Who Killed Slavery?

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Posted Jan 10th 2008 9:00PM by Dinesh D'Souza
Filed under: Christianity, History, Controversy, Atheism

Isn't it remarkable that atheists, who did virtually nothing to oppose slavery, condemn Christians, who are the ones who abolished it?

Consider atheist Sam Harris, who blames Christianity for supporting slavery. Harris is right that slavery existed among the Old Testament Jews, and Paul even instructs slaves to obey their masters. During the civil war both sides quoted the Bible. We know all this. (Yawn, yawn.)

But slavery pre-dated Christianity by centuries and even millennia. As we read from sociologist Orlando Patterson's work, all known cultures had slavery. For centuries, slavery needed no defenders because it had no critics. Atheists who champion ancient Greece and pre-Christian Rome somehow seem to forget that those empires were based on large-scale enslavement.

Atheist Michael Shermer says Christians are "late comers" to the movement against slavery. But if this is true, who were the early comers? There weren't any. Shermer probably thinks the Christians only got around to opposing slavery in the modern era.

Wrong. Slavery was mostly eradicated from Western civilization--then called Christendom--between the fourth and the tenth century. The Greco-Roman institution of slavery gave way to serfdom. Now serfdom has its problems but at least the serf is not a "human tool" and cannot be bought and sold like property. So slavery was ended twice in Western civilization, first in the medieval era and then again in the modern era.

In the American South, Christianity proved to be the solace of the oppressed. As historian Eugene Genovese documents in Roll, Jordan, Roll, when black slaves sought to find dignity during the dark night of slavery, they didn't turn to Marcus Aurelius or David Hume; they turned to the Bible. When they sought hope and inspiration for liberation, they found it not in Voltaire or D'Holbach but in the Book of Exodus.

The anti-slavery movements led by Wilberforce in England and abolitionists in America were dominated by Christians. These believers reasoned that since we are all created equal in the eyes of God, no one has the right to rule another without consent. This is the moral basis not only of anti-slavery but also of democracy.

Jefferson was in some ways the least orthodox and the most skeptical of the founders. Yet when he condemned slavery he found himself using biblical language. In Notes on the State of Virginia Jefferson warned that those who would enslave people should reflect that "the Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a contest." Jefferson famously added, "And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that His justice cannot sleep for ever."

But wasn't Jefferson also a man of science? Yes he was, and it was on the basis of the latest science of his day that Jefferson expressed his convictions about black inferiority. Citing the discoveries of modern science, Jefferson noted that "there are varieties in the race of man, distinguished by their powers both of body and of mind...as I see to be the case with races of other animals." Blacks, Jefferson continued, lack the powers of reason that are evident in whites and even in native Indians. While atheists today like to portray themselves as paragons of equal dignity, Jefferson's scientific and skeptical outlook contributed not to his anti-slavery sentiments but to his racism. Somehow Harris and Shermer neglect to point this out.

In the end the fact remains that the only movements that opposed slavery in principle were mobilized in the West, and they were overwhelmingly led and populated by Christians. Sadly the West had to use force to stop slavery in other cultures, such as the Muslim slave trade off the coast of Africa. In some quarters the campaign to eradicate slavery still goes on.

So who killed slavery? The Christians did, while everyone else generally stood by and watched.

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Reader Comments ( Page 3 of 41)

Previous 15 Comments | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

31. @ aniekan thomas ....

I want you to stand up and walk over to the nearest wall... give it a good 'whack' with your head.

We'll all feel much better!

pboyfloyd at 9:58AM on Jan 11th 2008

32. "For centuries, slavery needed no defenders because it had no critics."
I have an inkling that the slaves would have taken issue with that conclusion.

Mokele-Mbembe at 10:00AM on Jan 11th 2008

33. .

brandon at 10:00AM on Jan 11th 2008

34. .

brandon at 10:00AM on Jan 11th 2008

35. Does the Bible/Christianity support slavery? Absolutely not. This is nothing but sheer Biblical ignorance.

First of all, one has to ask whether or not the "slavery" mentioned in Scripture is of the same brand that we now call the Transatlantic Slave Trade. In some cases, yes. The vast majority, however, were prisoners of war. In yet other cases, these were WILLING participants who enrolled as slaves to better their lot in life.

So when you read the Bible, you first have to ask yourself, "What kind of slave is this talking about?" One of the most common slips we can make in assessing the past is defining terms hundreds or thousands of years old by contemporary definitions.

Many atheists love to quote Paul, who said, "Slaves, obey your masters." Few bother to quote his words about slave traders being under the condemnation of God.

The Bible doesn't support slavery. It merely takes slavery as a sad reality and speaks to those already caught up in the institution. It tells slaves to obey their masters, as Christians are not called to be rebels. It also says, "But if you can gain your freedom, do so." It calls slave owners to treat their slaves with kindness and patience, "because you also have a Master (God)."

