The servant in question is being beaten by the lord/master for beating the other servants, being drunken, and generally not doing what was asked because he mistakenly believed the master of the house would not return so soon.

Yes, I agree that that's what that verse says. What word would you use to describe the relationship between that servant and that master, if not slavery? What other sort of relationship gives me the power to beat and whip you if you don't do as I say?

Conversely, the good servant, when the master returned, was made the lord of all. Yes, that's right, given the master's belongings (ie put in charge), not exactly what one does to a slave huh.

Luke, you really need to try reading the Bible in its original language. The Greek word used in this verse which is translated as "servant" is doulos. Here's how Strong's Concordance translates that word: "a slave, bondman, man of servile condition", and notes that it derives from a Greek root word which means "to bind with chains".

Obviously, the parable is being used to serve Christian theological needs, which is why it ends with the good slave being put in charge of his master's house. Nevertheless, it doesn't change the fact that Jesus favorably compares God to a slaveholder who beats and whips his slaves for not obeying him, just as I said.

The servant in question is being beaten by the lord/master for beating the other servants, being drunken, and generally not doing what was asked because he mistakenly believed the master of the house would not return so soon.

So it's morally just to enslave people as long as they're assholes?

And don't even start with the "But it's just like jails and the justice system!" stuff. No, it's not. Slaves do not get legal representation, they do not get a jury of their peers, they do not get habeas corpus, they do not get a guarantee of equal treatment to other people who have committed similar offenses, and they have no ability to influence the laws that govern them.

Yes, that's right, given the master's belongings (ie put in charge), not exactly what one does to a slave huh.

Um, yeah, actually, that is something one can do to a slave. There's a lot of cultures with slavery mechanisms that involve eventual release, or the release of the slave's children. That doesn't make the slavery they committed any less wrong.

A slaveholder eventually setting one of their slaves free, perhaps after giving them lots of stuff, is great and all... but it doesn't morally cancel out the fact that they were withholding the slave's freedom for all the time they were owned.

Aftyer all:

All it takes for evil to prosper is for good men to do nothing.

Right?

I respect your right to disagree with the bible and wonder about some of the strange messages in it, but to intentionally take select passages out of context just to warp the message to favor your own beliefs is not only dishonest (meaning morally wrong), but also calling me stupid which I find to be most insulting. You should be ashamed of yourself for not treating your fellow human beings with the respect their intelligence deserves; for treating us as no better than the slaves you rail against others mistreating.

"The flaw of slavery is not slavery itself, but that one human would treat another lower than himself."

we, who is we, as in we of this modern wolrd, who are taught/told brainwashed into this society.

as to your question, "wouldnt we be encouraging their advocates", if it has a financial gain for some big oil company or the equivalant yes, if not no, nothing is being done in this day n age without it being of profit,

shouldnt it be more for the good of nature not just mankind but all,

we all have to gain more profits every year either by staff cuts or higher sales
sooner or later we will all be back in 1890s with a industrial revolution, just because the big man wants more,

how does a new age start...

another one with negativity,, carritas has estimated the iraq war at 230 million dollars this could have been put to a lot better use in the third world countries or New Orleans like places,, but go on have a pun at my grammer and punctuation,,

If we were opposed to the general ideas you're attempting to advance (social justice, etc.) wouldn't we be encouraging their advocates to employ this level of stylistic and mechanical competence?

the last i need to know is capitalization, punctuation, and avoidance of run-on sentences òr grammatical rules

What you're really saying is that your time is more important than that of all the people who have to spend THEIR time trying to make sense of your illiterate ramblings!