Originally posted by cheeezywheeezy
Zakath also says that:
"God encourages human slavery"
Which type of slavery Zakath? It wouldn't be the same type of slavery that is encouraged and allowed by the 13th Amendment to the constitution would it?
Is there a good and bad type of slavery? Well, both the Bible and the constitution seem to think so. "Owning" someone as a slave because of their ethnicity is evil. But what about for restitution purposes?
The Bible doesn't seem to promote the notion that slavery based on ethnicity is "evil"; quite the opposite, in fact. A quick check of the Old Testament shows quite plainly that the Bible recognizes the institution of slavery, NOT merely as a punishment or means of restitution, but rather in the same form that we find so "evil" from our modern perspective. This form, in which the slave is not only merely the property of his or her master, but in which the condition of slavery is passed to the offspring of slaves, appears to be not only noted in the OT, but recognized as the normal state of affairs and even encouraged. Consider the following passages:
Exodus 12:44, which clearly refers to slaves being purchased by Hebrews (since it refers to the slaves being circumcised after such purchase), and also clearly looks upon the slave as property.
Exodus 21:20, again explicitly recognizing the slave as property (and not simply someone who is being punished), and especially:
Exodus 21:32, in which the value of a slave (in this case, setting the compensation to the slave's owner should the slave be accidentally killed) is set at 30 shekels.
Leviticus 25:46, which contains the following: "Your...slaves are to come from the nations around you." - which not only shows that the Hebrews themselves were holding slaves (and that this was seen as an acceptable practice), but that ethnicity was, in fact, a determining factor in establishing who could and could not be slaves of the Hebrews.
There are numerous other examples.
Slavery....involuntary servitude....whatever you want to refer to it as was an acceptable punishment in Biblical times as restitution must be paid for a crime, and only for a ceratin length of time, and is still legal in the United States.
It certainly was a form of punishment, but the Bible also very clearly promotes the same form of slavery that the U.S. saw fit to outlaw over 100 years ago. It's not too surprising that this should be the case - slavery was a common and accepted practice among the cultures of the time and the region, and the nation or society which did not practice it would be at a significant economic disadvantage relative to their neighbors. The Hebrews of Old Testament times quite clearly practiced slavery, far beyond using it merely as a punishment, and viewed this as a very acceptable and normal state of affairs, and further had the full support of their religious leadership in this.
