What Is The Deal With Slavery?
Since I have recently gotten interested with watching movies adapted from books which have received critical acclaim, I bought the memoir turned major motion picture which captured the hearts of many and was awarded the Oscar for Best Picture in the 86th Annual Academy Awards, "12 Years a Slave."
Written from the point of view of a freeman who was deceived into thinking that he was being offered a promise of a good position and a good amount of cash when, in fact, he was being sold into slavery and taken away from the life that he has built up without the knowledge of his family and friends.
I have just started reading the book and I thought that Solomon Northup's view on slavery was interesting even though his perspective was quite normal and ordinary for a human being.
To him, it seemed abject and incomprehensible that slavery was accepted and permissible for some and those who uphold it even try to justify it by the law or by religion. I do agree that the thought of one person being "owned" by another is horrid, disgusting, and completely wrong.
To say that another man can control his fellow men's actions, words, or thoughts is simply preposterous. No mere man can do that and even God, who is all-powerful and all-knowing, gave us free will to make decisions for ourselves, a gift which He does not violate.
God does not force us to do His will rather He gives us choices and allows us to do what we want whether to submit and follow Him or to have our own way but then we would have to face the consequences of the choices we make. Surely, God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us when we obey Him and that He would provide for our needs.
Going back to the topic of slavery, within the context of the material world, slavery is a concept where one man subjects another man to forced labor and service usually to earn a profit from them or to reduce his own efforts in finishing menial tasks requiring mere physical capacities.
Physical slavery has existed since the ancient world and in the time of the Egyptians, they had a surplus of prisoners whom they forced to work in construction projects. But this is only one dimension of slavery.
There is also the philosophical concept of slavery and the spiritual concept of slavery. The philosophical concept sprung forth even during the time of the earliest philosophers who have discussed the issue in great depth.
Philosophers like Plato and Aristotle concerned themselves with the nature of man and the concept of slavery. Aristotle actually became an advocate of slavery justifying that it is part of life.
If you have watched The Matrix, you might remember Morpheus mentioning something about Neo being a slave, just as everyone else, of the matrix.
The matrix, as Morpheus explains, is a prison of the mind, a tool to control the lives of the people in it. It is merely an illusion or a shadow of reality that blinds people to the truth as with Plato's Allegory of the Cave (article source: https://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/cave.htm).
Speaking about the slavery of the mind in philosophical discussions, they argue that we have become accustomed to norms, prejudices, and habit which causes us to lose our curiosity and desire to learn about the world.
As Alberto Knox said that the deeper you sink into the rabbit's fur, the faculty of wonder fades away and we stop asking questions about the things of the world and become creatures of rote.
Further, it is implied that we tend to do things mechanically without even pausing and thinking for a second what the reason is for everything in the world.
Of course, philosophers are not satisfied with finding the answers but they would rather just keep asking questions and debating about these concepts. They are trying to find the truth but can never be sure what exactly is the truth so they would never know whether they have found it already or not.
This is quite laborious from my perspective and we are in no way close to fathoming the vastness of the universe and all creation. So where do we stand now?
I believe that the most significant facet of slavery is the spiritual one because this encompasses all the other dimensions of slavery. Jesus spoke about man being a slave to sin and that only the truth can set us free. Jesus is that Truth who can set us free from death and sin.
It is sin that caused man to be separate from God. Because of sin, death entered the world. We became a slave to the flesh or the sinful nature and we have looked for ways to fill the deep void in our hearts but none can satisfy the longing of our soul.
If you have ever been encroached or trapped by sin, you would know that it is like a prison that torments you with shame and guilt.
It is a repetitive habit especially when you have become obsessed to it because the more you indulge in sin, the more you become its slave. It is like a cycle or a prison that you cannot escape not by your own devices or abilities.
It is Jesus who broke the chains of sin and through Him we can be free when we accept or receive Him into our lives. But that does not mean that we became free to simply slip back to our old life. Jesus wants to change us and make us a whole new person. He wants us to overcome.
Now, before we accepted Jesus, the self was seated at the throne of our lives but the self was weak and easily entangled by the sinful desires of the flesh so the self became a puppet being controlled by sin.
There is one power that is greater than any force or entity in the world and that is Jesus. When we receive Him into our lives, He cleanses us from sin.
As we submit our lives to Him, He enters us and begins to change us. He changes negative attitudes, fixes our broken relationships, and gives us indescribable peace and joy. So when Jesus is seated at the throne of our lives, we are no longer under the bondage of sin but under the grace of God.
We know that God is good, kind, loving, generous, merciful, and gracious. Entrusting our lives to Him, we have the assurance that He has the best plan and will for us. That is why we have faith in Him.
We know He will never leave us nor forsake us. We know He will help us through every trial and circumstance we face because He is faithful and true to His promises.
When we surrender our lives to Jesus and are freed from the clutches of sin, we essentially become a slave of righteousness. We become a slave for God but we know that our Master is good, kind, loving, generous, merciful, and gracious.
He will never mistreat us unlike sin that destroys us. He always wants what is best for us; He wants to build us up so that we can be victorious and prosper in life.
Moreover, Jesus said that no slave is greater than his master so the slave follows his master. As we are slaves for Jesus, we are called to serve others, to be a slave to all men, just as Jesus demonstrated. We are called to love one another and to love our enemies, in this way, God's love is perfected in us.
Also, since Jesus suffered and was persecuted, we must also undergo these but have no fear because God is on our side and He will be with us to the end. He will provide for our needs and make ways for us.
