If you believe that human trafficking -- modern-day slavery -- primarily takes place in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe, you're like most people.
There are more slaves in the United States today than at any time in history. Upon learning that fact people often ask me, "What can I do to help stop modern-day slavery or human trafficking?" Reading this article is a good start.
There is nothing the criminals involved in the modern-day atrocities of human trafficking and slavery -- the recruiters, the traffickers, the pimps and others -- want more than for decent people to remain ignorant about what they do. All they ask is that we do nothing. Simple silence. If the myth that "it doesn't happen here" can prevail, they have won.
This paragraph from my book, "In Our Backyard: A Christian Perspective on Human Trafficking in the United States," is part of the battle call to Christians to take up the fight against slavery as Christians did in the Underground Railroad.
Jesus was clear about Christian's responsibility to do something regarding issues such as human trafficking when he told the parable of the Good Samaritan. When asked what it takes to inherit eternal life, Jesus immediately replied we must love God with all our heart and love our neighbor as ourselves. To clarify, he pointed to someone who sacrificially cared for a socially outcast stranger who had been stripped, beaten and left for dead. Jesus said "Go and do likewise."
In Luke 4:18-19 Jesus describes his mission. It includes evangelism, healing and proclaiming freedom for prisoners, and releasing the oppressed. That certainly describes the list below:
• There are 27 million slaves in the world today.
• Human trafficking is the second largest -- and fastest growing -- criminal enterprise in the world.
• About 80 percent of all U.S. trafficked individuals are female, about 50 percent are children.
• In addition to the 100,000 youngsters trafficked annually, 244,000 to 325,000 American children are at risk for sexual exploitation and sex trafficking every year.
Although more brutal than ever, modern-day slavery is not as obvious as it was centuries ago. Today human trafficking isn't limited by race, class or gender. Victims are not just the poor or disenfranchised. They come from every socio-economic group. And U.S. victims are not just foreign-born nationals. In fact, the vast majority of sex-trafficked children are American-born citizens.
Modern-day slavery looks like the fresh-faced young girl or boy who is being sold for sex by a pimp via the Internet. It looks like the domestic worker living with a family who abused her physically and sexually and where she lives in fear for her life. It looks like the factory or migrant worker who lives in a compound with barbed wire designed to keep slaves in, rather than bad guys out.
Human trafficking is the dirty secret that has been hidden too long in our country. It is in every state of this great country, from large cities to small towns to rural areas. It's in our backyard whether we live in the city or the countryside.
In written testimony Ernie Allen, President & CEO of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, quoted one police commander who told him, "The only way not to find this problem in any community is simply not to look for it."
But wait. There is some good news here. One in three human trafficking victims is rescued because someone saw something that didn't look just right and reported it. If you are reading this article, you could be one to notice that incongruous detail and spare a young girl or boy or an adult a life of torture and pain.
Learning to recognize the signs of human trafficking is not as difficult as it may sound. From my experience, once you're aware, you will no longer aid and abet the traffickers with silence, but be an effective weapon in the fight to stop human trafficking. In following Christ's example, stopping my busy lifestyle to help is a must.
In short, as Christians each one of us can and should help protect our children and others from this horrific crime in our backyard. And indirect ministry such as prayer, donations of time or money, are no more valid than front line work. Whether by prayer, being aware, or giving time or money, faith means taking action. James put it well, "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead" (James 2:17).
If you would like to be the hero of faith who opens the door to freedom for an enslaved stranger, I would urge you to read "In Our Backyard" or learn to recognize the signs of human trafficking by searching other resources.
Be a hero. Simple silence is simply not an option.
Human Trafficking In The U.S.: One Woman's Story : NPR
Teen Girls' Stories of Sex Trafficking in U.S. - ABC News
Sex slaves, human trafficking ... in America? - TODAY People ...
Human Trafficking in the United States - NYTimes.com
Human trafficking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
YEAH.....LIKE THAT WILL HAPPEN how are you going to stop all those Christians from trafficking?
Thanks for your comment and the opportunity to reply to you. Actually there are a multitude of incredible abolitionists of other faiths, or no faith at all. I'm honored to call many of those heros my friends. Because Christianity happens to be my faith choice I felt comfortable tapping my brothers and sisters on the shoulder and encouraging them to join in this very worthy battle. Additionally, sometimes in Christian faith communities it is not understood that Jesus actively worked for social justice as I cited above.
Thanks for your comment.
