The world today is in need of heroes.  We need those who show us the
path to be good and reflect the great potential of the human spirit. 
While I'm glad to say I have many heroes, I think often these days of
one in particular.  Little known but most relevant for our present day,
the British parliamentarian William Wilberforce is indeed a hero for our
times.

William Wilberforce was born in Great Britain in 1759.  His country in
that day was very much like the United States in our own time.  They
were a world superpower but were threatened at home by a coarsening of
culture and fading morale.  Worst of all they were beset by the evil of
slavery.  They understood well the vital lesson however -- if they would
not strive for goodness they would surely lose their greatness. 

William Wilberforce entered the British parliament in 1780 with two
monumental goals: the abolition of slavery and the reformation of
culture.  The first, for which he worked tirelessly and is now so
gratefully remembered, marks a turning point in human history.  Thanks
in large part to William Wilberforce the British people stood up against
the horrors of the slave trade and eventually abolished slavery itself.
 He fought for what was right and stood up for the voiceless.  Against
all odds, the goodness deep in the hearts of the British people won out.

The second great object that occupied Wilberforce's energy in parliament
was the reformation of the culture.  He understood that in order for
Britain to do great things they needed to be good.  To combat the great
evil of slavery they needed a culture that encouraged what is right and
discouraged what is wrong.  They needed a people willing to sacrifice
and to fight for the dignity of another.  Great Britain of the
nineteenth century, not unlike America today, needed a culture worthy of
their great goals for their people and for all humanity.

Wilberforce is a helpful guide in another difficult question of our day,
the place of religion in the public square.  He was a person of faith
who rightly saw his faith as a value not a vice for public life.  He was
a committed Christian who took seriously the instruction to "love thy
neighbor."  It was his notion of the immensity of human dignity that led
him to fight for men and women everywhere and without exception.  He
worked for prison reform, to help the weak and downtrodden, and most of
all to end the abhorrent institution of slavery.  Seeking to impose
nothing but only to propose a vision of human dignity, his faith
committed him to justice in the public square.  We are a grateful world
for his witness and courage.

 Finally, Wilberforce is a model to reject the partisanship that often
enters debates today.  His example makes clear that it is principle that
combats partisanship.  Leaders who stand for a particular set of values
-- even if there will not be total agreement on every point -- represent
the surest hope for civil discourse.  Principled leaders do not divide
simply on party lines, seek not their own good or that of a particular
party, but the good of the whole people.  William Wilberforce is the
model of a leader with conviction.

 

William Wilberforce and his monumental achievement is indeed the story
of Amazing Grace.  It is the story of heroic leadership and courageous
action on behalf of the weak and marginalized.  It is the story of
William Wilberforce, a hero for our times.