Silent Slaves or People of Conscience

In the Old Testament reading, Abraham has slaves whom he takes to war as soldiers to kill enemies. Upon victory, an allied king, Melchizedek, who also uses slaves as soldiers, glorifies Abraham as God/Godly. Like all War Lords, Abraham gave a portion of the war’s plunder to his slave soldiers. “Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.” Melchizedek specifically tells Abraham, “Give me the captives.” What Melchizedek really wanted was more slaves.

Today is the feast day of Thomas More (1478-1535). More, Lord Chancellor of England, was a man who conducted business for two slave masters, Pope Clement VII and King Henry VIII. Like slave masters Melchizedek and Abraham before them, the King and the Pope comprise the master class that gains plunder from using people. The people, all slaves to varying degrees, were forced or coerced into loyalty to both rulers. Loyalty to each was usually proven in statements/creeds and in the payment of taxes. Thomas More pledged loyalty to both the Church–Clement and the State–Henry. Until one day when the King claimed he was master of a realm held by the Pope, dissolving a marriage. Henry claimed he was the supreme master of the State of England and the Church of England. Thomas refused to take an oath of loyalty to King Henry in his new role. But Thomas also refused to speak on the matter to avoid the charge of treason. More was relying on legal precedent that “one who keeps silent seems to consent.” King Henry used his advisor (slave) Thomas Cromwell and his Solicitor General (slave) Richard Rich, who each gained from More’s removal, to give false testimony of More’s treason. At that point, More spoke out, conscientiously so. Found guilty, More was executed by order of King Henry whose soldier slaves beheaded Thomas for his crime of thinking and living free. Rulers, to control their many realms, have always enslaved the people: in mind, in heart, in imagination. People’s identity, their means of livelihood, their very lives are held bound by the master class. In the U.S., we have been held bound by that same master class which self-titles as Christian. The binding across the years includes laws, dictates, chains, the lash, slave patrols, pledges of allegiance, mandating 10 Commandment plaques, curriculum control, loyalty pledges, higher taxes on the people, DOGE controlling worker productivity and data, the task master, the master sergeant, an oath “to protect and defend the U.S. against all enemies foreign and domestic,” “to obey the orders of the President and of the officers appointed over me,” “to do my utmost to encounter, engage, capture, or destroy any enemy.” We don’t have to ask if the police, sheriffs, and now soldiers in Los Angeles and other cities, will be loyal slaves to this current King’s deadly orders. We know they already are. They have been trained throughout history to be loyal. Now, in our time, will they all remain silent seeming to consent? To what degree can this King and his soldier slaves count on our loyalty, on our silence? People of conscience like Thomas More have been showing us how to life free. We can ask loyal soldier slaves if silence is all we can expect from them. Or, do they want to be persons of conscience like Thomas More and the Nazorean he tried to follow.

“Was he so bound, poor soul?’… So are we all… His gain is loss; for he that wrongs his friend Wrongs himself more, and ever bears about A silent court of justice in his breast, Himself the judge and jury, and himself The prisoner at the bar, ever condemn’d: And that drags down his life… With all his conscience and one eye askew, So false, he partly took himself for true; Whose pious talk, when most his heart was dry… Who, never naming God except for gain, So never took that useful name in vain… And Christ the bait to trap his dupe and fool.” (Sea Dreams – Alfred Lord Tennyson)

Prayer: Spirit, help us speak Truth loudly.

Question: To whom do I need to speak the truth about mistaken loyalty?

Jun 22, 2025       Gospel Luke 9:11-17     Body & Blood / Corpus Christi