'Amazing Grace' film about Wilberforce called inspirational
Pastor Dale Morgan
'Amazing Grace' film about Wilberforce called inspirational*
By Michael Foust
Feb 4, 2007
William Wilberforce, played by Ioan Gruffudd, shows Parliament a long
list of signatures from people opposing the slave trade. “Amazing
Grace,” which tells the story about Wilberforce’s long fight against the
slave trade and his friendship with hymnist John Newton, opens Feb. 23.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--William Wilberforce isn't a household name in
America, but an upcoming motion picture is trying to change that.
"Amazing Grace" is the story of Wilberforce, a devout Christian and a
member of the British Parliament who, beginning around 1787, sought to
do what then seemed impossible -- lead the British Empire to abolish the
slave trade, what supporters called the lifeblood of the economy. He
failed year after year before, finally, in 1807 -- 200 years ago -- his
bill became law, abolishing an evil that had resulted in the enslavement
and death of millions of Africans. Shortly before his death in 1833, he
learned that another bill -- to abolish the practice of slavery itself
in the empire -- would soon become law
The movie -– to be released Feb. 23 and rated PG for mild language --
gets its name from Wilberforce's friendship with John Newton, the author
of the hymn "Amazing Grace" and a former slave trader who -- several
years after becoming a Christian -- teamed up with Wilberforce to
abolish the trade.
Christian leaders today say the church could learn much from the way
Wilberforce's faith drove him to moral action and kept him from giving
up, despite obstacles.
"Anyone would be uplifted by seeing this movie, and people of faith
should be inspired by it," said Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious
Liberty Commission President Richard Land, who saw the movie at a
January screening. "I thought it was an excellent movie that shows what
happens when a man of true faith takes seriously the command to be salt
and light. Wilberforce should be an inspiration to every person of faith
who takes seriously the obligation, responsibility and commission to
make a difference in society."
The parallels to the contemporary fight against abortion and the
modern-day worldwide slave trade should not be overlooked, Land noted.
"You'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to see the parallels between,
first of all the abortion issue and slavery, and, second, the general
condition of the culture then and now," Land said. "As Secretary [of
State Condoleezza] Rice stated when she spoke to the [Southern Baptist]
Convention, slavery didn't end in the 19th century. It's still alive and
well today -- both sexual and non-sexual slavery.
"In many countries around the world, there is unfortunately a very
lucrative and major trade in human flesh for sexual purposes and also
for involuntary labor. And it must be stopped. I'm happy to be able to
say that the United States has taken a lead in leading the international
community to address this issue directly."
Born in 1759, Wilberforce graduated from St. John's College in
Cambridge, where he became friends with William Pitt, the future prime
minister. At the age of 21, he was elected as a member of Parliament,
although by his own admission he did very little as an MP and was
somewhat lazy. All that changed when, through the reading of the New
Testament, Wilberforce became an evangelical and began searching for
God's will for his life. Wilberforce considered becoming a clergyman,
but Newton and others told him he could best serve God in Parliament,
where he could impact other legislators with his great oratory skills.
Through the influence of Thomas Clarkson and other abolitionists,
Wilberforce decided to use those skills to end the slave trade.
"So enormous, so dreadful, so irremediable did the trade’s wickedness
appear that my own mind was completely made up for abolition," he wrote.
"Let the consequences be what they would, I from this time determined
that I would never rest until I had effected its abolition."
The slave trade was an evil almost beyond description. Slaves were taken
from the west coast of Africa on a two- to three-month voyage to the
West Indies, where they were sold. Conditions for the slaves aboard the
ship were atrocious: They were kept under the deck, chained side by
side. According to the Wilberforce 2007 campaign, men had a space
roughly six feet long, 16 inches wide; women had a space two inches
shorter and the same width. They often had to lie in feces and urine,
and many died of disease during the journey. It is estimated more than
10 million Africans were put aboard the ships, with perhaps more than 2
million dying during the journey.
Although Wilberforce's task at the outset seemed impossible -- many
argued the British economy would collapse if Wilberforce succeeded -- by
1807, he was considered a hero. When his bill passed Parliament that
year, MPs gave him a standing ovation.
The movie also touches on other aspects of Wilberforce's life -- his
love of animals, his desire to reform society's manners and his
perpetual bad health, which he treated at the time with opium -- then a
common drug to which he became addicted.
The movie's organizers are asking churches to sing "Amazing Grace" and
promote the movie Feb. 18, the Sunday before its Friday release.
Organizers also are asking people to sign a petition online at
www.theamazingchange.com seeking the end of modern-day slavery.
"[Wilberforce's] task at the outset seemed impossible, humanly
speaking," Land said. "The power and influence of the planters and all
of those who benefited from the slave trade were enormous. And yet, he
continued to chip away at it, in righteous indignation, until finally it
imploded of its own moral indefensibility."
More information about "Amazing Grace" is available at
www.amazinggracemovie.com.