Year Of The Bible Controversy

Several weeks ago the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
unanimously adopted a resolution making 2012 the Year of the Bible.
This has enraged atheists groups in the state who opposed the measure,
and to prove their point, one group of atheists put up a billboard,
taking a verse of bible scripture-"Slaves obey your Masters"- out of
context, and pairing this with a picture of a black man in chains.
Then they made sure to place this inflammatory billboard sign in one
of Harrisburg's most racially diverse neighborhoods where it was sure
to cause a huge controversy. The community was outraged. The
billboard was soon vandalized, reflecting the indignation of the
residents there. Although the billboard has since been taken down,
the damage has already been done. Meanwhile, the spokesman for the
group responsible for the billboard, Ernest Perce V, told the local
news media that his group's intention was not to stir up racial
strife, but the message on the billboard was meant to serve as a wake
up call to people across the state, urging them to phone their
legislators and demand that the offending "Year of the Bible"
resolution be thrown out.

“My thinking was, we're in Pa where a large number of people are
Christian bible readers, they know what that verse meant,” stated
Perce.

Oh really, Mr. Perce? So, how does one equate the humiliating picture
of a black man in chains with a call to throw out a resolution making
2012 the Year of the Bible in Pennsylvania? Because, says, Mr. Perce,
the bible 'condones slavery'. After all, it says, "Slaves obey your
Masters."

But does the Bible actually say this?

The correct translation of this verse, found in Colossians 3: 22, is
"Servants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not
only when their eyes are on you as pleasers of men, but in simplicity
of purpose, with all your heart, because of your reverence for the
Lord and as a sincere expression of your devotion to Him."

In other words, servants honor the Lord through your work. Colossians
3: 23 further advises, "Whatever may be your task, work at it
heartily, from the soul, as something done for the Lord and not for
men."

While slavery was a common practice in the Bible times, especially as
one of the spoils of war, it was widely practiced throughout the
ancient world. The Egyptians took slaves, as did the Babylonians, and
the Persians. The Ottoman Sultans enslaved thousands of young women
inside their palace harems, while the huge Arab slave markets of North
Africa flourished for years, providing slaves for the New World
colonies. However, as the Bible is primarily the history of one
people, the Jewish people, when the Israelites took slaves, these
people were considered servants, who performed certain tasks in the
household, like making pottery or clothing, or they tended the garden
or grape arbors, or worked in the fields harvesting the crops. They
were almost treated like a member of the family. Furthermore, after
several years of service, the slave of an Israelite could be set free
from his bondage.

By taking Colossians 3:22 out of context and pairing it with the
picture of a black man in chains makes this ignorant, race-baiting
atheist group no better than the ignorant and cruel slave holders in
the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries in America who took the bible out
of context to justify their enslavement of their fellow human beings,
or, in another example, the overly zealous Puritans of Salem,
Massachusetts who misused scripture to accuse and persecute innocent
people of practicing witchcraft.

The disgusting actions of this atheist group is just one more sick and
pathetic attempt to eradicate the deep roots of the Christian faith in
America. What these groups and their antagonistic supporters in the
liberal social media fail to realize is that without God's blessing,
this nation would have never come into existence. Many of our
founding fathers felt this way. Benjamin Franklin, addressing the
delegates gathered to form our nation in Philadelphia during the
summer of 1787, said it best: "I have lived a long time, and the
longer I live, the more proof I see of this truth. God governs the
affairs of men. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His
notice, can an empire rise without His aid? Without God's help, we
will do no better than those who built the Tower of Babel. We will end
up divided by our own selfishness, and our work will come to nothing."