Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 5
The transcript moves from harvesters in James to the Paw Paw Tunnel and then to slavery and “market demand”; how does his argument about “if there had been no market…there would have been no slavery” confront modern ways Christians distance themselves from exploitation, including global supply chains?
Another way to ask: If slavery grew because there was a market for it, how does that challenge the way Christians today ignore exploitation connected to what we buy, including global supply chains?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
He argues exploitation is sustained by demand, so Christians cannot excuse themselves by blaming only the direct perpetrators; our lifestyle choices can create a “market” that pressures others into abusive systems.
- He illustrates hard labor with harvest crews and the Paw Paw Tunnel, emphasizing workers who “worked and worked… from dawn till dusk,” and immigrants who “spent their lives doing that kind of thing… to build somebody else’s dreams.”
- He then connects to slavery: he can’t think about withheld wages “without thinking about our dear African brothers and sisters who served so many years… to build other people’s dreams.”
- He rejects a common excuse: “they were total heathens, and their own people sold them,” and responds, “if there had been no market for slavery, there would have been no slavery.”
- He generalizes the principle: “for every kind of thing like that… there’s something else somewhere else that’s making the demand for it.”
- He leaves it as a personal ethical problem: “I don’t know… how we’re going to handle that… but it’s something to think about.”