A week that saw us transition from the Round of 32 to the Saintly Sixteen, winds up with a matchup between a man who dedicated his life to the abolition of the slave trade and a man who was born into slavery. William Wilberforce and Richard Allen square off for a spot in the Elate Eight. Fair? Just? Of course not! Ridiculous? Absurd? Of course! It's Lent Madness.
Yesterday Martha of Bethany became the first saint to make it the Elate Eight as she left Nicodemus in the dark 74% to 26%.
We were also delighted to note that the three creative geniuses of Lent Madness 2019 did not relegate their talents to the first round. Sr. Diana Doncaster, Michael Wachter, and John Cabot have continued their hymn writing, show tunes, and limericks into the Saintly Sixteen. For however long the penitential creative juices keep flowing, legions of fans remain grateful for your efforts. Bravo!
We do hope your Lent Madness Withdrawal (LMW) symptoms are not too severe this weekend. If you begin to feel out-of sorts or find yourself staring at your computer screen refreshing your browser over and over again pining for Monday morning, we suggest binge watching old episodes of Monday Madness. Or attending church on Sunday dressed up as your favorite Celebrity Blogger.
But fear not. We'll see you soon enough as things get cranked back up again first thing on Monday as Ignatius of Loyola faces Marina the Monk.
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce (1759-1833) dedicated his entire life to ending the trade of enslaved people in the British Empire.
Wilberforce was an evangelical Anglican. He was born again not once, but twice: once when he was a young man living with his aunt and uncle, then again when he was an adult, touring Europe with his friends, upon reading “The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul” by Philip Dodderidge. This second conversion experience made him deeply self-critical. He saw Christianity as a call to morality placed equally on everyone. (The strong social justice bent of the Methodist movement at the time was a heavy influence on him.)
This led him to champion ethical reforms, including allowing the dissection after execution of criminals—both to prevent the thriving blackmarket trade in corpses stolen from graveyards, and to allow greater learning by doctors and scientists about the miracle of the human body. He was in favor of Hannah More’s Sunday schools (originally intended to educate the lower classes, who couldn’t otherwise afford an education), better working conditions for chimney sweeps and textile workers, and prison reform.
Notably, he helped found the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, to the great joy of millions of cats and dogs everywhere. (He also founded what became the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, but that does not have quite the Cuteness Quotient.)
He wrote, in 1787, “God Almighty has set before me two great objects: the suppression of the slave trade, and the Reformation of Manners [moral values].” And indeed, Wilberforce’s accomplishment in abolishing the trade of enslaved people cannot be overstated. When he wrote the above, profits made from the “Triangle Trade” made up 80% of all British income from trade. (If you cannot recall your history, the “Triangle Trade” is the deceptively innocuous phrase that refers to the pattern of shipping enslaved people from the African continent to the Caribbean in exchange for sugar and rum, then sugar and rum across to England, then the sugar and rum would be sold in England in exchange for British-manufactured goods, which would be sold down to African slave traders.)
This campaign was both lengthy, and all-consuming. Wilberforce actually was so overworked that he made himself ill, and couldn’t even be in Parliament to propose the first law himself. It was also the first grassroots, worldwide human rights campaign. The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, founded in 1787 by Thomas Clarkson and Wilberforce, among others, brought together not only Anglicans and Quakers for the first time, but also abolitionists in France, Spain, Portugal, and the US. Chapters sprang up across the world, and members wrote pamphlets and letters to each other. The Society urged everyone to write their MP and sign petitions. Josiah Wedgewood even made a special logo for his china so everyone could show their support. It set the model for the modern political organizing we know. “If to be feelingly alive to the sufferings of my fellow-creatures is to be a fanatic, I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large,” he said.
Wilberforce died three days after being told that total abolition of slavery in the British Empire was accomplished. He literally gave his life to right a great injustice.
Richard Allen
It has been well publicized that Richard Allen is the founding bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, work he began after he and Absalom Jones walked out of Saint George’s Methodist Episcopal Church in protest of its racist policies. However, his work extends beyond the founding of the first independent Black denomination in America. In a 2016 Religion News Service article, Adelle M. Banks suggests that Allen was deeply involved in the conversion of his slave master to whom he gave a gift after his manumission for his “uncommon kind treatment.” Even so, Allen described American Chattel Slavery as “a bitter pill, notwithstanding we had a good master.”
Richard Allen’s pioneering tendencies have led many historians to write about him, touting his feminism (before it was even a word that was coined) demonstrated in licensing women to preach and his leadership in the advancement of black institutions. Dr. Robert Franklin, President-Emeritus of Morehouse College suggests that “The birth of strong black institutions is a part of his legacy.”
Prior to his founding of the AME Church or any other prominent ministry, Allen was a Methodist minister on the circuit, preaching to white and black congregations throughout much of the East Coast, including South Carolina and Maryland. He writes that he was so dedicated to the ministry of a circuit-riding Methodist that at times his "feet became so sore and painful that I could scarcely be able to put them to the floor."
Prior to the walkout, Jones and Allen had begun developing plans to build a church for black Philadelphians to worship in. The idea was brought up to a white elder who attempted to discourage the work. Allen writes that he “used very degrading and insulting language to us, to try and prevent us from going on. We all belonged to St. George's church.... We felt ourselves much cramped; but my dear Lord was with us, and we believed, if it was his will, the work would go on, and that we would be able to succeed in building the house of the Lord.”
Nevertheless, Jones and Allen persisted.
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147 comments on “William Wilberforce vs. Richard Allen”
A very difficult choice today. But soul satisfying to see two people who were so inspired to give their all to such basic human rights. We need to read about such people at times like these. It gives me hope!
William Wilberforce because I think he deserves to win over all the remaining saints.
