Beyond Mediocrity Blog

(Image courtesy of http://nogreaterjoy.org.) "'Cursed be [Ham]!  The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.'  [Noah] also said, 'Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem!  May [Ham] be the salve of Shem.  May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may [Ham] be his slave'" (Genesis 9:25-27). During the years of slavery in Britain and the United States, some perverted individuals used the Bible to justify their actions of enslaving men and women to work for them.  While the Bible certainly does not justify slavery or racism, it does explain it.

(Image courtesy of https://image.desiringgod.org.) God possesses a sinless nature.  Therefore, He is ruled by righteousness, holiness, and perfection.  It is impossible for God to sin. Man, on the other hand, possess a sinful nature.  Therefore, he is ruled by sin and mastered by it.  The wages of such slavery is death and eternal condemnation.

(Image courtesy of http://www.history.com.) An important founder and fourth president of the United States of America, James Madison, said the following: "We have staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government - far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.” A democratic and republican government will only ever be successful if its citizens govern themselves according to moral principles. Without order brought about through adherence to principles, a self-governing political system will fail - always.