Peterson and Schryver: Slavery Was a Blessing to Blacks

[_Kishkumen]

But the way the human mind works, your listeners are led to make a connection between the two things you say. You end a reference to something appalling with a little dose of optimism. Better to leave them to let the horror sink in, without any dilution of the chilling impression left behind by the truth of how people really acted, and might act again if they had the power and opportunity - indeed are still acting all over the world. Sometimes optimism is way out of place.

I agree.

Imagine how wrong it would sound for someone to speak of the blessings that came out of the Holocaust. One simply ought not to go there.

[_Rollo Tomasi]

I am not saying that they were blessed because of slavery, either. I am saying that they were blessed in spite of it.

Sorry, but I just don't see ANY connection between American slavery and "blessings" the descendants of American slaves are receiving today. There simply is NO "silver lining" to American slavery, in my opinion.

[_Kishkumen]

Sorry, but I just don't see ANY connection between American slavery and "blessings" the descendants of American slaves are receiving today. There simply is NO "silver lining" to American slavery, in my opinion.

Yes. I have a hard time seeing the "blessings" of racial profiling, crippling poverty, the projects, and unusually high rates of incarceration and capital punishment. I just don't see it.

[_Boyd_K_Packer]

I would like to come to the defense of Dr. Daniel Petersen. He is a fine young man. It is the official position of the church that slavery was bad. This we know to be true, for the Lord revealed it to us last week. Tears of joy flowed when we heard this marvelous news. Finally we know what to think about slavery. However, we may now know that slavery was bad, but what the young Dr. Petersen is trying to say is that some good came out of slavery. Just a few weeks ago I spent some time with colleagues watching our local basketball team play in the NBA playoffs. Without slavery, there would be no NBA today. We would not have the joy of watching tall negroes play with a ball. These negroes are paid millions of dollars to entertain us. They would not make that kind of money in Africa, unless they hired child sodiers to dig up blood diamonds. So you see, slavery was bad, really, really bad. But some negroes were blessed by it because today they are Americans instead of Africans. That's all we are trying to say.

[_Chap]

But the way the human mind works, your listeners are led to make a connection between the two things you say. You end a reference to something appalling with a little dose of optimism. Better to leave them to let the horror sink in, without any dilution of the chilling impression left behind by the truth of how people really acted, and might act again if they had the power and opportunity - indeed are still acting all over the world. Sometimes optimism is way out of place.

I agree.

Imagine how wrong it would sound for someone to speak of the blessings that came out of the Holocaust. One simply ought not to go there.

My attitude is in fact partly derived from intimate acquaintance with a family whose parents barely survived the Holocaust. From them, I learned how stupid it is to recount something bad that happened, and then say things like 'But at least I learned how much I appreciate finally being able to walk without crutches!' and so on.

Bad things are just bad. There is nothing good about them at all. We would be much better off if they had never happened, and we had never experienced all the pseudo-gains and pseudo-lessons people like to talk about to cheer themselves up.

[_Rollo Tomasi]

My attitude is in fact partly derived from intimate acquaintance with a family whose parents barely survived the Holocaust. From them, I learned how stupid it is to recount something bad that happened, and then say things like 'But at least I learned how much I appreciate finally being able to walk without crutches!' and so on.

Bad things are just bad. There is nothing good about them at all. We would be much better off if they had never happened, and we had never experienced all the pseudo-gains and pseudo-lessons people like to talk about to cheer themselves up.

Very well said.

[_Darth J]

Liz:

1. This statement by Thomas Sowell via Daniel Peterson that you quoted:

"If it weren't for slavery, you and I would likely be living in some Third World African hell hole."

is a non sequitur.

2. The statement that Schryver admired on his blog affirmatively states that slavery in the antebellum U.S. was an act of God:

"I thank God Almighty that he saw fit to snatch my forefathers from the darkness of their lives in Africa and plant them here in this land where, after not many generations, the majority of them are finally breaking free from the bondage of ignorance and dependence. Yes, slavery is inherently evil. Many suffered, not the least the slave traders and slave owners stained by its shame. But there was a divine purpose in these things, and I refuse to mock God by failing to see His hand in all things. And, most of all, I refuse to see my children returned to the slavery of dependence on those who condescendingly view themselves as our superiors."

[_Chap]

I would like to come to the defense of Dr. Daniel Petersen. He is a fine young man. It is the official position of the church that slavery was bad. This we know to be true, for the Lord revealed it to us last week. Tears of joy flowed when we heard this marvelous news. Finally we know what to think about slavery. However, we may now know that slavery was bad, but what the young Dr. Petersen is trying to say is that some good came out of slavery. Just a few weeks ago I spent some time with colleagues watching our local basketball team play in the NBA playoffs. Without slavery, there would be no NBA today. We would not have the joy of watching tall negroes play with a ball. These negroes are paid millions of dollars to entertain us. They would not make that kind of money in Africa, unless they hired child sodiers to dig up blood diamonds. So you see, slavery was bad, really, really bad. But some negroes were blessed by it because today they are Americans instead of Africans. That's all we are trying to say.

Well said, sir!

(Who was the ancient genius who first used irony? I suspect the other people probably pushed him off a cliff as soon as they realized what he was up to.)

[_Kishkumen]

My attitude is in fact partly derived from intimate acquaintance with a family whose parents barely survived the Holocaust. From them, I learned how stupid it is to recount something bad that happened, and then say things like 'But at least I learned how much I appreciate finally being able to walk without crutches!' and so on.

Bad things are just bad. There is nothing good about them at all. We would be much better off if they had never happened, and we had never experienced all the pseudo-gains and pseudo-lessons people like to talk about to cheer themselves up.

If I were to try to put this in LDS theological terms, I would say that some experiences, including horrific ones, ought to remain sacred to the people who endured them. Anything I could say would be the equivalent of blasphemy. I do not chat with Native Americans about the genocide my ancestors visited upon their people. I don't shoot the breeze about the shackles of slavery my ancestors placed on African men, women, and children. I don't pontificate about the rational argument for some upside to the Holocaust. I have nothing to say on the matter. I join with the victims and their descendants in fighting, to the best of my ability, to make sure it never happens again, and that such horrors, where they continue to exist, stop.

[_Darth J]

I would like to come to the defense of Dr. Daniel Petersen. He is a fine young man. It is the official position of the church that slavery was bad. This we know to be true, for the Lord revealed it to us last week. Tears of joy flowed when we heard this marvelous news. Finally we know what to think about slavery. However, we may now know that slavery was bad, but what the young Dr. Petersen is trying to say is that some good came out of slavery. Just a few weeks ago I spent some time with colleagues watching our local basketball team play in the NBA playoffs. Without slavery, there would be no NBA today. We would not have the joy of watching tall negroes play with a ball. These negroes are paid millions of dollars to entertain us. They would not make that kind of money in Africa, unless they hired child sodiers to dig up blood diamonds. So you see, slavery was bad, really, really bad. But some negroes were blessed by it because today they are Americans instead of Africans. That's all we are trying to say.

Well said, sir!

(Who was the ancient genius who first used irony? I suspect the other people probably pushed him off a cliff as soon as they realized what he was up to.)

I don't know about that. I heard that David Stern is essentially a plantation owner. So the NBA is really just a continuation of slavery. On the other hand, the guy who said this also questioned the legitimacy of BYU being ranked number 1 in the 1984 BCS, so clearly he is an anti-Mormon who cannot be trusted.