Slavery, that appalling practice of transporting Africans to the Americas in the bowels of hideous ships to provide forced labor, is once again part of our daily conversation. Some are pushing for reparations to be paid to descendants of those enslaved in what is now the United States. Their descriptions of the horrific conditions endured by those in bondage have the facts of history behind them. There are, of course, differences of opinion over the lingering effects of slavery and whether or not financial reparations can actually repair deep historical wounds inflicted on the souls of human beings. But the barbarity of inducing or forcing persons to carry out actions without freely chosen consent cannot be denied.
Although the practice of owning people and consigning them to ordered labor without pay is no longer accepted in the modern era, human bondage still abounds. For example, the sex trafficking of young women flourishes in various parts of the world. In some cases, rich and powerful men pressure them into sexual liaisons. Using money and other forms of manipulation these sex masters steer their victims to those wanting to fulfill their desires and exercise power at the expense of youthful innocence. In other cases, girls and women are captured and placed in perpetual sexual servitude, their lives ruined by tormentors who care nothing about the consequences of ravaging a Child of God.
Nevertheless, modern slavery is chiefly the result of mind chains whose links are forged by ideology and cultural imperatives. Specifically, with regard to human sexuality, millions of Americans have been shackled by the idea that sexual desires not only may be expressed but should be, indeed, must be expressed to preserve a person’s identity and psychological health. Dire warnings about repressing the demands of our sexuality ring out from nearly every institution in society, even some of the churches. Youth are taught that if they feel it they must deal with it. They are cowed by their peers who scoff at the mere mention of sexual discipline. And adults model contempt for anything less than unbounded sexuality. Life in the United States is far more than an occasional Gay Pride parade.
It is an unending procession of sex on display, inviting everyone to strap on the sweet chains of pleasure and, sometimes, profit, Slavery of the mind and soul has never been so ubiquitous.
But now a “Grave New World” is unfolding. Sexual slave drivers are insisting that regulations and law impose penalties on anyone who believes and teaches that freedom from sexual slavery is possible. Human personality, they insist, is subject to “fixed orientations” leaving people with permanent identities and no recourse but to act out their sexuality in a specific heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, asexual, or pansexual way. Alas, for those who wish to change their behavior, especially to a more traditional style, social disapproval and legal punishment await.
Eventually, sexual slavery of the mind will be understood as the root cause of sex trafficking and debilitating damage to personal lives of millions. Who then shall we turn to for reparations? To the entertainment industry which constantly titillates us with images of sexual freedom without warnings of seductive bondage? To the educational enterprise whose hallways are filled with hormonal calls to “independence?” To legislators, executives and judges who have relentlessly pursued a “progressive” approach to intimacy? To private enterprise whose vendors thrive on sexual innuendo? To the financial sector whose profits largely depend on a highly sexualized society? To the medical community which has declared virtually every form of sexual interaction as “normal”?
We shall not have such reparations. We will have grief and deep regret as we look upon our careless, callow, childless nation.
