The Bible and Oppression

Many people who reject the Bible believe that it supports various kinds of oppression. However, it is actually quite a big question: What comes first: interpretations of the Bible that support oppression or oppression itself.

150 years ago, many American preachers used the Bible to support slavery of the black people. Does the Bible support it? I do not think so. What was the cause and what was the sequence? Did the wrong interpretation of the Bible cause the slavery of the black? Or the slavery of the black existed in the society and then theologians invented a special interpretation of the Bible to support it?

It is interesting to note that the slavery of the black has never existed in Russia. And Russian theologians never taught that the slavery of the black was supported by the Bible.

So, I think that in this case it is quite clear that American theologians just invented interpretation of the Bible in order to support the slavery of the black. It is true though that when societal norms began to change and the slavery was no longer considered as norm, some Christians continued to believe that it was supported by the Bible.

I think it may be the case with all the other kinds of oppression: antisemitism, racism, sexism, heterosexism, and many other. First, such things appeared in the society. Then, the Bible was interpreted in such a way as to justify these things. Later, however, people continued to believe that the Bible supports such things while it was not the case.

If the Bible was used to support slavery, racism, antisemitism, sexism, homophobia, and many other kinds of oppression, it does not mean that the Bible really supports them.