Inspiration from two Williams!

My book of the year so far is William Hague's biography of the great anti-slave trade campaigner William Wilberforce. Mind you that description of him (which features in the book's subtitle) is a not entirely fair one as one of the most impressive and inspiring things about him is that Wilberforce was by no means a one trick pony. Hague shows that although the abolition of the slave trade, and eventually of the institution of slavery itself, was the great thread that united his adult life, he was also instrumental in many of the other most important reforms on the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Involved in the founding of, amongst other things, the RSPCA, Church Missionary Society and Bible Society, Wilberforce was an indefatigable organiser and campaigner. Judged by contemporary standards he was also very conservative in many ways and supported extremely draconian legislation to prevent ferment and civil disobedience. Hague does a brilliant job of showing that all of Wilberforce's actions can, however, be seen as part of a consistent commitment to reformation of society along evangelical Christian lines whilst avoiding any actions that might take Britain down the atheistic-revolutionary path of France, with whom Britain was at war for most of Wilberforce's active political life.

Every Christian should know about Wilberforce. He provides an outstanding example of how someone can make a difference whilst having a "secular" job, submit all of their life to Christian ethics and perceptively address a key issue of the day. there is no doubt that Wilberforce's adoption of the campaign against slavery as the big fight of his life prevented him from doing other things that were worthwhile and needed doing. But, unlike so many of us, he did not allow the fact that he could not do everything to prevent him from doing anything.

As I read this book it made me reflect that, for the most part, evangelical Christians in Britain today are remarkably reluctant to get involved in the kind of things Wilberforce was dedicated to. Where are the people amongst us who will campaign on issues such as the starving of Africa, abortion and other areas in which the policies of Britain cause untold misery for millions? There are excellent groups campaigning on this issues but, especially compared to our American brothers and sisters, I cannot help but feel that our comparative silence betrays more than a little embarrassment about the Bible's insistence that we protect the weak and the voiceless.