On Slavery

It's finally time for another post on this blog.
It has taken a back burner due to the fact that I now have to work again to pay my taxes!!!

Anyway this post: http://www.dougwils.com/The-Bible-Culture-and-Race/patrickt-qnostradamusq-henry.html prompted me write this.

The referenced post is Doug Wilson explaining the Federal Vision debate status to people.  Doug has taken a lot of flack for touching this discussion because it touches a particularly sensitive topic - slavery.

I have long had thoughts on this and they have evolved as I have been working on an idea to replace or supplement government with a social website.  In doing so I have come to re-think my ideas about slavery.

First of all, I want to say that slavery is wrong.

But before we can say that in a sense that has true meaning we must answer two important questions.

1) What IS slavery?
2) Why is it wrong?

Working Definition of Slavery:
Slavery is a state of being where a human being has his normally lawful options limited by the will of another.  Slavery can be partial, temporary, and imperceptible as well as overt and complete.

Why is this wrong?
IF: All men are created equal
THEN:

• The authority for all behavior comes from the creator.
• IF: That creator is the God of the Bible
• THEN
1. The biblical law applies
2. The basic law to love your neighbor applies
3.  Slavery is antithetical to loving your neighbor

THEREFORE: Slavery is wrong.

If you don't subscribe to creation and the God of the Bible you have NO AUTHORITY to mark it as wrong, regardless of what you feel is right.

Why is Slavery RIGHT?!!
But even within this framework of belief, there is a solid argument FOR slavery.

Slavery is an efficient deterrent to crime if used as a form of punishment for crime.
Slavery is a possible way to restore damage to another even if you're broke.
Slavery is an opportunity for the Master to show mercy to the slave.
Slavery is cost efficient to society if used as a form of punishment.

So here's an example scenario where I think Slavery might well be appropriate:

Johnny is a little drunk and takes his Dads car and decides to take it for a spin.  While driving with his friends and showing off, he accidentally hits and kills a little girl running in the street to get her ball.
Johnny is devastated.
The girls parents take Johnny into court to prosecute him.
But what can her parents gain by punishing Johnny?  How can Johnny possibly ever restore to the girls parents what he has destroyed?
The court could fine him, but how much?
The court could imprison him - but now the girls parents get to pay taxes to support Johnny - hardly a good compensation.
The court could have Johnny killed - actually the most biblical sentence I think in this case, but what a tragedy - how does another death make the first one better?
OR
TADA!
Johnny could become a slave to the girls parents for as long as the parents want him as a slave.
At any time, if Johnny is a bad slave, he can be put to death.
But if Johnny accepts his sentence as a man and does his best to serve the girl's parents in love to atone for his mistake, well he is doing several things:

• He IS supporting the victims of his crime
• He IS being made to think about the consequences of his actions every day.
• He IS being a productive person in society

After 5 years of superb service, the girl's parents realize that their daughter can never come back.  They also realize that Johnny sincerely is sorry and has fully repented of his irresponsible ways.
The girls parents decide to grant Johnny mercy and truncate his sentence as their slave. 
Johnny is now fully restored to society and his debt is forgiven and partially paid.
Relationship is restored and the best possible outcome is achieved.

There is one more point about Slavery I would like to make.

We are all slaves right now!
Remember that Slavery can be imperceptible and partial.  Every mala-prohibita rule that we are made to obey is partial slavery.  It was the same for the Israelites enslaved by Pharisaical laws which Jesus opposed so strongly.  In fact many of these rules we think we are to obey are not even applicable to us except that we have been tricked into acting on behalf of a legal fiction created for us by government by fraud.  (Google:"Strawman Birth Certificate" for details on this.) This trick is used to separate us from our God-given rights by contract.
Through miss-education and outright fraud, we are now in Slavery Version 2.0.

It is quite ironic and interesting that the original 13th ammendment to the constitution was burried at the same time overt slavery was outlawed.  See another post on this blog about that ammendment.

If you don't think you are a slave, see what happens when you don't pay your voluntary taxes.  See what happens if you try to do a business without a license.  See what happens if you try to operate an unregistered automobile without a drivers license.

An I hope you haven't swallowed that pre-crime public-safety arguement as the necessity for our slavery - that is utter BS and there is no lawful basis for it.  Safe and Free can NEVER BE!

Yes Slavery is wrong and bad but we are living in it right now.  It isn't overt or complete but it is UNBOUNDED and GROWING.

Something to think about.

Cheers!