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=How religion has been used to promote slavery=

By: John Blake (CNN)
[] __Summary:__ Religious figures in neither Judaism, Christianity, nor Islam have flat our protested slavery. This news comes as a shock to modern people of face who are very anit-slavery. Slavery a few hundred years ago, where slaves worked on plantations, is different than the kind of slavery seen when Jesus and other religious figures were alive. They saw slaves as servants who were paying off debt or something of the sort. Many thought that their religious leader would protect people from slavery, but in further historical analysis, it was found these leaders ignored or even promoted the idea of slavery. Whether or not this idea will sway modern religious views has yet to be seen.

__Relevance:__ Slavery and religion have more in common than just being around for a long time. At one point in history, they walked hand in hand, at least according to religion experts like John Dominic Crossan, who was referenced in Blake's article. Although the similarities, there was a difference in what slavery is known as today and what it was known as in the past. In the past, historians think that slaves were indentured slaves, bodyguards, or even an entrepreneur. The obvious difference is that in modern day slavery, people, specifically blacks and other minorities, were forced to work long hours out on the plantation with minimal pay, if any. Jews had an intricate slave system. Israeli slaves would be released after six year of service and all slaves would be released after their seventh year, unless they were a woman (Slavery and Religion). It is also said that non-Israelite slaves were enslaved forever and were considered "inheritable property." The killing of your Jewish slave was punishable, so slaves further back in history were treated better than those of recent. All the same, the Jews definitely regulated slavery and did not flat out abolish it. Slavery in Christianity was on and off, but when slavery occurred, there was sexual slavery and debt bondage slavery referenced. In this debt bondage, which was the idea that those in debt could sell their children or wife into slavery for no more than three years to pay off debts (The Bible and slavery). Sexual slavery was directly referenced in the chapter Exodus in the Bible. The segment, Exous 21 7-11, said, "And if a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants do. If she does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed... If he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marriage rights. And if he does not do these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money," (The Bible and slavery). This shows that Christians also regulated the idea of slavery and, in a way, encouraged it. Compared to the religions above, Islamics had a slightly different way of regulating slavery. They didn't allow Muslims to enslave other Muslims, and, similar to the others, they weren't allowed to mistreat the slave(s) they had. The creator of Islam, Muhammad, had slaves that he traded and such all the time (Slavery in Islam). It's obvious that if the leader of the religion allows the trade and selling of slaves that everyone will most definitely be allowed to have slaves as well. Sexual slavery also occurred in Islam, where young women were sold off to potentially marry the son of the slave's owner. Since Muslims could not enslave their fellow neighbors, they shipped slaves in from Africa, Europe, and Asia. These religions all regulated the idea of trade way back in the past.

__Explanation:__ This article highlighted the three top religions in the world today and their beliefs on an always-controversial topic of slavery. Ever since the beginning of these religions centuries upon centuries ago, they have done things that have changed the society and, sometimes involuntarily, the economic syste. Slavery is just one of these ideas. Slavery in the older days made the idea stick around long enough for it to be revamped one or two centuries ago to be a more vile thing. This would be the harsh, racist treatment of African Americans at cotton plantations throughout the South during the Civil War era and beyond, until, of course, segregation ended. Religion tends to be so multi-faced that many topics link back to it, such as the infamous Crusades. Although slavery barely exists today in America, religion has tied itself to politics now. By this, I mean that presidential candidates feel that their religious backgrounds are making them more qualified for the job and that it signifies the soundness of their character for believing in a religion to begin with. This is just another way how religion ties into the past and now the present.

__Questions:__ 1. How many people even know that slavery and religion have such close ties? 2. Is religion to blame for the problems with slavery and then segregation just 100 years ago? 3. How was slavery viewed back then that made it seem so acceptable? 4. How much slavery still goes on today? 5. Are there organizations around to help eliminate slavery in today's society?

__Works Cited__ "BBC - Religions - Islam: Slavery in Islam." //BBC - Homepage//. N.p., 7 Sept. 2009. Web. 30 Mar. 2012. [].

Blake, John. "How religion has been used to promote slavery â€" CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs." //CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs//. N.p., 29 Mar. 2012. Web. 29 Mar. 2012. [].

"Slavery and religion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2012. [].

"The Bible and slavery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2012. .