Religion
In reply to the discussion: Why Did So Many Christians Support Slavery? [View all]While there was indentured servitude for one's fellow Hebrews (which I don't consider very moral in the first place), the Bible, mainly in Exodus 21 explained where to get your lifelong slaves (from other local tribes) and how to essentially trick fellow Hebrews who were temporary slaves into becoming permanent ones by finding them a wife (women slaves, surprise-surprise, did not have the option of going free). At the end of his time as an indentured servant, the slave could leave, but the wife and any kids from the union stayed, or he could proclaim he loved his master and wanted to stay and then have an awl driven through his ear to indicate permanent slave. And then one could pass these slaves down to your kids and even beat them as badly as you wanted as long as they could get up and walk in a day or two, etc.
Then in the New Testament, Jesus told slaves to obey their masters, no matter how cruel, etc.
So let's stop pretending that the Bible is some sort of worthwhile moral code. Like with most issues (such as homosexuality), any Christians lauded for fighting against slavery were ignoring the word of God and were more moral because of it.
TlalocW