Actually there are a multitude of incredible abolitionists of other faiths, or no faith at all. I'm honored to call many of those heros my friends. Because Christianity happens to be my faith choice I felt comfortable tapping my brothers and sisters on the shoulder and encouraging them to join in this very worthy battle. Additionally, sometimes in Christian faith communities it is not understood that Jesus actively worked for social justice as I cited above.
Thanks for your comment.
Nita Belles
http://www.religioustolerance.org/reconstr3.htm
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/4/7/162237/4554
I agree with the author that Christians should be taking strong action in the fight against trafficking. Some Christian organizations like Shared Hope International and others are doing work in this area, but it would be good to see more people get involved. No one should be complacent about this - the reality of it is too awful to ignore.
Nita Belles
We all know in our hearts life should not be that way! True Believers of Jesus keep nestled in our under current of thoughts and hopes -- the prospect of a new beginning, with perfection a bound, and earthly paradise, under Yahweh (aka Jehovah) eternal rule! That alone brings a daily smile to our faces!
And in scripture (i.e., states @1 Corinthians 2:9) God feeds our imaginations!
Eyes have not seen, and ears have not heard, nor has it been perceived in the hearts of man - what God has prepared for those who love him!
Nita Belles
Nita Belles
The most atrocious crimes are the ones we allow to happen in our own communities.
I always get a laugh when pompous Christians brag about their religion's stance against slavery. Ignore the fact that Christians *introduced* slaves to the United States and orchestrated the slave trade. Ignore that the Southern Baptist church schism was because they interpreted the Bible as justifying black slavery. Ignore that our founding fathers admitted they lacked the ability to ban slavery in 1776, despite America being almost exclusively Christian at the time.
Nita Belles writes, "Jesus was clear about Christian's responsibility to do something regarding issues such as human trafficking when he told the parable of the Good Samaritan." Yet the New Testament includes parables where Jesus mentions slaves and never condemns the institution, along with instructions to slaves that they should be obedient to their masters. Jesus also claimed to revoke "not one jot" of the Old Testament law, which contained precise instructions on how slavery and human trafficking should be conducted.
Christianity is NOT clear about slavery and never has been. Slavery ended because people decided it was immoral DESPITE the Bible's approval of it. Claiming otherwise is just spin-doctoring.
There's always going to be backwards and horrible people who believe that there are justifications for things such as slavery but to say Christianity as a whole believes that is just wrong. It's overgeneralizing.
I'm sure the author has done a lot to end slavery. And I admit this article contains some good tips on how to spot slaves in our communities, and I'm grateful for that.
I'm not saying Christianity is pro-slavery; I'm saying it's a lie to claim it is inherently anti-slavery. For 90% of its existence Christianity either endorsed or tolerated slavery. And some Christians tolerate it today.
I objected because this essay wasn't primarily about ending slavery, its main goal was to promote Christianity. "A Christian Call to End Slavery" How does putting "Christian" in the title help? How much Christian-specific guidance did it contain? (None, apart from revisionist apologetics.)
If you want moral guidance on slavery, I suggest you talk to a libertarian instead of a Christian. The libertarian will explain that slavery is wrong because all people have equal rights, so nobody can own someone else. That's a lot more moral than Nita's view, that "Slavery is wrong because someone I fear to disobey told me to say that."
"to say Christianity as a whole believes that is just wrong. It's overgeneralizing. "
Why didn't you point out the overgeneralization of claiming Christianity as a whole *opposes* slavery? That's what i was doing.
An 1860 census reported over 3.9 million slaves at that time. This claim is preposterous, and I reckon the other "statistics" the article cites are equally bogus.
Searching for reliable data, I've found some numbers but haven't confirmed them to the original sources.
10,000: Number of slaves in USA estimated in 2004 by Berkeley's Human Rights Center.
14,500 to 17,500: number of slaves estimated to be brought into the US each year (2007, US State Dept..)
"There are more slaves today than were seized from Africa in four centuries of the trans-Atlantic slave trade." - Andrew Cockburn, writing for National Geographic, referring to the GLOBAL count, not the USA (I'm guessing this is the statistic the author misrepresented.)
If the State Dept is right, 10,000 seems way too low, but it would take over 200 years to get to 3.9 million at a rate of 17,500 per year, even assuming they never die or escape. I'd say a more reasonable swag would be on the order of 100,000 Americans living as slaves.
Which is still a horrendous number. That's why I don't understand why the author would exaggerate the statistics so... recklessly, and throw away her credibility in the opening of the article.
I doubt we can be free of slavery but it's worth trying to get there.
Well then, rational, empathetic human beings are more moral than the God of your Bible, because apparently we were the ones who were more willing to end slavery in total rather than God.