He will give us strength and courage to do His will. He satisfies the deepest desires of our soul. He nourishes our spirit and walks with us so that we may grow in our relationship with Him.
So my parting words on this topic would be this: Who do you want to be a slave for?
Written from the point of view of a freeman who was deceived into thinking that he was being offered a promise of a good position and a good amount of cash when, in fact, he was being sold into slavery and taken away from the life that he has built up without the knowledge of his family and friends.
I have just started reading the book and I thought that Solomon Northup's view on slavery was interesting even though his perspective was quite normal and ordinary for a human being.
To him, it seemed abject and incomprehensible that slavery was accepted and permissible for some and those who uphold it even try to justify it by the law or by religion. I do agree that the thought of one person being "owned" by another is horrid, disgusting, and completely wrong.
To say that another man can control his fellow men's actions, words, or thoughts is simply preposterous. No mere man can do that and even God, who is all-powerful and all-knowing, gave us free will to make decisions for ourselves, a gift which He does not violate.
God does not force us to do His will rather He gives us choices and allows us to do what we want whether to submit and follow Him or to have our own way but then we would have to face the consequences of the choices we make. Surely, God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us when we obey Him and that He would provide for our needs.
Going back to the topic of slavery, within the context of the material world, slavery is a concept where one man subjects another man to forced labor and service usually to earn a profit from them or to reduce his own efforts in finishing menial tasks requiring mere physical capacities.
Physical slavery has existed since the ancient world and in the time of the Egyptians, they had a surplus of prisoners whom they forced to work in construction projects. But this is only one dimension of slavery.
There is also the philosophical concept of slavery and the spiritual concept of slavery. The philosophical concept sprung forth even during the time of the earliest philosophers who have discussed the issue in great depth.
Philosophers like Plato and Aristotle concerned themselves with the nature of man and the concept of slavery. Aristotle actually became an advocate of slavery justifying that it is part of life.
If you have watched The Matrix, you might remember Morpheus mentioning something about Neo being a slave, just as everyone else, of the matrix.
The matrix, as Morpheus explains, is a prison of the mind, a tool to control the lives of the people in it. It is merely an illusion or a shadow of reality that blinds people to the truth as with Plato's Allegory of the Cave (article source: https://faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/cave.htm).
Speaking about the slavery of the mind in philosophical discussions, they argue that we have become accustomed to norms, prejudices, and habit which causes us to lose our curiosity and desire to learn about the world.
As Alberto Knox said that the deeper you sink into the rabbit's fur, the faculty of wonder fades away and we stop asking questions about the things of the world and become creatures of rote.
Further, it is implied that we tend to do things mechanically without even pausing and thinking for a second what the reason is for everything in the world.
Of course, philosophers are not satisfied with finding the answers but they would rather just keep asking questions and debating about these concepts. They are trying to find the truth but can never be sure what exactly is the truth so they would never know whether they have found it already or not.
This is quite laborious from my perspective and we are in no way close to fathoming the vastness of the universe and all creation. So where do we stand now?
I believe that the most significant facet of slavery is the spiritual one because this encompasses all the other dimensions of slavery. Jesus spoke about man being a slave to sin and that only the truth can set us free. Jesus is that Truth who can set us free from death and sin.
It is sin that caused man to be separate from God. Because of sin, death entered the world. We became a slave to the flesh or the sinful nature and we have looked for ways to fill the deep void in our hearts but none can satisfy the longing of our soul.
If you have ever been encroached or trapped by sin, you would know that it is like a prison that torments you with shame and guilt.
It is a repetitive habit especially when you have become obsessed to it because the more you indulge in sin, the more you become its slave. It is like a cycle or a prison that you cannot escape not by your own devices or abilities.
Now, before we accepted Jesus, the self was seated at the throne of our lives but the self was weak and easily entangled by the sinful desires of the flesh so the self became a puppet being controlled by sin.
There is one power that is greater than any force or entity in the world and that is Jesus. When we receive Him into our lives, He cleanses us from sin.
As we submit our lives to Him, He enters us and begins to change us. He changes negative attitudes, fixes our broken relationships, and gives us indescribable peace and joy. So when Jesus is seated at the throne of our lives, we are no longer under the bondage of sin but under the grace of God.
We know that God is good, kind, loving, generous, merciful, and gracious. Entrusting our lives to Him, we have the assurance that He has the best plan and will for us. That is why we have faith in Him.
We know He will never leave us nor forsake us. We know He will help us through every trial and circumstance we face because He is faithful and true to His promises.
When we surrender our lives to Jesus and are freed from the clutches of sin, we essentially become a slave of righteousness. We become a slave for God but we know that our Master is good, kind, loving, generous, merciful, and gracious.
He will never mistreat us unlike sin that destroys us. He always wants what is best for us; He wants to build us up so that we can be victorious and prosper in life.
Moreover, Jesus said that no slave is greater than his master so the slave follows his master. As we are slaves for Jesus, we are called to serve others, to be a slave to all men, just as Jesus demonstrated. We are called to love one another and to love our enemies, in this way, God's love is perfected in us.
Also, since Jesus suffered and was persecuted, we must also undergo these but have no fear because God is on our side and He will be with us to the end. He will provide for our needs and make ways for us.
He will give us strength and courage to do His will. He satisfies the deepest desires of our soul. He nourishes our spirit and walks with us so that we may grow in our relationship with Him.
So my parting words on this topic would be this: Who do you want to be a slave for?
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