Richard Dawkins is an evil, slave-owning bastard

[FBM]

Meh. Anyone living in Britain during that time (and later) probably benefited from the slave trade, even if they owned none themselves...

Except the slaves, I'd say.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Meh. Anyone living in Britain during that time (and later) probably benefited from the slave trade, even if they owned none themselves...

Except the slaves, I'd say.

Hey, the slaves could go to bed every night thinking, "at least I'm not in France."

[laklak]

My family owned a couple of slaves. If not for you fucking Yankees I would have inherited a few.

[hadespussercats]

My family owned a couple of slaves. If not for you fucking Yankees I would have inherited a few.

My mom always made a big deal out of how we're descended from a long line of Quaker abolitionists.

Which is true. What's also true, though, is that there's a record of one of our ancestors being thrown out of Meeting for refusing to give up his slave.

We've all got blood on our hands.

[Drewish]

My ancestors owned slaves. And I wouldn't be here if one of my ancestors hadn't raped a native american woman. There are even some black Clunns out there. i'll leave it to you all to guess how that came about. How dare these religious hack-jobs try to shame the proud heritage of war, rape, and slavery! It's what makes white men white men damn it!

[MrJonno]

Could be worse my ancestors could be monkeys!!

[klr]

Meh. Anyone living in Britain during that time (and later) probably benefited from the slave trade, even if they owned none themselves...

Except the slaves, I'd say.

Well, I was assuming most of them were being worked to death in the West Indies and North America, but I'd forgotten that there would be quite a few in Britain itself

[Animavore]

I'm Irish. We were slaves ourselves. We didn't have such luxury

But at least our conscience is clear

[Jesus_of_Nazareth]

Well, I was assuming most of them were being worked to death in the West Indies and North America, but I'd forgotten that there would be quite a few in Britain itself

These debates about the pros and cons of Slavery always seem to forget that if the Slaves had stayed in Africa they would likely have been eaten. By a Lion (or summit ) or by another tribe.

So could argue that Slavery saved millions of lives .

[Coito ergo sum]

The fact that Dawkins considers his 400 acres of Oxfordshire to be worth "peanuts" says far more about him than the fact that it may have originally been paid for off the profits of slavery.

According to this website, grazing/pasture land in Oxfordshire is going for about 16,400 pounds per acre. Have to agree -- I wish I had a few of those peanuts!

[Coito ergo sum]

My family owned a couple of slaves. If not for you fucking Yankees I would have inherited a few.

My mom always made a big deal out of how we're descended from a long line of Quaker abolitionists.

Which is true. What's also true, though, is that there's a record of one of our ancestors being thrown out of Meeting for refusing to give up his slave.

We've all got blood on our hands.

I reject that. I don't have blood on my hands.

We no more have blood on our hands for the sins of our ancestors than we do if a family member commits a crime. Genetics is only a link in that regard in mysticism and religion.

We all, most certainly, have criminals and evil men and women in our bloodlines. Go back far enough, and we're all related to the same people anyway. Accepting some sort of guilt for that is, to me, quite silly.

With respect to something like slavery, though, we need to be careful about harboring self-righteous judgments about the behavior of 18th and 19th century people, or the behavior of ancient Romans, or any other group of slaveholding people (which actually is most of humanity for a large portion of human history). Had any one of us been raised on a plantation in Mississippi in the 1750's, or in Rome in the 200's, can we say that we would most certainly have seen the immorality of slavery? Most folks of the times did not.

While we see slavery as abhorrent now, for much of human history it was the natural order of things. The ancient Greeks had slaves. The Romans had slaves. Throughout the years sometimes referred to as "The Dark Ages" one kingdom or another enslaved their captured enemies. The Chinese traditionally had slaves. The Arab world traditionally had slaves. Much of Africa practiced slavery - and in some parts it is still practiced today. Brazil had slaves a generation longer than it existed in the US, and slavery was common in all the Spanish and Portuguese colonies.

I would "hope" that I would be enlightened and ahead of my times, had I lived then. But, we are largely a product of our cultures. So, I don't think any of us can say that we would clearly have seen what most others did not.

[Coito ergo sum]

I'm Irish. We were slaves ourselves. We didn't have such luxury

But at least our conscience is clear

Don't worry, one day you will become full Ire, instead of just a little Ire-ish...

But, don't be so sure. Slavery was normal and accept in Ireland from pre-Roman to Roman times. The Vikings are known to have sold slaves to the Irish.

[Clinton Huxley]

Of course, Britons never, never, NEVER shall be slaves.

[Animavore]

I'm Irish. We were slaves ourselves. We didn't have such luxury

But at least our conscience is clear

Don't worry, one day you will become full Ire, instead of just a little Ire-ish...

But, don't be so sure. Slavery was normal and accept in Ireland from pre-Roman to Roman times. The Vikings are known to have sold slaves to the Irish.

Yeah but enough generations have a passed that the sins of our fathers have been absolved through divine retribution.

You white 'Merkins and Johnny Englanders still await Karmic Justice for your sins

[Coito ergo sum]

Of course, Britons never, never, NEVER shall be slaves.

Britons? What's a "Briton?"