The Church of England used money made from the “abominable” slave trade to help pay the incomes of poor clergy in the 18th century. Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, said today that he was “deeply sorry for the links with transatlantic chattel slavery”. Church leaders are becoming quite adept at apologising, as well they should. Unfortunately, nowhere in the Bible is slavery condemned. The creator of the universe evidently saw nothing wrong with buying, selling, owning and chastising slaves.
When slavery is mentioned in the Old Testament, it’s generally to offer advice to masters about the practicalities of slave-ownership. “You may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way” (Leviticus 25:44-46).
Licenced today: a dog’s-eye view of Windermere from Brant Fell. It’s one of the first pix I uploaded to Alamy, and one of the first to make a sale. That editorial sale, back in 2008, was for $554.39. Today, in contrast, I’m ‘benefitting’ to the tune of just $10.04…
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