(from the archives)
kukla: slavery is the fact of life in our christian nation and the black man suffers for it. yet the bible tells us that for the curse of ham, this is his destiny. the best we can do through christian charity is to bring him succor and pity his fate, but it is ordained of god that he should suffer this way. slavery brings wealth to the nation and we are stained by the shame of it, but such is our imperfection before god. we are forgiven.
fran: slavery is indeed shameful but defensible because the nation profits from slavery, and the slaves themselves cannot stand in the way of national progress. i should rather see them free but the social reality is that we cannot agree what else is to be done with them. if the people could only be convinced slavery is wrong i could use my iron works in troy n.y. for something more profitable than manacles - railroads and western expansion. would that slaves could be set free and sent west! but this is impossible and so i stand behind slavery as it stands.
ollie: indeed! christ himself was a black man and he teaches us to love all as equals. christian charity should rescue them from slavery and set them as equals before god and man, no matter what cost to the nation. this commandment supercedes any old testament curse of ham. we are not forgiven this vile tresspass against god's creation.
fran: i know nothing of this 'ham' nor his curse and am not inclined to believe it anyhow. yet if what ollie says is true, then perhaps your version christian charity is flawed and inconsistent, kukla. i should fund a study of the history of those peoples and see if christ was wooly headed after all. if it could be proven, we could change the nation, and i could break my contracts, thus joining the railroads.
kukla: what do you know of christian charity? mind you the law of the land, fran. ollie is a heretic and a radical who seeks to justify overthrow of the south. why he even supports the work of osama turner!
fran: is this true, ollie? if it is, then i must side with kukla, who at least stands correct in that osama is a murderer of the first order. i could not condone any such support. slavery is legal, and profitable for me. murder clearly is not.
ollie: no. i abhor his violence, nevertheless his aim is proper - the south must come under new order, and god wills it that all should speak up against slavery for the moral reasons i have given here. the curse of ham is false. the truth is that the black african's soul weighs as much as any white man's.
kukla: the south follows the will of god, slavery shall remain, the black man's accursed soul is born best by those who employ it now as they do for the wealth of the nation, and the greater glory of god. furthermore you have no right to speak on what course christians should follow as they regard the souls of the african. your research would be of no conseqence to true christians.
fran: perhaps not, yet i do agree that the african is at least more our equal than the perpetual slave our laws keep him. i am intrigued that if this christ of yours himself was a black man, i would be convinced that ollie would be more correct in principle. yet i know nothing of weighing souls. i daresay that my am more inclined to reverse my position, were it is possible to discover..
ollie: oh but it is! the blood on the shroud of turin is african. and a man of your stature could endeavor to prove it. i should gladly provide you with introductions to do so, kind sir, if you would provide the means.
kukla: it doesn't matter what the shroud says, it matters what the bible says. the black man's soul is cursed, slavery remains, end of discussion, you bloody heretic. what care you of the christian order of things?
ollie: the shroud is the perfect relic to prove the black man's soul is equal. what care you of the greater glory of god you sniveling hypocrite.
kukla: usurper!
ollie: blasphemer!
fran: gentlemen, gentlemen! there remains much yet to be determined. i must say i am entirely put off by the tone of your discussion. i daresay i should leave well enough alone, what with all this soul weighing, blood tests and ancient curses. i shall profit either way the law of the land goes. and while i am inclined to enter a vigorous debate about this policy i'm afraid to belong to either of your contingents. therefore i cannot take council from either of you in these terms.
kukla: ..and recuse yourself from moral debate hiding hither behind your till? you make a mockery of the political process, and care not a whit for the enduring values of god. mark me, i shall be heard. for none has known the deprivations of the darkling more than i in my own ministrations to them. they see the word of god and take it unto their bosoms as no learned man such as yourself could possibly fathom. they are innocents and due to their own nature and that of their harsh toil here see comfort in christian charity that knows no precedent. even i am moved by their tender faith and obedient supplication in prayer.
ollie: oh spare me this ramble. are you so blind that you cannot see their very example proves their souls full equal? i needn't tarry with them continually to know their measure. and it is full measure for the word of god applies to them as surely and as truly as it applies to you and i. god created man in his image and we all have eyes to see the african is man, flesh and blood as are we. he labors because he is a slave, but would he not equally rule and think if he were raised to do so under some other circumstances? none of us, as we are born, know of god but through our study. and some come to salvation at such late dates in their lives but steal heaven in redemption. what application of man is greater than that of faith? the slave set free could be reclaimed just as any soul.
fran: good fellows you have moved me from confusion to anger to compassion. i can see it is in your wills to do right by your faith on this matter of our mutual concern. but i cannot probe the depths of your reasoning, for i do not see souls or the will of god in this matter at all. it is entirely a practical matter of power and law as expressed through the will of the people. and only by hearing you at length show me the error of presuming to entreat you by working through your symbols. i apologize and recant any notion of convincing christians. so humor me in putting your faiths aside for a moment to consider the law, for i must now move from compassion to clarity.
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I wrote this probably around 1999, long before I tired of the moral debate around racism. I could see how Christian ethics were at odds and the law and commerce was looking for a moral figleaf from one hand or the other.
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