Every time I hear the word "slave" I find myself suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. It is difficult for me to fathom the concept of slavery or owning a human being. Being from the South, it is very much a part of my heritage, even though there are none in my ancestral tree that I know of that have owned slave, in fact most of my family came over after the end of slavery and nearly all suffered the curse of racism in America. Slavery feels like a very distant concept; far removed from the present/modern world.
Slavery is a part of the dark history of America, as well as most of the world. It is, however, not just the dark "history" of America. It is the demon that still haunts us even today. Slavery never left, it merely changed its clothing. Even worse, America's ever increasing hypersexuality has led to even further depths of the presence of slavery in the world.
Human trafficking was always a common topic at Bryan College, the place where I completed my undergraduate studies, but it was over a year after leaving before I began to fully accept the need for my actions in this crisis. While I have always cared and been opposed to slavery, I have not always been active in fighting against this evil in our midst. The fact is that we have a responsibility as Christians to take a stand against this injustice and the enslavement of women and men throughout the world.
I am no expert on human trafficking. This has become increasingly clear to me as I have conversed with friends over the matter and engaged in conversations at work about the problems of human trafficking where I found that I lacked the depth of knowledge and the info to persuade others of the need for action. Enough is enough! I'm not going to be a bystander in this anymore!
We have a responsibility to the world to seek justice and liberty for all races and both genders.We stand in a world of Darkness and, just as the revolutionary in the movie Les Miserables cried out before his death, we cry "...till all the World is free!"
Slavery exists! Let us stand against it together under the banner of the Cross and cry for justice until our voices crack and our vocal cords rip from the stain of our screaming in the faces of the leaders! The same leaders who claim to be for the people and yet do nothing to end the torment and abuse!
How can you help? Easy! There are thousands of ways to fight against this evil. Here are a few:
Slavery is a part of the dark history of America, as well as most of the world. It is, however, not just the dark "history" of America. It is the demon that still haunts us even today. Slavery never left, it merely changed its clothing. Even worse, America's ever increasing hypersexuality has led to even further depths of the presence of slavery in the world.
Sex slavery happens every single day throughout the world. Of course, sex slavery has been around since the earliest civilizations, but it seems that with the changing times and the growing equality of genders, we are seeing the darker and more abusive expression of sex slavery. To make things worse, the evolving perspectives of sexuality and what is or is not acceptable in media and public knowledge is making such behavior more "acceptable" and desensitizing us to the severity of the issue. What has always been there is more exposed to be seen by the world and even being taken to greater levels of intensity. Despite it's exposure, it "appears" to be less known and left unaddressed. It's the elephant in the room that everyone is avoiding; everyone is trying not to talk about it or admit it exists.
Human trafficking was always a common topic at Bryan College, the place where I completed my undergraduate studies, but it was over a year after leaving before I began to fully accept the need for my actions in this crisis. While I have always cared and been opposed to slavery, I have not always been active in fighting against this evil in our midst. The fact is that we have a responsibility as Christians to take a stand against this injustice and the enslavement of women and men throughout the world.
I am no expert on human trafficking. This has become increasingly clear to me as I have conversed with friends over the matter and engaged in conversations at work about the problems of human trafficking where I found that I lacked the depth of knowledge and the info to persuade others of the need for action. Enough is enough! I'm not going to be a bystander in this anymore!
We have a responsibility to the world to seek justice and liberty for all races and both genders.We stand in a world of Darkness and, just as the revolutionary in the movie Les Miserables cried out before his death, we cry "...till all the World is free!"Slavery exists! Let us stand against it together under the banner of the Cross and cry for justice until our voices crack and our vocal cords rip from the stain of our screaming in the faces of the leaders! The same leaders who claim to be for the people and yet do nothing to end the torment and abuse!
How can you help? Easy! There are thousands of ways to fight against this evil. Here are a few:
- Make people aware via art, blogging, conversations with friends, etc.
- Participating in awareness movements such as the EndIt movement.
- Educating your children and your children's friends.
- Teaching about human trafficking in schools and churches.
- Providing food to the hungry.
- Giving jobs to women in need.
- Working to end poverty.
- Volunteering at homeless shelters and providing shelter to people in need.
- Reaching to family in need and struggling.
The list of possible actions are nigh endless, and there is so much that YOU can do just by being active in your church and your local communities. The first, and biggest, step towards the healing of the world and the end of slavery is talking about! Let's #EndIt together!
Grace and Peace,
Stephen
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