My most deeply held convictions before the readings were that both, colonialism and slavery were and are harmful, and frankly, evil systems that continue to cause immense suffering for those they oppress. I believe we need to take a hard look at our history, owning up to our collective and personal failings, and roll up our sleeves to create a more just world. It\u2019s not just about acknowledging the wrong-doings of the past and present, it\u2019s about actively engaging to do better. After diving into the works of several Black authors and scholars, I\u2019ve come to see the merit in considering reparations as a potential path forward. That said, I am not na\u00efve about the challenges involved in actually implementing such a program. It\u2019s a complex issues that requires careful thought and nuanced discussion.<\/p>\n
I believe I\u2019ve held these beliefs because of my theological conviction that all humans are created in the image of, beloved and called \u201cgood\u201d by God. I believe that God so loves the world, that God chose to reveal God\u2019s self in the most humble of ways: in a cradle and on a cross, made by the Roman Empire. Jesus, born to a young poor couple, Jesus, sentenced by Empire for among other things, not bowing to Empire, chooses suffering. Jesus came not just to \u201cdie for our sins\u201d but so that those who suffer do not do so alone. Therefore, God is present with those who suffer from slavery or because of the effects of colonialism. Those who try to follow in the way of Jesus are to work to end injustice of any kind, but, in my mind, especially the evil of slavery.<\/p>\n
My beliefs about slavery also came from my education in the public school system. I remember learning about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, reading books about racism and slavery, and learning about the slave trade in history class. I\u2019ve picked up beliefs through movies and other forms of media that have affirmed my beliefs that slavery is evil and horrific.<\/p>\n
My beliefs about colonialism have probably been developed in much the same ways as slavery with the addition of denominational influence reminding me how the Church continues to use colonialism when traveling abroad on \u201cmission\u201d trips.<\/p>\n
How my beliefs have been affirmed<\/strong><\/p>\n In his book, A Brief history of Slavery, A New Global History<\/em>, Jeremy Black makes the case that slavery has existed throughout time and in every corner of the world and that it continues to thrive today.[1]<\/a> He reminds us that slavery exists in many different forms, including \u201cdebt bondage, penal labour, and sexual slavery\u201d and that the familiar story of the Atlantic slave trade \u201cwhile important, is less than the whole story.\u201d[2]<\/a> He continues, \u201cit is easier to apologize for the past and such apology became a major theme in the 2000\u2019s,\u201d affirming my belief that we cannot simply apologize for the past but must work for a more just and compassionate world.<\/p>\n In Nigel Biggar\u2019s book, Colonialism A Moral Reckoning, <\/em>the belief that was affirmed is that there is more to the story than what the media or even our particular denominations tell us. He writes, \u201cThere is a more historically accurate, fairer, more positive story to be told about the British Empire than anticolonialists want us to hear.\u201d[3]<\/a> I am uneasy whenever I hear only one side to a story. In the case of slavery, I do believe there is only one side, the side that slavery is evil, however, in the case of most other issues, there is generally another story to be told. Nigel Biggar claims colonialism did not only oppress or hurt indigenous peoples but sometimes improved their living and political conditions.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n I appreciated Biggar\u2019s openness about his worries amid the negative perspectives of colonialism. He writes, \u201cWhat is at stake\u201d, \u201cis not merely the pedantic truth about yesterday, but the self-perception and self-confidence of the British today, and the way they conduct themselves in the world of tomorrow. What is also at stake, therefore, is the very integrity of the United Kingdom and the security of the West. That is why I have written this book.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n How My Beliefs Have Been Challenged and Why<\/strong><\/p>\n In reading Black\u2019s book, I\u2019m not sure my beliefs were challenged so much as I saw what Jason is alluding to in his \u201cmap-making\u201d conversations with us. Looking back at the \u201cmap\u201d of the past, we see a history saturated with slavery. If we lay a current map on top of the map of the past, we see how our history led us to a map with slavery still present, though perhaps a bit more \u201chidden,\u201d at least in the West. If we lay a map of the future on top of the other two maps we get what Black writes in the last paragraph of his book, \u201cThe curse of the past lies not in what happened, terrible as that is, but rather in an inability to look clearly at the present and to the future.\u201d[6]<\/a><\/p>\n I admit, my beliefs were challenged more while engaging with Biggar\u2019s book. While I didn\u2019t always agree with what he was saying, I appreciated the way he didn\u2019t pull punches, he said what he thought, and often, he said what I wondered if others were thinking but afraid to say. Interestingly to me was looking for reviews on his book and not finding one that had positive things to say. It made me wonder if my findings were simply a result of my Google algorithms or if there was not one single person who positively reviewed his book!<\/p>\n In regards to Biggar justifying the morality of colonialism, I’m not so sure that is a thing. I mean, I’m not so sure one can justify colonialism on a moral level, especially those who wear the name, “Christian.” I say this because those who follow in the way of Jesus are supposed to be living, working, hoping for God’s Kingdom, God’s shalom here on earth (as it is in heaven). If we justify colonialism, saying things like, “we should not judge the past by the present,”[7]<\/a> or \u201cin my ethical thinking I aspire to be honest about human limitations,\u201d[8]<\/a> or even \u201cwhat decides its moral quality are the motive and intention of the agent, and the proportionality of its means to an ends,\u201d[9]<\/a> aren\u2019t we also saying, \u201cit is what it is and there\u2019s really no reason to think God can equip us to do something better?\u201d I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s something I\u2019m thinking about.<\/p>\n One of the beliefs that was challenged in reading Biggar\u2019s book was that colonialism was not always a bad thing for \u201cnatives\u201d or indigenous peoples. He reminded us that sometimes the work of Empire was to bring law and order (a phrase that admittedly grates on me) to lands without those protections and that \u201ccolonialism does not equal slavery.\u201d[10]<\/a><\/p>\n He reminds us that \u201cBritish colonialism is not only as vast as an elephant but rather less coherent. So the task of making an overall judgment about it presents a major challenge. What forces challenge upon us is the fact that so many have rushed to judgement and to condemn British colonialism as a whole for its racist, rapacious, exploitative, violent logic talking of colonialism and slavery in the same breath as if they are identical.\u201d I do not feel that I know enough about colonialism at this point to be able to make a fully educated statement about my beliefs. Biggar did challenge what I believed because of my denominational upbringing and because of what I hear due to my social media algorithms.<\/p>\n What is clear from Biggar\u2019s book is that human beings and movements are complicated. We are not motivated by one issue or one need (though greed and money seem to be BIG motivators).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Jeremy Black, A Brief History of<\/em> Slavery A New Global Perspective<\/em>, Constable and Robinson, London, 2011, xi-xii, 12.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Ibid, 247.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Nigel Biggar, Colonialism A Moral Reckoning<\/em>, William Collins, London, 2023, 2024, 23.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Ibid, 49.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Ibid, 23.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Jeremy Black, A Brief History of<\/em> Slavery A New Global Perspective<\/em>, Constable and Robinson, London, 2011, 259.<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Nigel Biggar, Colonialism A Moral Reckoning<\/em>, William Collins, London, 2023, 2024, 25<\/p>\n