Ephesians 6:5
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.
Discuss.
Can’t Bring Yourself to Type the Word “Ass”?
Eager to share our brilliant political commentary and blunt media criticism, but too genteel to link to horsesass.org? Well, good news, ladies: we also answer to HASeattle.com, because, you know, whatever. You're welcome!
Thy master is technology. And you will obey.
While the Romans were into technology in that day it was still very much muscle power running everything. Whether human or animal. It’s possible that because of the use of servants or slaves prevented the Romans from making the leap from muscle to the industrial (and they were industrious) age or the machine age. They had the steam engine just no particular need for it.
Are you suggesting that Christ is a technocrat?
Nope, I’ve rejected all this master-slave bullshit, and I don’t work for wages anymore. I’m a capitalist now! When machines do all the work, and there’s no need for human employees anymore, I will own the machines! Very soon now, I will replace Doctor Bob, the radiologist, with a $29.95 software program. Then he’ll eat shit for breakfast.
@2 How many hours do we work each week to either pay for or using our technology? Most, if not all. Only technology can save us from our climate destroying ways. Technology is the basis of modern medicine. It is the basis of our criminal justice system. I’m sure you get the idea. I don’t think it serves us as much as we serve it. And it seems we love doing it.
@2 The Romans “had the steam engine”? No, they didn’t. Not in any meaningful way.
And I don’t think you really know what the Industrial Age is.
Rome was a slave driven society. 30-40% of the people in Rome were slaves. By the end of the Republic, most of the Italian peninsula was held by large land holders and Roman citizens lived in the cities and depended on the grain dole. In the Third Servile War, Spartacus led his band of slaves up and down the Italian peninsula very easily, because the majority of the people in the country side were slaves, many of whom joined in his rebellion.
The northern boundary of the Roman Empire was fixed at the Rhein and Danube rivers, in part, because the people north of those rivers were dispersed and could not be conquered or enslaved easily. In the first century BC, when Julius Caesar conquered Gaul, there were about 4 million people there. Caesar killed or enslaved about 1 million of them. Sale of those slaves made him a rich man and allowed him to raise his profile with the plebs and the rest of the Populares.
The point about the Roman territories being basically hollowed out, ie, the land was held by rich people and farmed mostly by slaves should not be overlooked. It made it very easy for marauders to lay the country waste. For example, the Alans crossed from the Caucuses through the Roman Empire and ended up in North Africa. There was nothing to stop them.
The punishments for any slave that would rise against a master were horrific. In some cases, all of the slaves in the house would be put to death to set an example. Whoever wrote Ephesians wanted to be clear with the authorities that they did not second slave revolts in any way. To have suggested that Christians backed slaves against masters would have cut the Christian religion off before it even started.
Anyone who would have challenged the slave order in the Roman Empire would have died a horrible death. It was crucial to the economic well being of the state.
@5 “Anyone who would have challenged the slave order in the Roman Empire would have died a horrible death.”
Their liberals should have armed. Today, we liberals must arm for the same reasons.
If we can’t have a free society we mine as well have slaves. Maybe we should have never abolished slavery?
@8 Don’t kid yourself, human slavery is still rampant. We want a trade agreement with at least one country that uses slave labor.
And speaking of slavery, even the pope is a slave to technology. Which leads me to a UN report that says the Catholic church refuses to cooperate with the prosecution of priests that use children as sexual slaves. And why hasn’t the world’s hackers revealed how much porn is pumped into the Vatican?
@8. I was referring more to America @7. But yeah, if we have to obey every edict of the GOP when it comes to personal decisions and liberties, then yes dlavery is sti alive and well and if up to them will strengthen.
How many hours a week does the tribesman in the Amazon, the Bedouin in the Sahara or the man who farms along the Nile. Each has a degree of technology, are they slaves to their technology? Are some more willing to adopt new things into their lives? Are their lives sometimes easier or harder than our own. This goes back to the dawn of agriculture. Why did we adopt farming when the lifestyle of farmers was worse than the lifestyle of hunter gatherers?
We are human beings with brains therefore we use tools and technology. Perhaps wisely or not. It can enslave us as can many other things in our life. Even virtues can ensnare one and make one a slave. Is not the man in the white house a slave to his job or at least a prisoner. He or she could resign yet only one has done so from that often thankless job.
@3 And if Dr Bob becomes upset with eating shit for breakfast and engages in sabotage then what do you do Mr. Rabbit?
Do you perhaps pick up a book by Max then and reconsider your position once again? Well it’s always good to be the King. You have joined the rich so are they just like you and me only with more money?
