Bible supports slavery?!

[thefog]

Some passages in the Bible see slavery as perfectly acceptable.

Genesis 9:25
"he said,
       "Cursed be Canaan!
       The lowest of slaves
       will he be to his brothers.""

Exodus 21:2-6
"If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.
"But if the servant declares, 'I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,' then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life."

Exodus 21:20-21
"When a slave owner strikes a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately the owner shall be punished. But if the slave survives a day or two there is no punishment; for the slave is the owner's property"

Numbers 31:17-18
"Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man."

Titus 2:9-10
"Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive."

Ephesians 6:5-9
"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him."

Colossians 3:22-25
"Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism."

Peter 2:18-25
"Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."

Timothy 6:1-5
"All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God's name and our teaching may not be slandered. Those who have believing masters are not to show less respect for them because they are brothers. Instead, they are to serve them even better, because those who benefit from their service are believers, and dear to them. These are the things you are to teach and urge on them.
If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain."

Why didn't Jesus say anything against slavery? Why did the apostle Paul send a runaway slave back to his master? Why did Moses tell to his soldiers to take the young virgin girls as slaves for themselves?

[SteveS55]

Jesus didn't say anything about a lot of the practices of His day.  At that time slavery was common practice and no one saw anything evil about it.  As a matter of fact it remained a common practice in this country until well into the 19th century. When questioned about whether Caesar should be honored he simply said: "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's."  This is pretty unclear and it indicates to me that He wasn't here to condemn specific practices, but rather to enlighten us to the point where we could see for ourselves the evil in our hearts. He tried to open us to the truth and not make rules for us to live by.
In my opinion this is one of the reasons people have gone astray - interpreting the Bible as a literal and historic document instead of a metaphorical and mystical document.

[Cordelia]

Jesus didn't say anything about a lot of the practices of His day.  At that time slavery was common practice and no one saw anything evil about it. 

Bible is encouraging slavery. The Holy Spirit that inspired the writers should know the difference between something that is evil and something that is not. Slavery is evil, and was evil then also.