i will use the word Spiritual in the paragraph
Many Slave owner in the past used their spiritual beliefs as a reason to be cruel to the slaves. In Christian religion, for example, it's written in Exodus 21:20-21 that If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property.
The existence of this kind of phrase, of course, will justify the slave owners' action in their own mind, and they can still believe that they're doing the good thing.