Religion & Slavery:
Common Allies

Picture this. Men and women, boys and girls, shackled wrist to wrist, ankle to ankle, and stuffed in the bottom of a ship for up to four months in thick intense heat. On the four-month voyage, the smell of feces, blood, and urine renders the air too foul to breathe. Yellow fever and smallpox spread rapidly. And that was only the beginning of their plight.

It’s very difficult for people who haven’t lived through the trials of the middle passage to comprehend the horror of slavery. The closest we can come to it is reading books about it and looking at paintings of that abominable institution. Books tell the tale and pictures usher us into slavery’s reality. Yes, the scabs of slavery are ever with us like a distant but ever present ripple in the ocean of life, serving as a constant reminder of a devastated people.

Nothing even comes close to the indignity of having one’s freedom striped away. Nothing comes close to having one’s name and language systematically taken and cast so far away that in time, no one in your lineage knows from whence they came. Nothing comes close to having a clear and present memory of your mother and father, your brothers and sisters, and the rest of your family and friends, who you long to see in the flesh, but as you grow older, even your memories of them fade.

The only thing worse than American slavery is African slavery. As quiet as it’s kept, Islamic Arabs have instituted slavery in the Sudan. And unlike American slavery four-hundred years ago, there is no such thing as indentured servitude; no such thing as “freedom dues”, where an indentured servant, after a specified time of service, received a bushel of corn, a new suit of clothes, and 100 acres of land to stake one’s own claim; no such thing as converting to Christianity to gain one’s freedom.

However, slavery in the Sudan and slavery in America have a couple of things in common: 1. The masters are of the religious ilk. 2. The masters have a licentious and wanton desire for illicit sex.

According to a July 18, 2002 WorldNetDaily.com article by Mandi Steele,

“Adolescent boy slaves in southern Sudan report that their Arab masters routinely rape them.” Homosexual sex is pervasive in the Sudan and being practiced by Muslims. Young men are their prey and many are being ganged raped.

Former male slave Denka Deng Ayuel had this to say, “I watched the Arabs rape my two sisters, and I watched many slave boys being raped as well. They would often take a girl or boy and do whatever they wanted with them sexually. I, too, was raped many times by my master and his Arab friends.”

Another former slave said, “This type of sex is very strange to us. Many times during rape, boys would cry so loudly that the Arabs would stuff rags in their mouths so they could not be heard. I witnessed this often. If you refuse [sex], sometimes they would shoot you.”

The same slave went on to say, “he was beaten many times because he was a Christian and wouldn't convert to Islam.” What!? Hmm, after raping the man, did his rapist say something like this: “You know, you really ought to convert to Islam.” Or, “You know what? If you were a Muslim, I couldn’t do this to you. By rejecting Islam, you’re giving me permission to rape you as often as I want.”

Early in American slavery, if the slave converted to Christianity, they were set free. The thinking at the time was that, if you were a heathen, the Christians had a right to enslave non-Christians. I guess the American Christians didn’t read Galatians 3: 28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Both the Quran and the Hadith condemn homosexuality. But much like the American Slave masters, Muslims in the Sudan are disregarding verses like: “Do ye commit lewdness such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you? For ye practice your lusts on men in preference to women: ye are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds. Quran 7:80-81. Another passages says this, “What! Of all creatures do ye come unto the males, and leave the wives your Lord created for you? Nay, but ye are forward folk.” Quran 26:165

A collection of sayings attributed to Muhammad known as the Hadith admonishes Muslims to kill other Muslims who practice this kind of sex. “When a man mounts another man, the throne of God shakes. Kill the one that is doing it and also kill the one that it is being done to.”

Much like Christians in early America, Muslims in the Sudan are violating some of their strictest laws and the punishment is death. Not only do they continue to rape males, other Muslims who no doubt know this is wrong, stick their heads in the sand, and let it go on with impunity.

All comments about this article should be sent to:
KeithLeeJohnson1@aol.com

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