Chris
McDonnell, UKchris@mcdonnell83.freeserve.co.uk
Chris
McDonnell, UK
chris@mcdonnell83.freeserve.co.uk
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welcome here Slaves and servants
August
9, 2017
Throughout the ages whether in Europe or other parts of the world, there has been a tension between Master and Servant.
One has wealth and position and the other is dependent, owned and servile.
It is the stuff of history and stories, a relationship which, when challenged, often resulted in punishment and deprivation.
When we are feeling proud of our historical heritage we would do well to pause awhile and examine the role of our nation in human trade of service for, in many ways, our society is not totally blameless in this present time.
The triangle of trade between Bristol, Liverpool and America, where the initial cargo arose from the raids in West Africa and the capture of those born there, was the source of wealth to many. The merchants transporting human cargo West, with cotton filling the holds of their ships on the return East, gave rise to the obscenity of slave auctions in towns on the Eastern seaboard of America. That trade was to sow the seed for the Civil War in the 1860s. The legacy remains in the US to the present day. Recently speaking to an audience in Denver Colorado, Michelle Obama recounted her experience as First Lady during the years of her husband's presidency. Asked which of the falling glass shards cut the deepest, she said: "The ones that intended to cut," referencing an incident in which a West Virginia county employee called her an 'ape in heels', as well as people not taking her seriously because of her colour. "Knowing that after eight years of working really hard for this country, there are still people who won’t see me for what I am because of my skin colour," she told the crowd."
Prejudice runs deep and causes great pain. That latent strain is coming back to the surface of Trump's America. It has not been without evidence in our own country in recent months. There are those whose dislike of individuals on the basis of race, colour or religion has led to acts of discourtesy and nastiness and, in extreme cases, to physical attack.
How do we resolve such tension between peoples? in the end only through education and understanding, tolerance and compassion. And that can be a hard road to tread. Looking around our present troubled world, you can find many examples of social injustice where the difference between work, servant and slave is indeed a thin one.
It was surely no coincidence that the UK, where so much wealth was amassed during the 19th Century, was also the birthplace of the Trade Unions, the gathering of workers to form a cohesive voice in support of improving their pay and conditions.
In 1891, Leo XIII issued the landmark Encyclical 'Rerum Novarum' - the rights and duties of capital and labour. The following year, 1892, Keir Hardie was elected to parliament as MP for West Ham. In his encyclical Leo spoke out against the gross injustice and imbalance in society, between employers and labour. It is considered the basis of Catholic social teaching in the 20th century and rightly so. 'The Common Good' issued by the ECCB in 1996 is in direct line of succession to Leo XIII's encyclical issued just over a hundred years earlier
As the century progressed, the principles of an honest and just socialistic view of society became entwined and confused with communism where the rights and values of the individual became subsumed with a totalitarian doctrine that proved to be fatally flawed.
Now in our own time, that legacy of social injustice lingers; the atheistic communism of North Korea not only deprives its own people's rights but threatens a fragile peace.
But look closer to home. How many people are employed on zero-hours contracts with all the lack of security involved? How many families strain under the pressure of both parents doing two or more jobs in order to pay for over-priced housing? How often do those with plenty fail to see the needs of those with little and dismiss food banks as meeting the needs only of scroungers?
Our Christian faith demands that we have a social conscience that is responsive to need. Sunday mass, familiar prayers and due observance are part, an important part, of our relationship with God. Unless they also lead to a heightened awareness of the needs of others we betray the parable of the Good Samaritan enacted so often on our city streets.
We don't own each other as in the days of slavery, we shouldn't exploit each other with poor levels of pay for honest work, but we should care for each other with compassion and love. That simple story, of one set of footprints in the sand when the Lord carries the pilgrim in difficulty, is a fitting model for our own Christian behaviour.
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