I am rereading Alan Morehead's The White Nile, which recounts the horrors of the slave trade which continued unabated in Africa right through most of the nineteenth century. David Livingstone (of "Dr, Livingstone, I presume" fame) witnessed a massacre of peaceful villagers by Arab slavers. His report of this incident incited great outrage in England, including Parliament. However ending the slave trade became an excuse for imperialist misadventure. Why was Britain grabbing the Sudan? To end the slave trade, of course. However, if it became convenient to make an alliance with the biggest moguls of the slave trade, they did so. The British Empire was unique in history. It was the only empire that justified its depredations by saying that it was for the good of their victims.
A conversion to Christianity has absolutely transformed some lives but the faith has for most been used to support/reinforce what someone wants to be true rather than what Christ would ask of them.
Thanks for the rest of the story. Shar6to the Gulf Coast Freethinkers.
I am rereading Alan Morehead's The White Nile, which recounts the horrors of the slave trade which continued unabated in Africa right through most of the nineteenth century. David Livingstone (of "Dr, Livingstone, I presume" fame) witnessed a massacre of peaceful villagers by Arab slavers. His report of this incident incited great outrage in England, including Parliament. However ending the slave trade became an excuse for imperialist misadventure. Why was Britain grabbing the Sudan? To end the slave trade, of course. However, if it became convenient to make an alliance with the biggest moguls of the slave trade, they did so. The British Empire was unique in history. It was the only empire that justified its depredations by saying that it was for the good of their victims.
A conversion to Christianity has absolutely transformed some lives but the faith has for most been used to support/reinforce what someone wants to be true rather than what Christ would ask of them.