Religious Argument of Slavery

Deciphering Religious Text's Opinion on Slavery

Though widely popularized in the United States during the 1800s, the concept and use of slavery has been around since the biblical times. While examining the Bible, Torah, and the Quran we’ve noticed multiple contradictions on the topic of slavery. Some sources condemn it, while others condone it.

In Leviticus 25:44-46 of the Bible, it states, “As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly” (Open Bible). This source would condone the buying and selling of slaves, one may even say that it encourages it.

In contrast to this, Exodus 21:16, it states, “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death” (Open Bible). This “stealing” of a human, is slavery in its simplest definition. These two contradicting statements made Bible readers have varying opinions on the issue of slavery. For one page read it was allowed and encouraged, and another page read that whomever participates in the buying of slaves should be put to death.

The Torah also has the same issue with contradictions regarding slavery. In Exodus 1:10-14 it suggests that the Exodus does not say that the Israelites were slaves (‘ebed) in Egypt, although it is clear from the text that it was very much like slavery as we normally understand it and they were brought out of Egypt in order to "serve God" (bethinking.org). As far as the Torah goes, more often than not, slavery was condoned. For cross referencing beliefs, it is contradicting across the board. Many religious readings allow for slavery, but they also highly discourage it.

Comments

EOTO Recap - California Reagents v Bakke

California Reagents v Bakke Mock Trial Recap In class we had the opportunity to go through the motions of the California Reagents v. Bakke trial. This was a very prominent case, signifying whether affirmative action and minority quotas were Constitutional and would be permitted to continue on within schools and corporations. The case began when Allan Bakke; veteran, NASA intern, and med-school applicant, was denied twice from University of California at Davis. Bakke reportedly had stand out MCAT scores, a high GPA, and decent interviews and was well rounded between the participation in the U.S. Military as well as NASA. The side of Bakke deemed racial quotas unconstitutional. They said that affirmative action makes it unfair for students who do not fit the certain group standards to be admitted. Based upon solely numerical values such as grades and GPA, Bakke was more than qualified to be admitted to the medical school. Due to...

EOTO Recap

Pro vs. Anti Slavery - EOTO Facts While going through the times of history, it is quite easy to see the two sides of many issues. When it came to slavery, the sides were vocal and apparent. Each side made advanced on their case, allowing for each side to further progress regarding its motives. Pro slavery was raging in the south. Southerners claimed that slavery was ethical, constitutional, and good for the economy. In order to push their point further, pro-slavery folk created crafty and even law abiding ways to advance their goal of making the United States a country of slavery. The Kansas-Nebraska Act was enacted in 1854. It created two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska. These territories allowed for popular sovereignty in regards to slavery, meaning the people inhabiting the land chose if slavery was going to be allowed there or not. This ability to choose whether slavery was going to legal or illegal in the territories caused a major pushback from the...

Speech Theories

Speech Theories Free Speech is monumental and valuable to the American culture; quite frankly, it makes America, America. After evaluating the eight speech theories used by scholars to describe and understand the premise of free speech in the United States, I was able to conclude which was the most valuable to American society. The eight speech theories are, Marketplace of Ideas, Participation in Self-Government, Stable Change, Individual Self Fulfillment, Check on Governmental Power, Promote Tolerance, Promote Innovation, and Protect Dissent. The theory that I found to be most prominent and valuable, was Individual Self Fulfillment. The speech theory of Individual Self Fulfillment is described as the ability to express one's individuality and create their own identity. This privilege typically allows people to find others with similar likes, dislikes, and interests. This allows people to make meaningful connections resulting in ha...

Abby Weiss

Search This Blog