Why shouldn't it apply to slavery? An action was allowed in Leviticus and later condemned by Christ.
True, Christ never condemned slavery specifically. On the other hand he ordered us to "Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you."
I don't want to be a slave. I don't want to be mistreated by my boss. I don't want to be abused by a government functionary.
On the other hand, I'm not going to be quick to judge others in history. What would you have done if you were born on a plantation in 1750 Virginia and inherited slaves? Would you have had the strength and courage to free them? Right now we have a nation which justifies what has now been objectively revealed to be the murder of unborn children. What are you doing about that?
Please understand that I know where you are coming from.
That actuallly kind of comforts me. The one thing you said which upset me a bit was when you implied the God of the Bible was somehow evil. He is not. An evil God would not command you to love, or forgive or be merciful. The God of the Bible commands these things.
I believe we have the responsibility to put religious teachings to the test of our inner light, even when this contradicts the literal word of the Bible.
I would never condemn someone for thinking that Genesis is an allegory. My concern is that evolution is being used to undermine those parts of the Bible which must be taken literally.
Some here would say you are on a slippery slope.
By the way, I do not think God is evil. I think, however, it is a great sin to assume that a book is responsible for defining good and evil. Consider a thought experiment: What if, in your heart, you came to believe that the author of evil is really more powerful than the author of good. Which side do you take, the losing side which you believe is good, or the winning side?
I think this is at the heart of morality, because temptation always presents itself in the guise of power and convenience. Even some who post on these threads seem to assert that the main justification for faith is the promise of eternal reward. So my central question is, do you follow the path of morality because you believe in it in your heart, or because of a divine promise of rewards and punishments?
Moving on from morality to truth -- do you follow waht you believe to be the best path for aquiring truth, or do you follow a path based on threats and promises?