email

American Serfdom

A serf is an interesting position. One has responsibilities associated with independence, but the slave-like restrictions of one directed by another. In the Roman empire one could find a sort of barracks slavery similar (agricultural work) to the plantations of the old South. However, most slaves were owned by families and worked in a way similar to someone today working for a small family business. In ancient and Medieval times one did not have many travel options or could survive apart from one’s family. As a result, people were tied to the land and the person who owned the land often considered the people on it as his property.

In the South after 1865 many former slaves discovered that they had to fend for themselves to have food, clothing, and shelter. The Medieval serf also had to provide for himself while having his life directed by the land owner. Many came to America to escape tyranny of land owners who might be able to decide if one could even marry. While previous generations of Americans cherished personal freedom, their descendants would accept and even promote societal changes that would surrender their freedoms.

Newspapers and universities became accepted as sources of truth. As a result, people began the process of transitioning from the independent evaluator of what was truth to a vessel to hold the “truth” determined by others. This process began to accelerate with the establishment of public education such that each generation became increasingly dependent on being told not only what others had determined was true, but also what they should do and how they should live.

In 1961 a book was published called “A Nation of Sheep”. The author observed our national bungling in Southeast Asia and attributed it to a nation that was not getting accurate information. He did not see the larger picture. We had become a nation of sheep as a result of some very clever “wolves”. The Rockefellers, Fords, Carnegies, and Morgans of the world established organizations specifically designed to direct society to their objectives. Yet even these “wolves” did not understand that they themselves were being directed for larger objectives.

The idea the Satan is a person who manipulates us (Eph 2:2) seems even more ridiculous to most than the idea that there is a God at all. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment was to use the blindness of human vanity to hide his very existence. If people can believe that there is no God, they are likely to believe that it is up to them to run the universe. These can be easily led to collectivize such that human existence depends on securing an employment position in a collective just as serfs were tied to the land. We have come to the point where it is as unlikely that someone would be able to have his own business as it was for a serf to own his own land. With most people’s access to the world through their cell phones, it is not hard to imagine how the means to buy and sell can be controlled.

The Christian should be close enough to the truth to discern what is happening and why. We are not called to make this world better or to contend to fix things. All we are to do is remain faithful to God and available to share the light of truth as the darkness increases. When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the sin debt for the whole world. One result was that he purchased back the dominion of the world that Adam had lost to Satan. At a future date, Jesus will reclaim the earth and remove Satan’s influence. When this happens, the earth will be free from those who seek to subjugate others.

that also the creation itself shall be set free from the servitude of the corruption to the liberty of the glory of the children of God; - Romans 8:21 (YLT)

Information about Christianity and the Christian life.