The Science of Justifying Wrong

Artist's depiction of the exact amount of energy and thought
that went into using Christianity to justify slavery.
Muhammad Rasheed - [WIKI] “Joseph Smith and Brigham Young reasoned that black skin was a result of the Curse of Cain or the Curse of Ham."

Dafuq kind of 'reasoning' was THAT?

[WIKI] "Joseph Smith founded the movement in Western New York in the 1820s."

Oh, okay. Now it makes sense. That was the typical "reasoning" mindset during slavery.

Zod Hamilton - Thats one of the ways they justified slavery by Christian rules.

Muhammad Rasheed - Christianity had nothing to do with that. They pulled that shit out of their ass FOR the slave institution and pretended it was Christianity. Christian Americans led the fight against slavery at every step of the way, and claptrap similar to what Smith "reasoned" was the counter.

Steve Plater - Exploited Christianity is more like it.

Hall Hall - @M. Rasheed... Let’s not hide the fact that Christianity was used by the slave masters to justify slavery. And to keep the black man turning the other cheek.

Muhammad Rasheed - 1.) The slave owners cheerfully used any and everything to justify keeping their gravy train rolling, while other Christians used their religion to lead the fight against slavery.

2.) The "turn the other cheek" doctrine didn't stop the slaves from revolting in uprisings all the time though. hahaha The slaves knew when people were blowing smoke up their butts.

Obviously the fault isn't with the religion , but with the evil ones who just wanted to enrich themselves at the expense of others.

Ken Peck - This theory predates Smith & Young by several centuries. Yes, it was used to justify slavery. You might be interested in this book: Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi 

Muhammad Rasheed - So far I'm having issue with how Kendi is using the word "Muslim." Is he aware that it describes the practitioners of a religion, and not a race? Most of the Arabs are a dark-skinned people.

Muhammad Rasheed - Kendi wrote: "The lineage of this curse of Ham theory curves back through the great Persian scholar Tabari (838-923) all the way to Islamic and Hebrew sources."

The idea of the Curse of Ham from the bible doesn't inflict "blackness" upon the boy. That interpretation of the tale comes from the Talmud, as Kendi references in the above quote, which is interesting for several reasons, not the least of which is that it was the Jews who set up the model for the Atlantic Slave Trade in the first place, and did so with a smooth, and well-practiced fluidity demonstrating that they had been using that method for quite some time.

Muhammad Rasheed - The using of the "Ham's curse" concept -- which never had anything to do with Christianity -- to justify slavery, while the big fight to end slavery was always led by Christians from their own rightly-guided understanding of the bible, means that the fault is with the corrupt and greedy enslavers, not with Christianity.

Ken Peck - Or maybe Martin Luther, who came up with the notion that any idiot could interpret the Bible for himself.

Muhammad Rasheed - I don't see your point in context. The concept of the curse of Ham affliction being 'blackness' came from the Talmud, as the rabbis themselves sought to justify why it was okay to trade in Black bodies. Obviously their Christian trading partners eagerly received the concept from them so they could simultaneously get rich and sleep at night.