Posted on 07/30/2019 2:11:21 PM PDT by Perseverando
Apostle of the Indies, Bartolome' de Las Casas, died JULY 17, 1566.
In 1502, he left Spain for the Caribbean, which was called the West Indies, where he became a hacendado of an encomienda (plantation) and a slave owner of native Americans.
He participated in slave raids and military expeditions against the native populations of Hispaniola and Cuba.
But in 1511, six years before Martin Luther started the Reformation, the life of Bartolome' de Las Casas took a dramatic turn.
He heard a church leader, Dominican friar Antonio de Montesinos, speak:
"I am a voice crying in the wilderness ... the voice of Christ in the desert of this island ... You are all in mortal sin ... on account of the cruelty and tyranny with which you use these innocent people.
Are these not men? Have they not rational souls? Must not you love them as you love yourselves? ..."
Montesinos continued:
"Tell me by what right of justice do you hold these Indians in such a cruel and horrible servitude? ...
Why do you keep them so oppressed and exhausted ... from the excessive labor you give them ... in order to extract and acquire gold every day."
Bartolome' de Las Casas was convicted in his heart by Motesino's preaching and determined to follow Jesus, leading him to be the first priest ordained in the New World.
Motesino's preaching sounded to similar to Martin Luther King, Jr., who centuries later would state:
"The church must be reminded that it is ... the conscience of the state ... It must be the guide and the critic of the state ... If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority."
(Excerpt) Read more at myemail.constantcontact.com ...
Slavery was obvious mortal sin to all who partook in it. But it was legal so folks pretended nothing further need be done.
Exactly how we deal with abortion.
Our great grandkids will see us as monsters. We are. Me just as much.
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