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Essay: Religion’s Impact on Slavery & Prejudice w/ Morality & Bible Refs

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  • Published: 26 February 2023*
  • Last Modified: 22 July 2024
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  • Words: 857 (approx)
  • Number of pages: 4 (approx)
  • Tags: Slavery essays

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Morality and Religion in Slavery

   Slavery is one of the biggest human tragedies in history, has sparked numerous debates over the years. Some condemn it by religion and morality, while others have disregarded religious grounds as reasons to ban the same. However, religion, particularly Christianity has failed to support the cause against slavery.

​DeBow's take on the subject in an 1850 publication, sheds a different light on the role of religion in slavery. While most people in the modern Christian society would strongly condemn slavery by viewing it as a sin, this publication points out numerous instances in the Bible where slavery was tolerated to the extent of being encouraged. Considered the father of faith by believers, Abraham himself had many slaves. The slaves had little say on what happens to them. This is best demonstrated when Abraham was given an order from God to circumcise all his slaves. Whether the slaves were against this, did not matter, seeing as Abraham obeyed the order. Moreover, his wife exercised the same power over the servants. This extends to the point in which Sarah punished her servants. One such incident led to a servant escaping due to the cruel punishment. It is interesting that an Angel of God instructed the servant to return to her master.

​Many believers view the new testament as a revolution in the Bible. However, there are many instances where slavery is mentioned as a norm. There is not one verse that rebukes this kind of master-slave relationship. Paul deals with Philemon's slave in one of the epistles. If slavery were against religious and moral doctrine, Paul would have perhaps helped the slave escape to freedom. Contrary to that, Paul sends back the slave to his master. Despite the great revolution presented by the new testament, slavery is still upheld and tolerated.

​These two instances show that anyone rallying against slavery should tread carefully when using the Bible as a reference. If God did not disapprove of Abraham's behavior of buying and possibly mistreating slaves, then anyone claiming that God disapproves of slavery is sure to face a major contradiction. One has to pay in mind that the slaves in this Biblical era were treated far worse than the Southern Negroes. In this era, one could say that religion and morality accommodated prejudice and slavery.

​In another perspective, Stephen Foster delivered a speech in 1843, condemning slavery from Christianity. He accused the perpetrators of committing sins such as thieving, adultery, and murder. He criticized the church for allowing such atrocities against fellow humans, to take place. He claimed that God had designed men to have rights over their self and slavery contradicted this. While Foster's cause was right, he was perhaps wrong in basing his stance on the Bible. He would have been better off questioning the morals and conscience of the perpetrators. This is because the Bible does little to back this claims. The Bible does not put any emphasis on equality among men. Throughout the  Biblical text, there are many instances where some men are considered lesser than others. This document contradicts DeBow's take on the impact of religion on slavery and prejudice.

​These two documents are relatively significant in modern society. Though slavery is a thing of the past, other subtle sub-forms of the same phenomenon still exist. Racism is still a major issue in America. DeBow's publication could perhaps still represent the views of racists. Racist people could claim that prejudice is deeply rooted in the Bible; therefore they are not at fault for their discriminatory actions. As for Foster's document, it might represent anti-racism movements. Anti-racism groups may cite this document while preaching tolerance among all races.

​Religion and morality have always played a part in prejudice in the past. A study carried out in the past showed that middle-class white Christians and Protestants were more prejudiced than those that were not involved in the church (Duriez & Hutsebaut). The Bible breeds discrimination with certain text favoring some ethnicities over others. For example, it is a well-known truth that the Israelites were God's favorite people. Prejudice among Christians might stem from such harsh truths. In modern society, religion plays a less partial role in racism. Through the generations, minority and prejudiced ethnics groups have been at the forefront of religion. Religion plays another role in prejudice. It provides solace and comfort for the down-trodden. On another note, certain religions like Islam are prejudiced simply because of some extreme interpretations made by some believers. Though these beliefs and practices are only prevalent in a small group, the whole Islam community suffers the same predicament.

​In conclusion, religion has and will always have a major role in social issues and injustices. Being a broad subject, it is bound to draw numerous contradicting arguments. However, activists for equal rights should sift through the negative theories, to achieve equality in the human race.

Works Cited

Duriez & Hutsebaut. "The relation between religion and racism: the role of post-critical beliefs" (2000). http://www.bartduriez.com/sites/default/files/documents/PDF/2000_DuriezHutsebaut.pdf

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