Slavery is never actually suggested, supported, or otherwise condoned in a positive manner by Yahweh

Okay, I'm gonna call you on this one:Who is claimed to be doing the talking in Exodus 21? How about Exodus 20?The context goes a little something like this:Exodus 20:The title is "The Ten Commandments" (that's an important bit, right?)God spoke all these words: (you don't argue with that verse, right? Exodus 20:1 is quite clear)."I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery" (Exodus 20:2 is even clearer)"You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3 is clear as day: "me" cannot be misinterpreted)Exodus 20:4-6 are pretty clear:4 "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below."5 "You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,"6 "but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments."Okay, that doesn't sound terribly moral to me, punishing children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren for their ancestor's transgressions... notice that you have 16 great great grandparents... you'd better pray that none of them offended Yahweh, ey?7 "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name."Cor, He does go on, doesn't He?8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he restedon the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.Ahhh.. this is the NIV... I wonder what the original text said... what word was in the original text that is often translated "servant", sometimes "slave", sometimes "bondswoman" and so on and so forth... we need some biblical authority here and they had better understand Hebrew well... let's start with http://biblehub.com....Then we can follow the two words used and see them using the concordance in other contexts:http://biblehub.com...http://biblehub.com...Yup, Pro dodges a bullet there (for the moment, breath a sigh of relief!)... this could well be argued to not be talking directly against slavery... moot point... let's move on through the text, though, there's so much more:I'll jump a little...20 Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning."21 The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. 22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites this: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven: 23 Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold. 24 “‘Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. 26 And do not go up to my altar on steps, or your private parts may be exposed.’ Who would have thought that YHWH, Elohim, Adonai, the LORD God, the Father, would be such a prude!Anyhow, here we come to the real crux of the matter... the very next words in the bible (after this crucial scene where God gives the Ten Commandments to Moses) is this, from Exodus 21: 1 “These are the laws you are to set before them:Hebrew ServantsAnd jumping a little (with no change of context):Personal Injuries 12 “Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death.13 However, if it is not done intentionally, but God lets it happen, they are to flee to a place I will designate. 14 But if anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately, that person is to be taken from my altar and put to death. 15 “Anyone who attacks their father or mother is to be put to death. 16 “Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper’s possession. 17 “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. 18 “If people quarrel and one person hits another with a stone or with their fist[d]and the victim does not die but is confined to bed, 19 the one who struck the blow will not be held liable if the other can get up and walk around outside with a staff; however, the guilty party must pay the injured person for any loss of time and see that the victim is completely healed. 20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property. 22 “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely[e] but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. 26 “An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. 27 And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth. Now, only two questions need be asked to finally resolve this debate:1 - Who was speaking throughout Exodus 20 and Exodus 21? Was it Yahweh?2 - What is the Hebrew used for "slave" (and does that even matter since verse 20 is talking about being allowed to BEAT them, and about OWNING them)?I challenge my opponent to make the case that Yahweh was not as close to directly speaking to the reader through the bible as it is ever possible to get... and I challenge my opponent with the following analysis of the original Hebrew (and the obvious context in the verse):http://biblehub.com...;http://biblehub.com...http://biblehub.com...We see the word "slave" used more frequently as an appropriate translation... and, of course, this makes sense with the context of the qualifying phrase "since the slave is their property"... I direct the gentle reader to some definitions of the word "slave":Google: (especially in the past) a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them.Dictionary.reference.com: a person who is the property of and wholly subject to another; a bondservant.OxfordDictionaries.com: (Especially in the past) a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them:I suggest that Exodus 21:20 is proof positive that Yahweh is said to, at the very least, condone slavery. Indeed, this Yahweh character lays down this rule that slave owners should be guiltless and blameless for beating their slaves nearly to death in a run that follows on from His famous "Ten Commandment" act. I'd say that this was good evidence that He thought it very important to make sure that slave owners were allowed to beat theirs slaves... rather than taking the opportunity to say something truly wise such as, oh, I don't know, "Thou shalt not own slaves"? Clearly Yahweh really does positively approve of slavery, would you not agree?