Summary
Rightwing groups across the US are driving a wave of legislation to restrict books in school and public libraries, targeting content deemed “sexually explicit” or “obscene,” often affecting LGBTQ+ and race-related titles.
Texas leads with 31 bills and 538 book bans in the 2023–24 school year.
Proposed laws, like Texas Senate Bill 13, shift book selection power from librarians to parent-led advisory boards.
Critics, including librarians and legal scholars, warn these efforts amount to censorship, risk violating First Amendment rights, and reduce access in underserved communities.
Still bad, but servitude =/= slavery.
7 in the Bible is usually a symbol for completeness. The 70*7 specifically is meant to be “unending”.
It is very likely to really be a 7 years limit to debts.
And I would love if the Bible-thumping politicians proposed this debt limit for modern times, but they are all just hypocrites.
Is it just me, or these don’t seem to jive with each other.
My friend, biblical scholars disagree with you. Your holy book is very clear on this subject, and I would implore you to do a little research before saying shit like this.
I did study theology, but I certainly need a refresher.
Yes, the servitude can be considered a form of slavery, but I think it can be useful to distinguish as it’s quite different from the more modern chattel slavery.
And I don’t think it’s valid today, these laws in the Bible were written in and for a specific context of time and place, and the commandments of love supersede it.
Until 300 years ago when slavery was considered OK, the biblical law on it would still be VERY progressive.
Matthew 5:17-19
The words of Jesus himself.
Not true. The bible was explicitly used by plantation owners in the Southern US to justify chattel slavery, and keep their slaves in line. They printed versions of the bible with all suggestions of concepts like freedom removed.
You keep telling yourself that what’s in the bible is different than slavery, but it is not. Your book gives explicit rules on how to treat your slaves, how to punish your slaves including beating them and how much you’re allowed to beat them (make sure it’s not so bad that they can’t recover in a few days!) It gives explicit rules on how you are to treat your Jewish slaves compared to Gentile slaves. How much slaves should buy and sell for.
You’re going to lose this argument. The only out is, “actually, slavery is OK” and I’ve literally seen Christians say this in order to justify their awful book.
He fulfilled the law, and did not have slaves.
The example of His own actions is to read the law with the perspective of protecting the weak, the “lesser”, the vulnerable.