I was impressed by Allen’s conversion of his one-time master. However, Wilberforce is a giant, and deserves to win.
This one was really hard, but I am deeply grateful for all the shelter cats we've had the privilege of bringing into our little family over the decades, so I'm going with Wilberforce.
All of our kitties said that unless we vote for Wilberforce, they will not be in our laps for some time.
Actually, I have a special place in my heart for Richard Allen, because of the work he and Absolom Janes did in promoting the welfare of free and enslaved Black people. They founded the Free African Society, which, in addition to providing assistance to the needy, also was instrumental in the founding of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
I was privileged to read the memoirs of Bishop Allen. They were never published, but discovered among his personal effects after his death. Reading his own words was a truly blessing experience, as he was foremost a devoted man of God doing his best in a world that seemed dedicated to placing obstacles in his path.
A tragic bit of history is that the free Blacks of New York City's Zion Chapel, when they were founding a church for Blacks, refused to join the AME church of Bishop Allen, so they formed the African Methodist Episcopal Church - Zion. Both denominations continue to this day, and it is recognized that their theologies are identical; the only impediment to their union is the fact that in any union, someone has to step aside, and neither of the denominations' leaders seem inclined to do that.
I cannot believe no one else has said this yet, "May the Force be With You!"
I echo the thoughts of so many of you today...both of these men are highly deserving of the Golden Halo. I am grateful to be learning so much more about them. (But my cat actually stepped on the keyboard and voted for Wilberforce, so my vote was decided.)
Wanted to vote for both, but in the end lent my support to Wilberforce because of the profound effect his energy and vision still have in Britain today. If only he had more politicians of his courage and determination...
Thanks so much to our poets and lyricist. You've made Lent Madness even more fun.
In 1968, I graduated from the former Hannah More Academy that was in Reisterstown, MD, USA.
I voted for Richard Allen. I left the Episcopal Church and church in general as a teenager during the Vietnam War. It was the call to the alter rail at Allen AME Church in Tacoma, Washington at the onset of the first Gulf War which has led me back to church and now the Episcopal Church.
Wilberforce was so amazing in his care for th poor, for animals, and in his fight to end the slave trade and then slavery. Hope he wins the Golden Halo!
Ferdinand (King of Cats) is going on 19 and, as of vet visit yesterday, declared "healthy geriatric cat." Ferd acknowledges today's tough choice, but meows (loudly) "Wilberforce." Who am I to ignore the cat? The Force be with y'all (as we say here in Southeastern Indiana).
I accidentally voted for the wrong person, no way to correct that mistake. I would have voted for the underdog because I knew he didn’t have a chance!!
I voted for William Wilberforce. After watching the movie "Amazing Grace" in 2006, I couldn't vote against him.
While both men deserve honor, I voted for Wilberforce because by his actions to fight slavery, he saved thousands of Africans from capture and enslavement in England.
I've already voted and given my reasons why I voted as I did, so this comment is not apropos of that. I find it interesting that so many people have been tangling with the word 'pisky' and its meaning. Let me help. If one is of British descent - especially if one comes from the southwest corner of the UK - a pisky is one of the little people, otherwise known as a pixie. If one is a Scottish or an American Anglican one is a Pisky, otherwise known as an Episcopalian.
It definitely make me feel like a member of the chorus in "Iolanthe" being called a "Pisky". 🙂
I have a feeling that, given the tenor of the present times, that William,(who is a personal hero of mine) would want Richard to take this one - a living out of the forward movement of the still unrealised, end of racism and injustice that both saints worked for. SO Go Richard GO!
Sadly, a quite incomplete bio of Richard Allen that quite possibly made the difference in the outcome. Omitted was the treatment of Allen and the man who became the first black Episcopal priest-they were pulled off their knees while praying in St. George's. plus many other noteworthy acts with public health issues. Water under the bridge now
Choices such as this strain my limited capacity for self-examination. I take for granted that residual racism and sexism infect my thinking, and I try to identify their effects and compensate for them. But where, in each instance, is the line between appropriate and excessive compensation? I can’t accept that (in this context) just voting for the woman and/or the person of color is the best choice; it eliminates uncertainty, but at the cost of a different kind of distortion.
By now, gentle reader (if indeed anyone reads this, written in Berlin at 5 am Eastern time), you will have sensed an apologia for a vote for Blessed Willy. The trifecta of emancipation, animals, and lifeboats won me over. As other have pointed out, the RNLI is a beloved charity in the island nations of Britain and Ireland, where according to their website they assist 22 people daily. Wilberforce and his legacy have thus freed millions from lives of misery and snatched thousands from the jaws of death; I couldn’t but go with him.
Something weird happened with the link - lots of code but no comments. I'm having difficulty accessing them. Shame!
I was all for Wilberforce, until I realized his role in dissection 'reform,' which was the stuff of nightmares for the poor and those with mental illness in the family at the time. In practical terms, Wilberforce prevented grave robbing, by allowing the use of bodies from workhouses and asylums.
The classic work on it is Ruth Richardson:
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Dissection-Destitute-Ruth-Richardson/dp/0226712400
It's not easy being saintly. Allen by a nose.
I'm only now reading through the string of comments, Greg, ad it seems that you and I are the only ones troubled by praise for Wilberforce's role in the dissection industry. I wrote a blog post about it, but now I need to go find Ruth Richardson's work. Here's what I wrote.
(https://wordpress.com/post/strozzapretiblog.wordpress.com/527).
Thanks, Michael, I'll take a look. I have a PhD in Russian and modern European history, and was very familiar with the dissection issue, but not Wilberforce's role in it. It really was the stuff of nightmares at the time.
Will the Force! I voted for him because his fight to end slavery, RNLI, and RSPCA. Liked the musical number. Thanks, Michael!