Christian Slavery - Bad News About Christianity

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the Old Testament, and permitted in the New, cannot be a sin” 22 . Enslaved men, women and children Only one Christian leader of any note was opposed to slavery, John Wesley. Here are a few of his observations on slaves and their treatment. As to the punishments inflicted on them, says Sir Hans Sloan, "They frequently geld them, or chop off half a foot: After they are whipped till they are raw all over, some put pepper and salt upon them: Some drop melted wax upon their skin. Others cut off their ears, and constrain them to broil and eat them. "For Rebellion," (that is, asserting their native Liberty, which they have as much right to as the air they breathe) "they fasten them down to the ground with crooked sticks on every limb, and then applying fire by degrees, to the feet and hands, they burn them gradually upward to the head." (John Wesley: Tracts and Letters on Various Subjects, New York, 1827, vol X, p496-7) And again, an account of Christian sadism: The author of the history of Jamaica, wrote about the year 1740, in his account of the sufferings of the negroes, says, The people of that island have indeed the severest ways of punishing; no country exceeds them in a barbarous treatment of their slaves, or in the cruel methods by which they are put to death. After confirming what is before said he adds, "They starve them to death, with a loaf hanging over their mouths. I have seen these unfortunate wretches gnaw the flesh off their shoulders, and expire in all the frightful agonies of one under the most horrible tortures. He adds, I incline to touch the hardship which these poor creatures suffer in the tenderest manner, from a particular regard which I have to many of their masters; but I cannot conceal their sad circumstances entirely: the most trivial error is punished with terrible whipping. I have seen some of them treated in that cruel manner, for no other reason but to satisfy the brutish pleasure of an overseer, who has their punishment mostly at his discretion. I have seen their bodies all in a gore of blood, the skin torn off their backs with the cruel whip, beaten pepper and salt rubbed in the wounds, and a large slick of sealing-wax dropped leisurely upon them. It is no wonder, (adds this author) if the horrid pain of such inhuman tortures incline them to rebel." (John Wesley, A. M., Thoughts Upon Slavery, London: Re-printed in Philadelphia, with notes, and sold by Joseph Crookshank, 1778, p 25)
On the Law of Barbados, which imposed a light penalty for killing a slave: .... "If any negro under punishment, by his master, or his order, for running away, or any other crime or misdemeanor, shall suffer in life or member, no person whatever shall be liable to any fine therefore. But if any man of WANTONNESS, or only of BLOODY- MINDEDNESS OR CRUEL INTENTION, wilfully kill a Negro of his own" (Now observe the severe punishment!) "He shall pay into the public treasury fifteen pounds sterling! And not be liable to any other punishment or forfeiture for the same!" (John Wesley, A. M., Thoughts Upon Slavery, London: Re-printed in Philadelphia, with notes, and sold by Joseph Crookshank, 1778, p 32) Detail of the above. This man has his hands tied behind his back, and is hanging from a gibbet by a metal hook, hooked around a single rib. In Jamaica the killing of a slave appears to have been unremarkable: Another instance fell under the immediate notice of a person of credit, when in the island of Jamaica, now residing in this city. Hearing a grievous cry, he went to the place from whence it came, where he saw a young Negro woman of about eighteen years of age, swung by her hands, with heavy weights at her feet, and a man lashing her naked body with a hard whip; making pauses from time to time, and flinging pickle or salt and water on the wounds, the whip had made. The sight was so horrible, that he turned from it and came home. Sometime after, looking out, he saw this same young woman carried dead on a board: She had been cruelly whipped to death; neither did he observe that this pitious spectacle drew the concern or hardly attention of the people. (John Wesley, A. M., Thoughts Upon Slavery, London: Re-printed in Philadelphia, with notes, and sold by Joseph Crookshank, 1778, p 72) Wesley's views on slavery were not shared by his fellow Methodists - as this cartoon of 1844 points out, slave holders had been permitted to be members of God's Church since apostolic times, and abolitionists were servants of the Devil.
Page 1 and 2: Slavery Click below for more inform
Page 3 and 4: Church & State Symbiosis Meddling i
Page 5 and 6: Children inherit their parents' sta
Page 7: seizure of their land. Like other b
Page 11 and 12: On November 29th, 1781 the crew of
Page 13 and 14: Below are some notable highlights.
Page 15 and 16: Since they were merely property, th
Page 17 and 18: from the Old and New Testaments by
Page 19 and 20: Slavery was not confined to selecte
Page 21 and 22: In America opposition to slavery wa
Page 23 and 24: wholesale (moral) pollution. The wa
Page 25 and 26: After the American Civil War, the V
Page 27 and 28: civilisation of the society and the
Page 29 and 30: Documents Runaway Slave Poster, in
Page 31: Slave Chains from west Africa (Roya
Page 38: Slave Transport in Africa
Page 41: Slave sale, Charleston Advertisemen
Page 45 and 46: The Official Medallion of the Briti
Page 47 and 48: Slave masks, collars and shackles U
Page 49 and 50: US Slave Collar - the bells make it
Page 51 and 52: US Slave Collar - Reproduction by F
Page 53 and 54: Franklin and Armfield Office, was s
Page 55 and 56: Slave collar and mask. The collar h
Page 57 and 58: another run-away slave, 1854 - note
Page 59 and 60:
“Salve Auction” in Richmond, Vi
Page 61:
The Voice of the Clergy (Philadelph
Page 66 and 67:
Other areas of social reform: Racis
Page 68 and 69:
Edict of the King: On the subject o
Page 70 and 71:
Signed Moriceau. Bad News About Chr
Page 72 and 73:
(Decretals of Gregory IX, Book Four
Page 74:
New Haven: Yale University Press, 1
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Christian Slavery - Bad News About Christianity

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