One of the more overlooked books in the New Testament is the Letter of St. Paul to Philemon. In this very short letter, St. Paul writes to his friend Philemon about Onesimus, a slave owned by Philemon, who has become a Christian. Paul writes to Philemon regarding the release of Onesimus as he is now a Christian, which makes him equal to Philemon, also a Christian. This signals a new wrinkle in the then-commonly accepted practice of human slavery.

Today, human slavery by an owner is no longer acceptable in most parts of the world, thankfully. No doubt, reading St. Paul’s letter through the centuries helped Christians to see the underlying equality among men and women on a human level. So, some could see this letter as obsolete in the 21st Century. This is not the case. Not by a long shot.

While we may not like to admit it, human trafficking, a form of slavery, still exists to this day. One can see this portrayed in the 2023 film “The Sound of Freedom” in a dramatic way. We even know that human trafficking victims can be found pretty much anywhere, even in Chicago. Young people (boys and girls). In April 2024, two individuals were sentenced, one to life in prison, for forcing young Guatemalan nationals who were lured into the US with false promises and forced to work in the domestic care industry, while being abused both physically, and worse.

Slavery exists in other realms as well today. Whenever a nation or state makes their citizens nothing more than a means to an end (i.e. Socialism, Communism), slavery exists. The promise of Socialism/Communism is equity. However, that equity soon devolves to a spartan existence devoid of motivation to perform any more than the minimum required to avoid punishment by the nation/state.

Conversely, unbridled capitalism can cause slavery to monopolistic corporations that compel their employees to depend on them totally for their needs. All we need to do is look at the company towns of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that owned not only the major employer in the town, but also the real estate the housing was on, the stores where people bought the goods needed for life, and in some cases even the healthcare establishments.

The Christian approach, spearheaded by the Catholic Churches that hold what has always and everywhere been taught as Catholic, (Roman, Orthodox, National Catholic), have a long history of fighting to ensure that neither extreme (Socialism, Communism, Democratic Socialism, National Socialism on one side, unbridled laissez-faire Capitalism on the other) enslave any human beings.

Unfortunately, in times of turmoil (economic or otherwise), many people become attracted to one or the other extreme as the proponents dress it up to look quite attractive. In reality, it’s like putting lipstick on a pig. To be sure, the churches mentioned above do not endorse any particular form of government but fight so that the citizens of any given nation/state can live the most free life that they can, and ensure that the worship of God and Jesus Christ is preserved without coercion either for or against.

If we, or someone or group we know, are being enslaved in any way, whether by Socialism, Communism, unbridled Capitalism, human trafficking, or whatever, we have a DUTY as Christians to fight for the rights of all to be truly free. Free of coercion, propaganda, force, or any other type of chain- physical or psychological.

Let us share the mind of St. Paul as he saw Onesimus, as a brother Christian, fighting for his freedom. In this 250th Anniversary year of our great United States of America, let us never stop the fight for freedom. As Ronald Reagan prophetically said, we are always only a generation away from losing our freedom if we fail to fight to stay free.

Rev. John A. Cramer
Pastor of Holy Trinity NCC

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The Kewanee Voice.

***This column is sponsored by the Kewanee Ministerial Association