I never said slavery wasn't harsh, because, yes, sometimes beatings are necessary if the slave is not obedient.
But it's more than "beatings." It's the indignity of being owned as property, to be traded or sold as such. It's having no say if your owner wanted to sell you off, but not your wife. It's being subjected to anything...ANYTHING your master wants you to do, or be subjected to whatever punishment he sees fit.
But, sentencing a criminal to life in jail is also harsh, but necessary.
Except that life imprisonment is a defined punishment for a set crime. And a prisoner still has rights, albeit lessened, again, as punishment meted out for a transgression against society. And finally, a prisoner STILL has the ability to appeal his sentence, or apply for parole (in most cases.) A slave has none of these.
But beating an obedient slave just because you despise him is not a disciplinary action.
Except a smart master will not just arbitrarily beat his slave. It's bad business. But if the slave is too slow with the morning coffee, or does a subpar job on the laundry, or doesn't put out, if the master wants some, that's when the punishment happens. And the slave has no rights to say otherwise. The slave is property, and can be used and abused at the master's whims.
It is an action influenced by hatred alone. This is not the slavery defined in the bible.
It's. Still. Slavery. You are still claiming ownership over another human being. You are still stripping another person of even the most basic of human dignities. If your Bible condones that AT ALL, I oppose it. Vehemently.