SLAVERY TODAY

Slavery is an enormous problem in the world today. Contrary to popular belief, slavery didn’t end with Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Experts estimate that today there are 27 to 30 million people enslaved around the world. That’s actually more than slavery was at its peak before the Civil War. It’s happening in countries on all six inhabited continents, and yes, that includes the United States. The CIA estimates 14,500 to 17,000 victims are trafficked into the “Land of the Free” every year.

Whether it is called human trafficking, bonded labor, forced labor, or sex trafficking, it is present worldwide, including within the United States and, increasingly, in your local community. The term, “Human trafficking”, is the most bone chilling and despicable term I ever heard but it is the term the media uses to soften the meaning of the crime.

When I was in Vietnam, I was left for dead by mistake in a battle and captured. The very second I saw an AK-47 pointed at my face, I knew my freedom had been taken away. Circumstances allowed me to get away, but I felt that feeling, if only for a while. There was no worse feeling than being in a bamboo cage with little hope of seeing freedom again.

Recently, I heard the story of a 5 year old girl, found in a cage. She had been tortured routinely to break her spirit. She was naked and malnourished. She was being sent to Thailand for use in the sex trade there. The cage is the main tool to break a person’s spirit. It doesn’t take an AK-47 to break a 5 year old. A simple cage and her captors yelling commands and beating her will suffice. You might think that she had been found in Africa or Asia but she was found in the U.S. and she was being readied to move to the brothel that bought her.

The sex industry isn’t unique to Thailand or any particular country. There was a story I wanted to include here but I could only find it on a video and not in print. It was the story of a 16 year old girl in Florida. She spent the night at a friend’s house where she was drugged, beaten and raped and sold on the internet. In short, she would be a statistic and lost forever if not for the watchful eye of someone at a gas station. The perpetrators were caught as they were transporting her to her final destination. She even saw one of the men that raped her at a mall after the incident and he acted like she was nothing to her. That’s one ugly part of slavery; the “owners” think the slaves are less than human.

That story ran on the Today Show and the video may still be available on their website. My hat’s off to them for running such a powerful story.

The worst part of slavery, at least to me, is that the owners don’t think of the slaves as human. They don’t even treat them as good as wild animals. Then, these despicable freaks of nature try to justify their actions by saying that slavery is as old as the Bible and will always be there.

Yes, the Bible does mention slavery and it was an unfortunate part of life, but generally, they were valuable property and treated much better than they are today. In Biblical times, a slave was valued at the equivalency of 1400 dollars in today’s currency. Today, you can buy a slave for as little as 40 dollars.

[And] if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: [of that] wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day.
Deuteronomy 15:12-15

Forced labor is the most common slavery in the U.S. It often results when individuals are lured by the promise of a good job but instead find themselves subjected to slaving conditions; working without payment and enduring physical abuse, often in harsh and hazardous conditions. Victims include domestic workers, construction workers, and even human mine detectors. Migrant workers are particularly vulnerable, as their constant changes of location make the organized crime rings that traffic them difficult to bust. The fact that Phoenix, Arizona is second, worldwide, only to Bogota, Columbia in kidnappings should be enough evedidence for outrage.

Whether it’s called chattel slavery, debt bondage, sex slavery or forced labor, human trafficking is disgusting and needs to be stopped. We are all equal in the eyes of the Lord. We have a very forgiving God but His patience should not be pushed to such limits.

At home or during any travels, be aware of your surroundings. Do your own research if you doubt the figures I found but knowledge is power so I encourage you to be familiar with the subject and pass on what you learn.

To report a case of human trafficking in the U.S., call the Trafficking Information and Referral Hotline at 1-888-3737-888.

Servants, be obedient to them that are [your] masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
Ephesians 6:5-6