Apparently there is a movie just released that discusses the churches role in ending slavery. "Amazing Grace Sunday". A few of their central characters are William Wilberforce and John Newton.
John Newton was a slave trader himself. He converted to Christianity, so the story goes, after praying to God to keep the merchant ship he was on from sinking in a terrible storm. However, even after finding God he remained a Slave Trader for another 6 years. The excuses people make for him concerning this miss the mark. Sure people can change their hearts and minds gradually overtime. But, if Christianity tells a man what's right and wrong, why did he still remain a slave trader for 6 more years? WIKI informs us of this excuse:
"... this should be seen in the light of late eighteenth-century thought: Newton was a man of his day, and his attitude was typical of that of the modern merchant of the period. However, late in his life he did claim to deeply regret and repent of his personal involvement in the slave trade, and he later joined William Wilberforce in the campaign for abolition. In 1787 he wrote a tract supporting the campaign, Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade."
Huh? His attitude was typical? What does attitude have to do with moral facts that Christianity espouses are true?
Also, they fail to mention just how deeply involved the Church was with slavery.
The church was so involved in slave trade. Frederick Douglas had this to say:
“The church and the slave prison stand next to each other; the groans and cries of the heartbroken slave are often drowned in the pious devotions of his religious master. The church-going bell and the auctioneer’s bell chime in with each other; the pulpit and the auctioneers’s block stand in the same neighbourhood; while the blood-stained gold goes to support the pulpit covers the infernal business with the garb of Christianity. We have men sold to build churches, women sold to support missionaries, and babies sold to buy Bibles and communion services for the churches.”
Churches owned slaves, sold them and bought them openly. Historical documents support this. In fact, The Church of England apologized for the Slave trade and admitted that they "were the heart of it". - Read Article Here
Yes Wilberforce and Newton opposed slavery. But so did tens of thousands of freethinkers, deists and atheists long before Wilberforce and Newton. Agreed many Christians opposed slavery as well. But Christians, especially in the south, opposed abolitionists. Some were even killed. Christians killing Christians.
Visit the nogodzone for more info as he alerted me to this in the first place.