Well, first I'll address slavery:
Slavery as it was allowed in the Bible had rules to it. Compare these rules to how slavery was done until "recently", when it was abolished in America. (Not that these rules were always followed even among the people of Israel...)
* A person became a slave because of a debt he couldn't pay right then. Basically, he worked it off.
* A slave was not allowed to work on the Sabbath, and his master was not allowed to have him work.
*If a man killed his slave with a rod, he would surely be punished for it.
* A slave had to be released in the seventh year without paying anything. In fact, he was to be sent off with grain and wine. If he came in married, his wife was supposed to leave with him. (Check out Jeremiah 34 for something about that.)
*Another way for him to be set free would be if the master destroyed his eye or knocked out his tooth.
* If a slave desired to stay with his master, he had to get his ear pierced and a ring put through it. (That this might even be possible rather than implied says something about the state of slavery under this system.)
Among other things. Doesn't really sound like the system used here, does it?
But yeah, believing people of African descent to be under the curse on Ham's
son, Canaan, which was not put on his other sons, is faulty, indeed.
Quote:...and none of them speaks to the situation of twenty-first century...
Time period is irrelevant. "Oh, hey, that was written 3-4000 years ago! It can't possibly apply today!"
Only 6 negative verses? That's surely not enough to make it true!
Quote:Matthew 8:5-13
This man is a servant. Whether he is also a gay lover seems to depend on whether the person attempting to make his point wants to force-fit him into that role or not.
Quote:Ruth 1:14
Dabaq. Yes, loyalty or devotion. In this case, of a woman towards the mother of her deceased husband, who had probably become like a mother to her in those 10 years. And here's the kicker, Ruth later got married to a man. This is not a lesbian relationship. Example invalid.
*snip out "it's not talking about what it's talking about" stuff*
He should really just admit that he doesn't actually believe the Bible unless it says what he believes and get on with it.