Bible Team Challenge: Cassie C & Jordan C

 The Bible and Slavery: 

Many ask and wonder, was the bible for or against slavery? The bible was both for and against slavery. Different people had different views. Some felt as if slaves had to obey their masters and do their jobs while others felt if you were caught with a slave you were punished with death.  

For Slavery: 

With Catholicism being a leading religion during slavery, the justification of slavery with Catholics was a given. The biggest reasoning for slavery was that there was no wording that strictly was against slavery. Some even arguing that during those time that these religious figures even owned slaves themselves. These lies were only spread to keep the money in the pocket of the rich property owners down in the south. 

https://www.catholicstop.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/bible-slavery-300x204.jpg 

As uncomfortable as it may seem, the use of slavery was also a way to spread the beliefs of the catholics. The Jesuit Slaveholding story reveals that this priest used slave labor as another way to spread the word of catholicism. He would have these slaves work and used the money they earned to sustain the church.Even the building of the school Georgetown University was built off the backs of slaves and their hard labor.

Slavery played a big roll in the expansion of the Catholic church. These men, women, and children have risked their lives to expand the church for the gain of the priest that own it.Using religion to fuel the need for slavery.

http://projects.leadr.msu.edu/youngamerica/exhibits/show/antislaveryreligion/proslaveryreligion 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/us/catholic-church-enslavement.html#:~:text=At%20the%20time%2C%20the%20Catholic,attend%20Mass%2C%20Jesuit%20records%20show. 

Against Slavery: 

There are multiple things the bible states that is against slavery. Exodus 21:16 states, “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.” Any slave owner who gets caught will be killed automatically. There is no excuse. Something Deuteronomy 24:7 states, “If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and if he treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.” Slavery was not taken lightly in the bible and those caught with slaves were murdered as punishment. 

https://www.openbible.info/topics/slavery 

In the Christian religion, slave holders are not allowed to be Christian. That would be considered a sin to the bible and to go in the 1850s. In the bible, slavery was known to be immoral to their religion. In the 1800s, slaves started to realize that they had human rights. This caused an abundance of stress that landed on religious groups who were against slavery, like Christians. As a result of this, our nation wound up in a war over emancipation. Slavery is one of the biggest sins one could commit in the Christian religion. 

http://projects.leadr.msu.edu/youngamerica/exhibits/show/antislaveryreligion/antislaveryreligionusa 

Conclusion: 

Slavery was an issue that was spread out between multiple religions. The different religions use different meanings to uphold a horrible trading of humans. Understanding that times have changed and the meaning of words changed as well. The same sentence we may read from the bible today is completely interpreted differently back then. Making justifications of having slaves to not having slaves violently different.