I know that many so called Christians used the Bible to justify Slavery and this has always puzzled me. Even now there are so called Christians that harbor strong feelings of bigotry and racism and use the bible as justification.
Most articles, history, and "something" that shows what he says do not refer to the so called Christians as so called Christians. They make believe they are real true believers , not caring that bigotry and racism and using the Bible as justification shows that they are not real nor true believers - they are not born again (unless like new novices, untaught and unaware that those parts of their lives and those ways of thinking are totally contrary to the Creator's Life, Word, Plan and Purpose. On the other hand, bigotry and racism and worse even is very very present all over the world, in the so called Christians as well as in many other groups and in people not associated with any group. There are also people free from all that, both some called Christian and some not called Christian, not even self-consciously aware that they are (at least some), and not making any boast at all, except of the King, Savior, Messiah - the real true One. The biggest obstacle has sometimes been noted as being the false believers parading (and often with a "lot" of encouragement doing so, and often with a lot of "support" in the deception) as if they are right or true, and often not even knowing that they are following a blind leader, and both destined for destruction.
Surely you know that there are folks that call themselves Christians that discriminate against Jews and Blacks and commit acts of bigotry and during Civil War times Slave Holders would use the Bible as justification. How about all the KKK members that claimed to be Christians.
I SHOULD HAVE SAID PEOPLE THAT CALL THEMSELVES CHRISTIANS INSTEAD OF SO CALLED CHRISTIANS. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW JEFF??
God chose to work with the nation of Israel, however made it a point to tell them that they were not superior to anyone else because of this. The earliest Christians were mostly Near Easterners and Africans. There is no evidence of racial discrimination in early Christianity. Racism and bigotry were created by the human aspect of man's conviction to his own satisfaction and perfunctory actions. This is my understanding of the subject. However, I have not studied Theology or Philosophy so my comments are simply heresay.
There might not have been no evidence of racial discrimination in early Christianity but Christians did own slaves.
Slavery has nothing to do with race. All races have held any weaker group as slaves at one point of time or another.
Sadly, the Bible has been used to justify a wide variety of evils. Jews were persecuted in Nazi Germany because the Bible says it was the Jews that killed Jesus. Leviticus 18:22 is used to condemn homosexuality. Just 2 easy examples. And, as we all know, this same "Bible babble" still goes on today, on this forum and others as well.
Lon, your observations are fair and often used as justification to discredit the Christian religion. To your credit, you have not made such an erroneous accusation. The Bible is a lengthy, complex book holding over 30,000 versus in 2500 translations. That opens the door for individuals with presuppositions to seek out certain passages and make incorrect interpretations in order to justify their wrong beliefs. Slavery is but one excellent example of this. I befriended a big guy in the Philippines last spring that rejected his Baptist upbringing solely because of the alleged racism and slavery advocation of the Bible and our Christian founding fathers. I was ignorant at the time, but his disturbing cause for unbelief prompted me to study the issue. Doing so, I quickly learned about the disputed Bible passages and misguided conclusions being charged against the faith. As is always the case, the Bible's objective morality held up under close scrutiny. I think my friend's position and rationale was one demonstrated by most sceptics of the Bible. First, he accepted the damning accusation against the Bible without researching the truth of the matter. Second, he drew an irrational conclusion based upon his unwarranted belief. By this I mean, even if the Bible did endorse slavery, that would not disprove the existence of God. He chose to reject the faith, not because of the evidence for or against it, but because he didn't like it. Such is the case for most unbelievers today who reject religion in general. They do so because of objectionable moral value obligations, not an honest assessment of evidence and truth. People should recognize that the truth of any philosophy or religion can not be determined by the behavior of its followers, nor all of the interpretations, accusations, or claims made about it. In the case of Christianity, we are blessed to have more manuscript authority and interpretive reliability than any other document in antiquity. While everyone, including its followers, will repeatedly fall short of its teachings and misrepresent its meaning at times, the faith's foundational scriptures remain grounded in divine truth.
Wonder if history could help heal society of the stigma of slavery. How did the Jews and European slaves overcome that psychologically
Dunno. Every race, every ethnic group, people in every major belief system has been enslaved at some point, at some time in history. I would venture to write that in nearly everyone’s genealogical background there is someone who was a slave. Yet, the progeny of those people in those groups moved forward. I do not hear Jews lamenting how their ancestors were enslaved but rather, how they became free. The stories of being a conquered people up to and including World War II are well written and related from person to person yet they celebrate being freed and have moved forward in some tremendous ways. Maybe if folks quit talking about their ancestry being disgraced and relating that to their own circumstances then the trek forward will become easier. Maybe if governments didn’t use that stigma as an excuse to create votes, the move to mental and physical freedom will be faster. Maybe if people within the races didn’t pursue past indiscretions to make a ton of money then the rest could find peace and start grabbing the opportunities that are out there to help build better lives.