Moral Progress and the Problem of Slavery

Zealots at the Gate

Neither Islam nor Christianity banned slavery. For the near entirety of human history, the greatest prophets, statesmen, and philosophers did not seem to realize a truth that seems only too obvious today—that slavery is an unqualified and indisputable evil. How is it possible that they failed to realize this, despite being the most morally upstanding individuals of their time?

This is the “slavery conundrum.” How should Muslims and Christians—or anyone who holds certain moral truths to be self-evident—make sense of this inconvenient history? Do humans become more moral with time or less so? Our guest and guide in trying to answer these fraught questions is Georgetown University’s Jonathan Brown, one of America’s leading Muslim intellectuals and the author of the illuminating (and controversial) book Slavery and Islam.

LINKS

Jonathan Brown’s book Slavery and Islam https://bookshop.org/a/65404/9781786078391

Tucker Carlson on George Washington and Statues for Slaveholders https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-if-we-want-to-erase-the-past-we-must-prepare-for-the-consequences

Ephraim Radner on Christian Wrestling with Abraham’s Slaveholding https://covenant.livingchurch.org/2020/07/31/abraham-and-sarah-slaveholders/