The Bible and Slavery

All of my life, but especially down here in the southern United States, I’ve heard that the Bible never condemns the institution of slavery. I guess because I’ve heard it so often, I never questioned the statement’s veracity. I read the Bible through every year and have never noticed anything that would specifically challenge that teaching.

Until today. Look at 1 Timothy, verses 8 through 10 in your Bible. Of the translations I have, all but two of them render the Greek noun, ἀνδραποδιστής (andrapodistais) in verse 10 as “kidnappers” (NKJV, NASB, RSV, NAB, CEV), or “menstealers” (KJV).  

Only the New International Version and the English Standard Version correctly translate ἀνδραποδιστής as “slave traders” (NIV) or “enslavers” (ESV). The ESV’s note on “enslavers” reads, “That is, those who take someone captive in order to sell him into slavery.”

According to The New Testament Greek-English Dictionary, edited by Thoralf Gilbrant, the word ἀνδραποδιστής “…is used of those who trafficked in human beings whether by enslaving free men or stealing the slaves of others for resale.” It has no other meaning.

In 1 Timothy 1:8-10 the Apostle Paul is lumping slave traders in with “the ungodly and sinners…the unholy and profane,…those who strike their fathers and mothers,…murders, the sexually immoral,…liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine.…” (ESV).

It seems to me that if Paul is condemning those who enslave, then the whole institution of slavery is tainted as well. Those are my thoughts on ἀνδραποδιστής. What are yours?

War = Profit

"If we could just take the profit out of war, there wouldn't be any." -- Woody Guthrie

"I'm A Friend of the Fetus"

I'M A FRIEND OF THE FETUS
(Carole Rose Livingston)

I am no friend to the fathers and mothers,
And I am no friend to the sisters and brothers,
And I am no friend to the poor and oppressed,
And I am no friend to the weak and distressed.

But, I'm a friend of the fetus!
A friend of incomparable worth!
I'm a friend of the fetus!
Right up to the moment of birth!

When it's a baby I will not go near it.
I will not feed it, no I will not rear it.
And when it is crying, I won't even hear it,
For I have no room in my heart for a human.

But, I'm a friend of the fetus!
A friend of incomparable worth!
I'm a friend of the fetus!
Right up to the moment of birth!

I will not weep for it, I won't lose sleep for it.
I won't not care for it, I won't be there for it.
I'll back away from it, I won't go gray from it.
I will not pray for it, and I won't pay for it.

But, I'm a friend of the fetus!
A friend of incomparable worth!
I'm a friend of the fetus!
Right up to the moment of birth!


I believe a fetus is a human and I'm totally opposed to abortion. Nevertheless, this song speaks to me because I think it is true of many if not most of the Christian Right, Pro-Family, Anti-Abortion activists. They are friends of the child in the womb, but could care less what happens to the child after birth.


The Tea Party/Rethuglican legislators who oppose increased funding for mental health programs that serve returning veterans (who are committing suicide at an alarming rate), or who vote to reduce funding for food and formula for newborns and toddlers when the USA has a higher infant mortality rate than many third world countries, are just as guilty of murder as the mother who aborts her fetus because it is not convenient for her to have a child at this time. 

You Betcha

As I was pulling into a parking space at the drugstore, I noticed a man standing outside the door using his atomizer. Immediately after taking a few puffs and putting it away, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and proceeded to light up. I guess he needed to clear his lungs to get the full nicotine effect.

I couldn't help thinking to myself, "What kind of idiot whose asthma or COPD is bad enough he needs an atomizer, continues to smoke?!

But when he got into his pickup truck and pulled away, I saw the "Palin in 2012, You Betcha" bumper sticker on the back of his vehicle and somehow it all made sense. 

Sharing the Sacrifice

Public school teachers in the United States spent more than $1.33 billion out of pocket on school supplies and instructional materials in the 2009-2010 school year, according to new research released by the National School Supply and Equipment Association. When my wife was teaching in the inner city, in addition to out of pocket expenses for school supplies, every year we bought at least one winter coat for a kid that did not have one. Most of the other teachers in her school did the same. 


Teabaggers and Rethuglicans keep talking about "sharing the sacrifice." Teachers have been doing that for decades already. Instead of cutting teachers' salaries and benefits, maybe it's time to cut the salaries and benefits of our elected officials. It's way past time for them to share the sacrifice.

A Timely Quote from Honest Abe.

The money powers prey upon the nation in times of peace and conspire against it in times of adversity. It is more despotic than a monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, and more selfish than bureaucracy. It denounces as public enemies, all who question its methods or throw light upon its crimes. I have two great enemies, the Southern Army in front of me and the Bankers in the rear.

Of the two, the one at my rear is my greatest foe.  Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money powers of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in the hands of a few, and the Republic is destroyed. — Abraham Lincoln


Some things, apparently, have not changed much in the last 150 years.

Regime Change

No matter who we voted for; no matter what political party is in power, when we pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,” we are in effect praying for regime change. We are declaring ourselves to be aliens in the land where we are living… citizens of another Kingdom that always was, is and will be.

The Christian Wrong

It might surprise some to learn that a retired Baptist preacher has such sentiments, but I believe the Christian Right denies the very Scripture they purport to proclaim.  Those who identify with the Christian Right tend to believe that all undocumented aliens should be rounded up and deported. The Bible commands in very strong language that we treat aliens living amongst us as if they were native born (Lev 19:33-34).  


The Christian Right/Tea Party folks are opposed to increasing the minimum wage to a living wage. The Bible, on the other hand, condemns the practice of not paying hired hands fair wages and actually pronounces a curse on those who take advantage of poor laborers (Deu 24:14-15, Mal. 3:5 & James 5:1-6). Therefore, in light of Scripture, I think it is safe to conclude that the Christian Right is neither Christian nor right.

Time to Rethink How We Do Church?

There are over 2,000 verses in the Bible that deal with social justice issues; how God’s people ought to care about and for the “least of these” in our midst. A number of those verses contain prophesies of God’s wrath to be visited upon religious and secular leaders and their communities who do not adequately care for the poor and marginalized who live among them. (For a representative sample of those verses, click on "Scripture Verses" in the column to the right.)

How is it then that in “Christian” America, where our infant mortality rate rivals third world countries, where unemployment remains high, where everyday millions of children go to bed hungry, how is it that 99% of the average American church’s income is spent on itself? Maybe it’s time to rethink how we do church.

Lazy Jesus?

A conservative friend who purports to be a Christian, told me recently that poor people are lazy. Let’s test that theory with a syllogism:

Poor people are lazy.
Jesus, by His own admission, was so poor He was homeless (Luke 9:58).
Therefore, Jesus was lazy.

I don't think a true Christian wants to go there. Perhaps a new definition of poor is in order?