Perry Fletcher
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When there was happiness in a hellhole and misery in Jerusalem
For 1300 years Christendom, the place where Christ ruled, was Europe. It was long held from the time of King James II and King Charles II that it was better for black slaves to be given work by Christians in the Americas than by godless princes in Africa. The Church of England’s huge financial assets came from Queen Anne’s Bounty, a fund established in…
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How religious beliefs about race and slavery made colonialism possible
The Portuguese from the 15th century to Christopher Columbus 1451-1506, were all in the profit of the slave trade. As the practitioners of torture and all the attendant horrors, this was justified by the slavers as being their due reward as being bestowed on them from their Lord God reclaiming lost souls for Christ. Columbus saw himself as Christophorus, the “Christ carrier” to seek…
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2500 years of freethinkers, scientists, and religious believers
When I was eight years old at school I wrote that when I grow up I wanted to be a scientist. As a teenager in Auckland, I was told by my ‘uncle’ that I should not believe anything scientists tell us. He was a fundamentalist Baptist Church elder. I challenged him, shocking his family, which of course had repercussions. His views included odd ideas…
