 Slavery Then and Now
from Interfaith Voices Podcast (hour-long version)
February 23, 2007
Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Struggle to end Slavery in the British Empire Eric Metaxas, author, William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End SlaveryAmazing Grace it s no longer just a hymn, but a movie and a book about the life of William Wilberforce, a leader in the struggle to end the slave trade, and finally slavery itself, in the British Empire although his influence on this issue extended far beyond Britain. Eric Metaxas tells the story of this extraordinary man and social reformer, born to a wealthy family, partying in his early years, eventually making friends with future Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger and then winning election to the British Parliament. During his early years in Parliament, he underwent a profound conversion to a deeper Christianity than he had ever experienced before. It was a transformation of life led by the growing influence of Methodism in the Great Britain of the late 18th century. In many ways, his story exemplifies the issues important to evangelicals in the 19th century: issues of social justice.Then, for 20 years in Parliament, Wilberforce exposed the horrors of the slave trade, doggedly introduced bills to abolish it, and endured all manner of vilification for his efforts. Finally, in 1807, the bill passed.In 1833, just three days before Wilberforce died, the British Parliament voted to end slavery itself. The book, Amazing Grace, is a fascinating read.The Global Slave Trade Today and Faith-Based Action to End ItDavid Batstone, author of Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade and How We Can Fight ItDavid Batstone exposes the fact that the global slave trade has returned in our time with a vengeance. His conservative estimate: 27 million people are held as slaves in the contemporary world! He discusses the commercial interests that profit from it, and describes the capture of slaves for forced labor, and for sex and prostitution. Most are women and children. Escape is almost impossible because they are usually trafficked to another country, their passports are taken away, and their families are sometimes threatened.This contemporary slavery is found in the United States and Canada, as well as the rest of the world.Batstone then lays out many faith-based efforts to end slavery in the world today, including efforts to get houses of worship to declare themselves abolitionist, and to offer sanctuary to those who have been trafficked. A complete list of organizations can be found at: www.notforsalecampaign.org. The Challenges of Being WiccaBethany Moore, Project Manager for First Freedom First at Americans United for Separation of Church and StateBethany Moore, an adherent of Wicca, notes that this is a religion with ancient roots, as well as a contemporary religious movement. It begins with reverence for the earth and nature, and respects each person s own path to spirituality. It holds that women and men are equals, and thus women are priestesses in the tradition. However, Wicca suffers from many stereotypes, and so it is often difficult for adherents to come out of the broom closet, as Bethany puts it. (She hastens to note that Wiccans have brooms, but don t fly on them!). Wicca is not Satanism, she notes.However, when controversies arise, as in the case of putting a pentagram (the Wicca symbol) on a soldier s tombstone, there is no central authority in this egalitarian group to point to central teachings to back up a Wiccan claim. Protests Over the Treatment of Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit Tom Roberts, Editor, National Catholic ReporterSantiago Esparza, Reporter, Detroit News Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit is not your average Roman Catholic Bishop. He serves as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Detroit, but he is known nationally, even internationally, as the Peace Bishop, the author of a Peace Pastoral published by the U.S. Bishops Conference a number of years ago, an outspoken advocate on numerous causes of justice and peace, a spokesperson for gay and lesbian Catholics after he discovered his own brother was gay, and most recently a bishop who revealed on this show, among other places that he himself suffered sexual abuse as a young man at the hands of a priest. After that, he spoke out for extending the statute of limitations in sex abuse cases at the state level, a move opposed by most bishops.Now, Bishop Gumbleton, in his mid 70 s, has been organized out of St. Leo s Parish in inner city Detroit where he has been pastor for 25 years. And in a highly unusual move retired bishops usually may live where they wish he has been forced to move his residence. As a result, the protests have been loud and long in Detroit and around the country. Tom Roberts believes that Bishop Gumbleton s long record of raising questions that are unsettling to the Vatican probably led to this action against him. Santiago Esparza points out that he is much loved in Detroit and around Michigan, and thus protests over his removal are continuing.
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