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|
 | "A man came to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and said:
'Guide me
to a deed that makes me close to Heaven and far from Hell.' The Prophet
replied: 'Free a person and redeem a slave.' " 1 |
| "And if a man smite his servant [male slave], or his maid [female slave], with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money [property]." Hebrew Scriptures, Exodus 21:20-21. |
Quotations from the mid 19th century:
At the time Christianity was divided over the morality of human slavery. Most Southerners supported slavery; most in the North were abolitionists. Two quotations by Southerners at the time were:
| "The hope of civilization itself hangs on the defeat of Negro
suffrage." A statement by a prominent 19th-century southern
Presbyterian pastor, cited by Rev. Jack
Rogers, moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA). |
| "The doom of Ham has been branded on the form and features of his
African descendants. The hand of fate has united his color and destiny.
Man cannot separate what God hath joined." James Henry Hammond, 19th
century U.S. senator and hebephile. 2 |
| "Enslave the liberty of but one human being and
the liberties of the world are put in peril." William Lloyd Garrison
(1805-1879), founder of the New-England Anti-Slavery Society and
co-founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society. He was a Christian
perfectionist. |
| "The abolitionism which I advocate is as absolute
as the law of God, and as unyielding as his throne. It admits of no
compromise. Every slave is a stolen man; every slaveholder is a man
stealer. By no precedent, no example, no law, no compact, no purchase,
no bequest, no inheritance, no combination of circumstances, is
slaveholding right or justifiable." William Lloyd Garrison |
| "If you allow one single germ, one single seed of slavery to remain in the soil of America... that germ will spring up, that noxious weed will thrive, and again stifle the growth, wither the leaves, blast the flowers and poison the fair fruits of freedom." Ernestine L. Rose, (1810 - 1892) Freethinker and Atheist. She was once referred to as "“a female Atheist... a thousand times below a prostitute.” by a newspaper in Bangor, ME. |
Recent quotations:
| "Who are we? We are the descendants of slaves. ... We are the heirs of a past of rope, fire and murder. I for one am not
ashamed of this past. My shame is for those who became so inhuman that they
could inflict this torture upon us. Martin Luther King, Jr. |
| "We must acknowledge the complicity of many of our churches in slavery, a system in which most African Americans were
prohibited from practicing Islam or African traditional religions." Interfaith Relations and the Churches
Policy Statement of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
3 |
| "Traditionalists must do more. I've got to do more. We've
all got to speak up in this respect, or else we'll be taught that
these people were giving their lives, subscribing their sacred
fortunes and their honor to some perverted agenda." John Ashcroft, in a defense of "southern patriots" like
Jefferson Davis and Robert E Lee who fought to preserve the slavery of human
beings.
4 |
| "No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the
slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms." Article 4,
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. |
| "Two hundred years after the British Empire abolished slavery – and 144 years after the Emancipation Proclamation – an estimated 27 million people around the world are living in slavery." National Council of Churches, 2007-JAN-26. |
References:
- Fiqh us-Sunnah, Volume 3, Number 67. This is a group of sayings attributed to Muhammad. They were collected by his followers shortly after his death.
- William Lee Miller, "Arguing About Slavery: The Great Battle in the United States Congress." Alfred A. Knopf, (1996), Page 139.
- "Interfaith Relations and the Churches," a Policy Statement of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. See: http://bruno.ncccusa.org/interfaith/ifr.html
- Quotation from an interview of John Ashcroft by the Southern Partisan magazine, 1999. (Ashcroft was confirmed as U.S. Attorney General in 2001-FEB.) Quoted in "Echoes of slavery as Bush nominees back confederacy," The Guardian, at: http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/bush/story/
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Home page > Religious violence > Slavery > here |
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or Home page > Christianity > History, practices... > Slavery > here |
Original posting: 2009-FEB-25
Latest update and reviewed: 2009-FEB-25
Compiled by B.A. Robinson
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