Christianity & Slavery

For the third week in our World History class, we had to read four chapters on the of topics the rise and fall of the Persian, Greek, Roman, Chinese, and Indian empires; religions such as Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Confucianism, and Zoroastrianism (I had never heard of Zoroastrianism, even though it shared similar beliefs with Christianity and Judaism such as Judgement Day, God and Satan, resurrection, and the arrival of a savior); Society and Inequality; and lastly Civilizations of Africa, Mesoamerica, and the Andes. However, the one thing that got to me was the chapter on Society and Inequality because it discussed slavery.  But what really got to me was the quote, “Christian teaching held that slaves should be ‘submissive to [their] masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh’.” (Strayer & Nelson, 206) I do not mean to offend anyone reading my blog, but I am sorry, WTF?!!!

As someone who grew up Catholic, I was never taught that God would want to treat any of its children harshly or even enslave them. So, for Christian teachings to tell their believers that they must submit themselves to their masters as if their masters were God is just preposterous! The quote above reconfirmed the conclusion I came to some 20 years ago: that religion is a manmade set of beliefs. I firmly believe that Christianity was created by men who wanted to gain (and keep) power and have control over those who were impoverished or did not know any better. After reading about how civilizations began and the rise and fall of the Empires listed above, I wondered if anyone in those days who considered himself a man of God would have asked a King or an Emperor to submit himself to him because he was a “man of God.” My guess is that he would not have, because Kings and Emperors had money and power. I strongly believe that Christianity, in particular, is only interested in money and power.