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                                             'PROSELITISM IS SLAVERY' -  HELEN ELLERBE

        The whole of England is excited about the proposed 'Pardon of Guilt March' to be undertaken by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York on 24 March, 2007 in London city. They are going to publicly apologise for the cruel and shameful role played by the Church in supporting and sustaining the ugly phenomenon of slave trade between Africa and America and between Africa and England from the 15th to the 19th century.

        I was reading an interesting pamphlet titled MUTUAL RELATION OF MASTERS AND SLAVES AS TAUGHT IN THE BIBLE. A DISCOURSE PREACHED IN THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, USA on Sabbath morning on 6 Januay 1861. This pamphlet was written by a Pastor called Joseph R Wilson (1835-1903), also known as Joseph Ruggles. He issued this pamphlet in 1861, the year in which the Civil war broke out between the Northern States and the Southern States on the fundamental issue of continuance or otherwise of the barbarous system of slavery which was prevalent on a large scale in the Southern States. In this pamphlet he came out with these radical ideas on human brotherhood;

        1. Bible gives full spiritual, ethical and moral sanction for the perpetuation of the noble system of slavery— the divine relationship between Master and Servant (slave).

        2. The system of Slavery will be hereditary and will continue in perpetuity till the end of time.

        3. The Slave should seek spiritual solace by cheerfully accepting the divinely ordained position of a Slave under his Master. It will be blasphemous for him to question either the moral authority or the spiritual sanction of his Master to exercise total control over his life, mind, heart and soul.

        It will be clear from this example that the Church played a leading role in supporting and sustaining the cause of slavery in the Southern States in USA till the end of the Civil War in 1865.

        It was against such savagely evil forces that Abraham Lincoln fought during the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865. Let us hear the inspiring words of Abraham Lincoln in his Second Annual Message to Congress on 1 December, 1862; 'In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free - honourable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.'

        In this context I cannot help referring to a candidly brilliant article by Joey Hackl titled Slavery in the Bible (why Black people shouldn't be Christians). In this article he says that Bible supports the system of Slavery throughout the world. To quote his words: 'Maybe it's just me, but the following excerpts from the Bible don't sit well with me. They really don't sit well with me! No wonder the slave trade was what it was (and continues to be: roughly 12 per cent of America is Black, yet Blacks occupy roughly 50 per cent of incarcerated America; institutionalized slavery? I think so. The Bible appears to wholeheartedly support slavery.'

        Based on the article of Joey Hackl, I am citing below some references from the Bible which openly advocate Slavery. '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.' (Exodus 21:20-21)

        'Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. You can will them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly. (Leviticus 25:44-46)

        'Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.' (Ephesians 6:5)

        I am not taking these verses out of context. Even a casual reader can see the underlying unity connecting these verses. What do they all say? A slave is a slave is a slave forever. They are under the divine Yoke of Slavery. It is a fact of history that Yokes were put on Slaves and animals only. Against this background, Joey Hackl concludes with overflowing emotions: 'I guess it's easy for Christians who have never been slaves to ignore these verses, or say that they are taken out of context, or that God tolerated slavery in those days, but when you actually sit and consider what slavery actually is, the pain, the suffering, the imprisonment, the rape, the beatings, the punishment, the separation from family, etc. how can you let these verses slip away?'

        When Columbus discovered America, in the last quarter of the '8th century he brought both African slaves and sugar cane to the New World. Within a few years the monstrous demand for this crop would call for the blood, bones and sweat of millions of slaves to keep it fed In this context the moving words of Dorothy Randall Gray, whose forefathers were slaves from Africa, become very relevant..

        'In order to supply cheap labour to tend these fields, slave traders came to our African villages, stole us from our homes, put us in shackles. They threw men. women and children into the bowels of foul smelling ships and packed us together like the fingers of a fist. We would lay there naked in that darkened hold for weeks at a time on the treacherous journey from Africa to America known as the 'MIDDLE PASSAGE'. Many of us perished during the crossing. Those who died along the way were simply dumped overboard like garbage. It is estimated that over 75 million Africans lost their lives during the Middle Passage. WE CALL IT THE AFRICAN HOLOCAUST.'

        In the context of the terrible history of Slave Trade in Africa, the name of Alex Haley (1921-1992) also comes to my mind. In 1976 Haley published his world famous book called Roots: The Saga of an American Family. It is a novel based loosely on his family's history, starting with the story of Kunta Kinte, kidnapped in Gambia in 1767 to be sold as a slave in the United States. This work involved ten years of research, intercontinental travel and writing. Haley went to the village of Jufureh in Gambia where Kunta Kinte grew up, which was still in existence, and listened to a tribal historian tell the story of Kinte's capture. Haley also traced the records of the ship, The Lord Ligonier, which he said carried his ancestor to America.

        The most emotional moment of Haley's life was reached on 29 September, 1967, when he stood at the site in Annapolis, Maryland in USA where his ancestor Kunta Kinte had arrived 200 years before in 1767. Roots was eventually published in 37 languages, won the Pulitzer Prize and went on to become a popular television miniseries in 1977. The book and film were both successful, reaching a record-breaking 130 million viewers when it was serialized on television. Roots clearly brought out the fact that African Americans have a long history and that not all of that history is lost, as many believed. Its popularity sparked a new wave of increased public interest in genealogy as well. This book of Haley has moved thousands of people to tears in all parts of the world and to sublime feelings too deep for tears. It has been hailed as a document of great worth true to the truth of the human heart. James Baldwin paid his tribute to Alex Haley in these words: 'Alex Haley is taking us back through time to the village of his ancestors is an act of faith and courage, but this book Roots is also an act of love, and it is this which makes it haunting... It suggests with great power how each of us can't but be the vehicle of the history which produced us.'

        The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation's Mission is to spread Alex Haley's vision of a world that celebrates ethnic diversity while honouring humankind's common, universal experiences. Through educational and cultural programs, public forums and research, the Foundation is dedicated to stimulating greater interest in African-American culture, history, art, archaeology, anthropology, and genealogy, and to encouraging people of all ethnic backgrounds to search for their own 'roots.'

        The Archbishops of Canterbury and York should take the initiative to create a new Foundation like that of Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation in USA. The British Government should solidly support this lofty and noble cause. All the Churches in the US should also follow suit in this matter and the American Government should come forward to extend its full assistance to all the Churches to achieve this objective. Every Church in India and abroad should clearly understand that every form of proselytism is a violent form of enslavement of the mind, body and soul of the pagans and heathens. God in heaven did not give the divine right either to the CHURCH or the MOSQUE to decide and declare who is a PAGAN.

        This dark side of Christian history can help us to understand the severing of our connection with the sacred. It can teach us of the most insidious and damaging slavery of all: the control of people through dictating, regulating and containing their spirituality. Only then, can we begin to feel not only the scars, but the very alienation itself.