JSL at 10:00AM on Jan 11th 2008

36. OUCH!
P.S.I find your wall joke very funny
Please do read my post and repond to it.

God bless,pboyfloyd.

aniekan at 10:06AM on Jan 11th 2008

37. Well JSL... you are full of shit... and if you are a woman ... the Bible tells you to shut your face!

pboyfloyd at 10:06AM on Jan 11th 2008

38. I mean post 28.Read it!

aniekan thomas at 10:08AM on Jan 11th 2008

39. From: http://atheism.about.com/library/weekly/aa112598.htm

"Christian Identity is just a new kid on the block of White Protestant Supremacy - the earliest such group was the infamous Ku Klux Klan.

Too few people realize that the KKK was founded as a Christian organization and still sees itself in terms of defending true Christianity.

Especially in the earliest days, Klansmen openly recruited in churches (white and segregated, of course), attracting members from all strata of society, including the clergy.

Although Klan ceremonies have varied greatly, one common form will include an American flag, a cross, and a Bible opened to Romans 12, exhorting Christians to "godly conduct, godly nature."

Also common is a sword representing the war against all enemies of the Christian life an the American "Christian Nation." Opening and closing prayers may often include "The living Christ is a Klansman's criterion of character."

The origin of a burning cross is unclear - it may stem from the ancient Scottish tradition of burning a cross on a hill to call together the clans, or it may be representative of spreading the light of the True Cross in an effort to promote Christian faith."
---------------------------------------------
I guess DD doesn't think that the christian KKK is germane to the discussion.

Linda at 10:08AM on Jan 11th 2008

40. knight some christians may have used bible verses/ lots of non-christians had slaves you imagine? or do you ignorantly think only christians did?

america goofiest, my friend is quiet black and made the comment. we get along great. but you must be an idiot to think slavery is going on here. now if you want to expand this to the world thats another matter, but lest i forget you atheist are out to save the world. pardon my forgetfulness and most of iy happening right at your computer!! wow. are we indebted to you babbling atheist or what!! are you right there with knight for the dumb a#$ award

brian at 10:09AM on Jan 11th 2008

41. what would the world do without the atheist to give us moral guidance. though its kind of an oxymoron for those who believe in no god, a god who gave us the morals you reject, to spout moral platitudes. indeed it is plain stupid really and laughable at best that atheist want to take a higher moral ground than the reat of the world. who is stupid here? and then clearly those morals you do have are only situational. perverted is what it is.

brian at 10:09AM on Jan 11th 2008

42. Dinesh is right on target, but he actually left out some important supporting facts on why Christianity was so central to ending slavery in America.

The abolitionist movement gained strength during the 2nd Great Awakening. Preachers such as Lyman Beecher emphasized the importance of issues such abolition and temperance. Beecher's own daughter went on to write Uncle Tom's Cabin, while his son Henry too was an abolitionist preacher. One of the founders of modern American Evangelicism, Charles Finney, was also a leading abolitionist at the time. Sojourner Truth, William Lloyd Garrison, Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass and Bush ancestor Obadiah Bush were all devoutly Christian abolitionists.

In fact, probably the only potentially non-religious abolitionist with great influence was Abraham Lincoln, but he was not even in support of abolition until he was well into his presidency.

And the of the 3 central issues to American Christians in the aftermath of the 2nd Great Awakening (abolition, temperance, suffrage), abolition came first. Temperance and suffrage didn't arrive for another 50 years.

Now take away all the individuals I have mentioned and imagine if abolitionism (as well as temperance and suffrage) could have succeeded without them. My guess is almost certainly not.

Tony Messinger at 10:09AM on Jan 11th 2008

43. I was under the impression that people killed slavery. Good ones. And other people, less morally guided perhaps, but probably mere victims of their historic moments, invented and sustained it. To go back in time with this kind of verbal mud-slinging is specious, at best. In the middle of an election season, with the planet in some sort of climate chaos, our dollar's value melting as fast as a glacier in California (or Switzerland or the North Pole for that matter) and a war with Iran on the horizon, don't you think you could find a better topic? Or perhaps that is the very thing you are doing here, avoiding the herd of elephants in the room.
Slavery is gone, praise whatever G-d you like. And the people who worked to abolish were likely of every stripe, certainly many fine Christians included. Pitting religions agaisnt one anotehr is beneath your intellect, and a pretty silly uise of Sam's time, too. Shouldn't we all, I don't know...move on?

I once saw some little girls playing jump rope in a playground in Brooklyn. They were singing a jump rope song about Martin Luther King and slavery. it stopped me in my tracks. Then one of then broke away from the group and said, to my astonishment: "I am so sick of slavery days, slavery days, slavery days. Let's do the Cinderella one."

Which goes..." Cinderella, dressed in yella, went upstairs to kiss a fella. Made a mistake and kissed a snake. how many doctors did it take...1, 2,3, etc."

All due respect to the King and all those who have worked to bring about a MORE equal society, but to move forward we sometimes need to do a teensy bit less looking back, and BLAMING.

Elizabeth at 10:09AM on Jan 11th 2008

44. @ aniekan thomas ....

You are hilarious... I can't find comment 28 in that forest of words!!! LOL

pboyfloyd at 10:12AM on Jan 11th 2008

45. There he goes again. Babble, babble, babble

Geoff at 10:12AM on Jan 11th 2008

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