Christian slaves

Christian slaves? Well let's hope they follow the dictates of the Bible in their slavery.

1 Peter 2:18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.

Titus 2:9-10 Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again;
Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

Ephesians 6:5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ

et. al.

i think its generally unfair to hit religions over the head with their historical views on slavery as long as the religions have since overcome their slave addiction. as i understand human history slaves have played an instrumental role in almost every civilization, and have been part of even animist and pagan cultures that were totally not influenced by monotheistic religions.

I think it is unfair of religionists to tout their long tradition (which you don't do at present, but I have heard many do so) while also denying parts of that tradition. That's buttering the bread on both sides. It is also difficult for religionists who would pass off their holy books which support slavery as the divine word of an infinite god to explain the dramatic shift in morality over time. If there are pagan cultures which claim that their god(s) once approved slavery but no longer do, I'd be glad to paint them with the same brush. I'm not even sure if animists claim to have any divine scriptures, if they do I would be happy to hold them accountable for the contents of those allegedly divine documents.

i think its generally unfair to hit religions over the head with their historical views on slavery as long as the religions have since overcome their slave addiction. as i understand human history slaves have played an instrumental role in almost every civilization

the problem is that monotheists often make grand ontological claims which transcend historical context. god is responsible for good, but not their sins? a little humility and circumspection in claims, and also the diminishment of the persistent claim that religion & morality are necessarily connected would go a long way to mitigate responses like somnilista's....

Giles milton's "White Gold: The Extraordinary Story of Thomas Pellow and North Africa's One Million European Slaves" is probably a better read. He's the author of the famous "Nathaniel's Nutmeg" and other pop history.

white gold is good too. oh yes, me loves a good yarn about the white man with a whip to his back!