Slavery wasn t supposed to exist anymore, and now they learned that some 27 million human beings worldwide endured some form of that horror. Our discussion, which began on a Wednesday and ended on Friday, centered on some practical and moral questions. There was no question. Buying human beings is wrong, but enslaving them is horrific and inhuman. Since there are no conditions placed on redemption and since the freed Sudanese don t owe their liberators time, work or themselves in any way, raising money for freeing slaves is moral.
Freedom is never a given.
It should be the right of all, but isn t. Tolerance, humanity and basic dignity are rationed, despite lofty words and speeches of world leaders. Not everyone cares about people living thousands of miles away in distant African countries. Because the Sudanese government denied the existence of slavery and because various American and international companies do business in the Sudan, some still refuse to believe it occurs. If a lie is told often enough, long enough and well enough, people too often believe it as truth.