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History class in high school doesn't teach this......it doesn't teach that white people were also slaves. Guess this would put some people out of a job if "the people" knew the truth.
History class in high school doesn't teach this......it doesn't teach that white people were also slaves. Guess this would put some people out of a job if "the people" knew the truth.
Why do you guys always revert back to Islam when slavery in the Americas is brought up? That's beside the point of the thread.
Education and widespread literacy are the reasons for Western Enlightenment. Up until the 19th century, the church was still a yoke and a HUGE barrier to enlightenment.
It was only after many western nations divorced the church from their governments and forced religion to compete in the free market of ideas did the church become somewhat more open to enlightenment in the form or science, art, philosophy, etc...
When the church had ALL the power, they abused it. And we have a duty to remember how they behaved when they didn't have to compete in the free market of ideas.
This is exactly why we must not give our Federal government ALL the power. We can see the signs of abuse happening now. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely
This is exactly why we must not give our Federal government ALL the power. We can see the signs of abuse happening now. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely
And you'd never seen signs of government abuse of power until recently?
Quote:
Originally Posted by FabianS
Well they did pioneer it in Africa. There would have been no international African trade without them.
That doesn't mean that Christians would've never gotten around to practicing the African slave trade had the Arabs not beat them to it.
Besides, are the Arabs to blame for Christian behavior towards the natives of this continent starting in the late 1400's? That was no less brutal than the African slave trade, and if anything, it was much worse.
The most religious area of the country is the south and that is the same area where slavery was most abundant. I'm not religious, but from what I understand, being a christian is support to drive your morals, behavior, your entire cultural outlook.
A few things.
1) The South started to become more religious in the 1800s during the Second and Third Great Awaking which were Evangelical movements that gained steam during that time. Before then the South was no more religious than the rest of the country. Arguably it was less religious when you consider that many areas of the Northeast were settled as Puritan, Pilgram, or Quaker colonies while the South was settled specifically for the growing of cash crops like tobacco, cotton, and sugarcane (which were all crops that primarily utilized slave labor). The main increase in the popularity of Christianity occurred after the Civil War.
2) There are a number of passages in the Bible that explicitly condone slavery. Especially in the Old Testament, but also in the New Testament as well. There is also the Curse of Ham who was Noah's son and it is said the Bible that God curses Ham and condemns him and his descendents to be "the servants of servants" which was used as a justification for the slavery of blacks.
3) The situation is a bit more complex than the Bible and several branches of Christianity supporting slavery. It should also be noted that some of the strongest opposition to slavery was by various churches and Protestant denominations which opposed slavery for religious reasons. And although there are plenty of parts of the Bible that condone slavery, there are several parts that condemn it as well. Mostly in the New Testament, but in the Old Testament as well.
4) It should also be noted that slavery was practiced for thousands of years before anyone ever thought of bringing slaves to the New World and slavery existed in the New World for over 300 years before the US was independent. The Ancient Egyptians, the Ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Native American tribes, the African kingdoms, the Chinese, the Arabs, and so on all practiced slavery and the Southerners were hardly unique in that sense.
How do you reconcile that with the rampant slavery and jim crow era all the way up until it was legally struck down? The whole thing doesn't make sense and makes me understand religion, or the role religion plays in peoples lives even less.
Religion period is used for keeping people, especially certain people, in bondage so that others can have power over them and others can have it easier in life. Worldwide, religion has been used to take away the rights of others, so certain people can have power and has always been that way.
GOVERNMENT period is used for keeping people, especially certain people, in bondage so that others can have power over them and others can have it easier in life. Worldwide, GOVERNMENT has been used to take away the rights of others, so certain people can have power and has always been that way.
The most religious area of the country is the south and that is the same area where slavery was most abundant. I'm not religious, but from what I understand, being a christian is support to drive your morals, behavior, your entire cultural outlook.
How do you reconcile that with the rampant slavery and jim crow era all the way up until it was legally struck down? The whole thing doesn't make sense and makes me understand religion, or the role religion plays in peoples lives even less.
Just to give you a heads up. You sound like a child when you ask a question like this.
"Daddy, why did Christians support slavery and Jim Crow?"
Protestants re-interpreted slavery in the Bible to mean what it was in the 1800s.
Slavery in the Bible had more to do with servitude or a persons servants and were not always treated like the blacks were in the slavery as we know it .
"
The Bible does not specifically condemn the practice of slavery. It gives instructions on how slaves should be treated (Deuteronomy 15:12-15; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 4:1), but does not outlaw slavery altogether. Many see this as the Bible condoning all forms of slavery. What many fail to understand is that slavery in biblical times was very different from the slavery that was practiced in the past few centuries in many parts of the world. The slavery in the Bible was not based exclusively on race. People were not enslaved because of their nationality or the color of their skin. In Bible times, slavery was more a matter of social status. People sold themselves as slaves when they could not pay their debts or provide for their families. In New Testament times, sometimes doctors, lawyers, and even politicians were slaves of someone else. Some people actually chose to be slaves so as to have all their needs provided for by their masters."
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Read more: Does the Bible condone slavery?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Majin
The most religious area of the country is the south and that is the same area where slavery was most abundant. I'm not religious, but from what I understand, being a christian is support to drive your morals, behavior, your entire cultural outlook.
How do you reconcile that with the rampant slavery and jim crow era all the way up until it was legally struck down? The whole thing doesn't make sense and makes me understand religion, or the role religion plays in peoples lives even less.
Because organized religion is and always has been a highly fallible social construct susceptible to use as a means of control over others.
And I'm sure that all the atheists in the 19th were just screaming for the slaves to be freed.
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