slavery .. humanity's scarred back

last night i watched one of the most moving movies i've seen

i sat for the duration in silence
as did the entire theatre
silence beyond the silence
silence that grows out of shock and sorrow at the reality of the hurt, abuse and absolutely inhuman way we treat other humans
as if they are animals

a whole slew of emotions coloured the air
some unrestrained as people cried as the story rolled out

i was one ..

it was difficult
i expected some form of morosity
but i fell in
i fell deep into the awfulness of it
the horror

i'm not much for watching humans tortured and treated like animals
i never watched the passion of the Christ
and, God helping me, i don't ever plan to
the toll would be too large for me
..  . ..    .

this film storied the kidnapping of a black man from new york
well-placed and well-respected
an accomplished musician ..
he was transported south and sold into slavery in georgia
leaving his wife and 2 children to wonder what had happened
for 12 years

his name is solomon northup
and the film is based on an actual lifestory

that story broke my heart

i repent

i'm so sorry for the damnable horror of slavery and the unfathomable and probably often untold suffering of the humans that were treated as property
   ( or ' chattel ' where i'm from )

it was a mark of the solemnity that prevailed in the theatre
that throughout you could have heard the proverbial pin hit the carpet ..
the credits saw about a dozen people leave in silence
the rest just sat there in their own silence
unmoving
they couldn't move themselves ..
i was left with the impression of a funeral
lostness
a vacuum had been created

i walked out of the building in a daze
for several minutes i couldn't think of anything
i was overclouded in .. disbelief
i couldn't speak
overcome by the madness of it
the raw brutality
the base unrestrained lust for flesh, for power, for mastery over other humans
one will putting-down the will of others
   squashing them in the dirt like so many worms ..

and i will not be the same again ..

i was numbed
i suffered
i hurt
i cried
sometimes i couldn't look
it seared my soul
burned

i ached at the absolute evil of slavery
..  ...  . .    .

and the horror of horrors is slavery still exists today
in my world
in the form of sex slavery
in the form of forced labour
   and work for inhuman wages for inhuman hours every day

and in the form of .. what enslaves
me
brings me to the floor in my own ' chattel ' house
my very own horror ..

but ..
if i ever again hear anyone attempt to mollify slavery
assuage the horror of it
rationalize it
ever again
i will probably lose it ..

there is no rationalizing it
none
and to even attempt it is beneath us as humans
humans created in the image and likeness of Creator God
who loved us humans
all humans
every one of us humans
and died for each and every one of us humans

i feel so bad about it ..
at one point last night i said the church should ' repent in sackcloth and ashes '
as the peoples of old did
and as ninevah did when jonah finally told them God's warning
   even the animals were so-clothed

we need to repent
and i mean we christians

i know that movies often overstate for the impact ..
but i am left with the fact that people used religion
and the religion of christianity
to justify slavery

i don't even believe i could just write what i just wrote ..
do you  ?
  ?

the movie is 12 Years a Slave
watch it

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/12_years_a_slave/

or read the book
http://www.amazon.com/12-Years-Slave-Solomon-Northup/dp/1492368288/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388719479&sr=1-1&keywords=12+years+a+slave

or listen to the book
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/twelve-years-a-slave/id704527724?mt=11

shalom