Press & Media
Institute on Religion & Democracy
William Wilberforce
and The Better Hour
Jim
Tonkowich
February 11, 2008
"It was the faithful, persistent and
enduring enthusiasm of William
Wilberforce," wrote abolitionist
Frederick Douglass, "that finally thawed
the British heart into sympathy for the
slave, and moved the strong arm of that
government in mercy to put an end to his
bondage. Let no American withhold
generous recognition of this stupendous
achievement--a triumph of right over
wrong, of good over evil, and a victory
for the whole human race."
William Wilberforce, a member of the
British Parliament from 1784 to 1812,
was someone, said President Abraham
Lincoln in 1858, whose name and
accomplishments "schoolboys know." Of
course, in 2008 schoolboys, schoolgirls,
and their parents, for the most part,
have no idea who Wilberforce was or what
he did.
February 23, 2007, marked the 200th
anniversary of the first of William
Wilberforce’s great political and moral
triumphs. It was the day the British
Parliament finally passed Wilberforce’s
bill abolishing the slave trade in the
British Empire. The victory came after
more than twenty years of political
effort, personal anguish, and grassroots
activism that changed the shape of
British culture for decades.
Wilberforce's second great political
and moral triumph came twenty-six years
later in 1833. As Wilberforce lay on
his deathbed he heard the news that
slavery itself had been abolished in the
British Empire. Millions were freed,
setting the stage for abolition in the
United States as well.
Last year, the movie Amazing
Grace introduced William
Wilberforce to millions. This month a
new documentary that I recently
previewed will debut on PBS stations
across the country. The Better
Hour: The Legacy of William Wilberforce
probes deeper into Wilberforce’s
life and the lives of his closest
friends, colleagues, and supporters--the
so called "Clapham Circle."
Wilberforce’s combination of
evangelical zeal, theological orthodoxy,
political savvy, and complete integrity
is a story that needs to be told over
and over again. He is the premier
example of the kind of Christian
involvement in politics and the Public
Square that we at the IRD hope to
encourage and embody.
Source URL
http://www.theird.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=555&srcid=183
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