SET ALL FREE

What does 'slavery' mean? It means treating people as objects or 'depersonalising' them. It means being devalued. It means having your freedom restricted. It means lack of control over, or lack of ownership of, what you do. It means not being properly rewarded for your labour. It means being powerless. It means having no choices. And it means being made a victim of domination by someone else.

When we describe 'slavery' in these terms we can see that it is still very much alive. Modern examples of slavery include the exploitation of migrant labourers, especially illegal migrants like the Morecombe Bay cockle-pickers; people trafficking and the international sex trade; unregulated child labour; and many forms of domestic abuse. People are still bought and sold, even in this country. They are still treated as objects. Their freedom is taken away. They are not properly rewarded for their work and they find themselves powerless and being dominated by unscrupulous masters of various kinds.

So what did Jesus have to say about slavery? He said that we should not be the sort of people who lord it over one another. Instead, he said that he had come to proclaim release for the captives and to set the downtrodden free. He said that we should love one another as he has first loved us. But he also called us to the way of radical obedience to God, which the New Testament often likes to slavery, and - like him - we are called to carry a cross, even though crucifixion was the fate of slaves and the criminal underclass. Above all, we are called to serve and not to be served, in imitation of the one who washed his own disciples' feet, for in God's new order the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.

All of this means that we need to place ourselves in the forefront of the struggle against dehumanising and oppressive practices, whatever form they take, making amends for the shameful past of the Christian Church - stretching back to New Testament times - when slavery was not only condoned but even approved of and practised by the followers of Christ. We must not forget that the Bible was used to defend, as well as to oppose, slavery and so we must always be on our guard against its future misuse to justify wrongdoing.

Finally, we can find out about the British slave trade and those who campaigned against it, including John Wesley who wrote a pamphlet against the slave trade which is still available on-line, (see the link on this page to resources about Methodist history). It is one of his most accessible works for modern readers and contains many arguments - for and against oppression - which are still being rehearsed today.

For a firsthand account of the British slave trade we can read Olaudah Equiano's "Interesting Narrative", a bestseller in its day and still in print under the "Penguin Classics" imprint. To see extracts from the book and to read a short account of his life, visit http://www.brycchancarey.com/equiano/. Olaudah Equiano is pictured at the top of this post.

How did slavery affect our city and our ancestors, and how is it still affecting us now?

(Based on a workshop led by Inderjit Bhogal at this month's Methodist Synod)