@5 The Romans and Greeks had the steam engine and they used it as a toy, or a novelty. They failed to make the leap and harness it’s potential. They did not always just use brute muscle strength to solve problems. They could be very ingenious and came up with technological answers that made better use of muscle power.
By the way the Gauls owned slaves. It was the in thing everywhere not just Rome. The Romans were harsh,, but effective. Just think of poor old Charthage, but no war for 200 years and that was under the Republic, that Augustine be littles.
Even Augestine accepts slavery as a fact of life of his world.
Though the western Roman empire finally got rid of slavery. Replaced it with serfdom. Just another form of slavery? Or an improvement? A step in the right direction? So not everyone was gung ho about slavery in Rome or the Roman empire.
@7 @8 Depends a bit on your definition of slavery. If you just are saying one person owning another person then it’s a good thing slavery was abolished. Like Rome though slavery was very much part of the fabric of life in the United States at the time of the revolution. Which would have been a perfect moment to put a knife in that old bitch slavery neck, but was not to be. All the old issues of Rome right here in these United States and it twisted the Republic for some eighty years, and then a uncivil civil war and then it’s abolished in a revolutionary fashion. Sorry owners you get nothing for what you were doing was wrong.
Yes slavery still exists today, but it would be a much different world had the south become independent and a bastion of slavery remained though in the end would they have managed to maintain their southern way of life? With their peculiar institution. Can you imagine a continuation of slavery in the southern states unto today? It could have happened. The Civil War was not preordained so we could still have slavery right here or at least in a state nearby us, maybe Idaho though a bit north of the Mason Dixon line. Of course there were slaves in the Oregon and Washington territory. So maybe we would all have an occasional close up view of one human owning another. What would we do?
@6 actually a few Emperors challenged the slave order and a few abolished it from the Empire. They were not crucified or murdered by the state.
@11 Bob doesn’t have anything I need or want. I made it this far in life without him, and I can get along without him the rest of the way, too.
@14 That didn’t give the slaves any say about it.
@16 Well I can’t speak for all the slaves of the Roman Empire but it would seem most would prefer freedom.
@15 Poor Bob. So what do you do when you go to your doctor and Bob the radiologist is back in the picture. Do you trust his smile? Is it as friendly as before? After all they do wear vests for a reason.
For those interested in my new app cat scan at home me and Mr Magnificent (the name I’ve given a neighbors cat) are available for house calls. Some old time 19th century medicine from the medical wagon of Dr Feelgood.
it’s just not factual to compare in any way the limited forms of slavery or limited scope of actual slavery today, or being “enslaved to technology” today, with enslavements of prior centuries.
the step to serfdom was in fact an improvement as the lord was required to defend those serfs and let them in the castle when the marauders came, whether the nearby other lord, vikings, whatever.
still serfdom seems about 90% of slavery. in some cases people willingly let themselvces become serfs to gain entrance into that castle, proving that a free market (“I will protect you this time, in exchange I get all your labor and you are bound unto me for life, also your descendents!”) isn’t always free.
while most people with power enslaved others, because europeans had the most power they expanded it the most into a truly global phenom. with the colonizations of the americas, creation of industrial type plantations for the globak market, etc. Not to pick them out I am sure any other race or people woulda done the same if they could have.
the “enslavement” we have today whether harsh workschedules or student loan debt seriously you just can’t compare it and it cheapens and demeans history to do so.
the fact we have FEWER under slavery today — I’d call the status of women in many places enslavement, also boko haram, etc. — a few “white slavery” operations all over, etc. — shows the world is progressing.
what we are not seeing is we are “enslaving” the future to dramatic climate change and I believe one day in about 100 years they will look back on us and ask “how could they let this happen, they KNEW it was wrong” just as we look back on southern plantation holders in america and say the same thing. not comparing in all respects, enslavement is different than reckless wanton destruction of the climate.
The future is always the slave of the past. For good or ill. There will be winders and losers in the case of global climate change. Some winners may see slavery as a answer to societies problems. Slavery has not been eliminated it still exists in it’s most virulent form for a long time to come. Boko Haram is just carrying on a long tradition, made a bit easier when a religion demands surrender. Seems some under the in workers paradises thought they were little more than slaves even after reeducation.
We do have prisons, and their inhabitants are slaves. And frankly anyone in the military is under some form of indentured servitude. At least it’s an argument that can be made with or without conscription. Though if we want to colonize Mars we are probably going to need some form of indentured servitude. England couldn’t get enough colonists to go the New World and Australia. And it was not necessarily a one way ticket so after we get through the first 10,000 people crazy to go Mars and there is a market for something Martian how do we keep the colony going, or does it go the way of Easter Island?