The horrors of human trafficking are being spotlighted throughout the world, causing many Christians leaders and activists to rise up and speak out about what the religious community can do to fight the illegal trade of humans.
Here are eight quotes from Christian leaders about human trafficking:
1. "Each one of us feels committed to being the voice of these, our brothers and sisters, humiliated in their dignity," Pope Francis said in February on the Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking.
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In January,
Reuters quoted the Catholic leader: "All of us are called (by God) to be free, all are called to be sons and daughters, and each, according to his or her own responsibilities, is called to combat modern forms of enslavement. From every people, culture and religion, let us join our forces."
2. "Contemplation must be accompanied by action. The roots of human trafficking run deep, and we can't fight it as lonely warriors. This is why we need to build a community to protect human life." — Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, represented by his eldest monastic student at a meeting sponsored by Global Freedom Network,
according to Crux Now.
3. "The moment the slave resolves that he will no longer be a slave, his fetters fail. He frees himself and shows the way to others." — Mahatma Ghandi, during the struggle to free India from British colonialism.
4. "Brute force, no matter how strongly applied, can never subdue the basic human desire for freedom. Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individual and nations are free." — The Dalai Lama
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5. "The rabbis were reminding us to be aware of the fact that the pleasures of many of our paradises are often situated right above somebody else's hell, and are made possible by those hells. This is one of the important truths of our time: slave labor is present in the supply chains of many items we take for granted, and the demand for cheap food and endless inexpensive goods enables wages to be pushed ever lower and working conditions made even more intolerable." — Rabbi Gordon Tucker
6. "I tell them that they were created for more than this, that they have value and talents and they deserve a better life. There's hope, there's hope. It's just a reminder for me too, that even on the bad days, there is hope." — Wendie Lazenko,
to the Christian Examiner, on her work to help women being trafficked. She was trafficked as a 13-year-old runaway.
7. "Human slavery and trafficking are wicked to the core, assaulting the dignity of human beings created in the image of God. By taking on this issue, Sen. (Bob) Corker and those who stand with him are in the spirit of the great Christian leader and anti-slavery activist William Wilberforce. I pray that we will work together to end this scourge of slavery and trafficking in our world." — Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission,
as quoted by Crossmap, about a bill to fight slavery.
8. "We live in a globalized environment where sex trafficking actually occurs all around us in our local communities ... We serve a God of freedom and justice, and even in an age of Fifty Shades-style entertainment, where bondage is smiled upon and celebrated, His light will free the captives if His people will pray and be unified." — Noel Bouché, president of pureHOPE.
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