The Bible Edition that Justified Slavery


An edition of the Bible that eliminated all references to freedom and encouraged slaves to obey their masters is in a display of museum Bibles. While I have heard it said Christianity brought an end to slavery it is clear it also was used to justify it. Even since the printing press the Bible has been under constant change. In the recent couple of decades, new Bible have began using the word, "homosexuality." That word did not exist until around the time of World War II. Even God did not use that word in the first Bibles. 

We've all heard of Thomas Jefferson's little project to use a knife on his Bible and cut out all the ridiculous stories about miracles. Smarter people would have printed and adopted his version of the Bible and there would not be the eye rolls we see today. 

Not only was a version of the Bible doctored to endorse slavery, introduction of the word homosexuality was done to condemn it. The Bible was altered in both cases to score political points. I could see "trans sexual" and "bisexual" put into future Bibles to make sure Christianity was used against such people as it was used against black people.

I could see Donald Trump claiming the trumpets referred to in the Bible being played by his ancestors. the Trumpeters who became known as Trump. 

It's unfortunate for the faith that the Bible, like its God, is not a reliable entity. It was not written by original observers but passed down after the time of the events it claims to have happened. The religious ideas contradict each other. It is ripe for exploitation by dishonest parties. And, it has been exploited. 

Even though people in the Bible drank wine at every opportunity, the Prohibition period used the Bible to condemn use of alcohol. Read a book recently about the period starting about 5,000 BCE it is now believed beer was the most common drink. Yet, it is wine, not beer, talked about most. Both, we now know, were safer than water because the alcohol killed some of the bacterial that made people sick.

Those who read the Bible would do well to be skeptical. 

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