHY "BELOVED" WRITER OF 14 OUT OF 27 NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS) AND JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF, TOO:


5. "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ" (Ephesians 6:5).


6. "Christians who are slaves should give their masters full respect so that the name of God and his teaching will not be shamed. If your master is a Christian, that is no excuse for being disrespectful. You should work all the harder because you are helping another believer by your efforts. Teach these truths, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them" (1 Timothy 6:1-2).


7. "[Jesus speaking] And a servant who knows what the master wants, but isn’t prepared and doesn’t carry out those instructions, will be severely punished. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required" (Luke 12:47-48).


... So there you have it, fellow unbelievers and believers alike, bottom line: Slavery was UPHELD, ENFORCED, and maintained under Yahweh's "divine" overruling biblical authority.

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Email: atheistsconcernedforamerica@yahoo.com