Us vs. them—the middle
Welcome, Peaceful Readers. Get ready to read about salt, a special kind of circle, and Frank’s story.
Flavors of Denial
A dangerous flavor
In part 1, we dug into Denial, nicknamed The Granddaddy, and Justifications and Excuses, nicknamed The Salesman. In part 2, we started exploring Us vs. Them, nicknamed The Cheerleader. “Team spirit is good. Until it isn’t.” This particularly-dangerous flavor of denial, Us vs. Them, often leads to violence—emotional, physical and/or sexual. See part 2 for the key behaviors in emotional violence.
1, 2, 3
See part 1 for a reminder about what makes denial a barrier to forgiving. If you missed part 2, it’s a must-read filled with Us vs. Them stories* from 1800s slavery. Today on Choosing Peace, we’ll continue exploring Us vs. Them using personal stories from former slaves. We’ll also look at the intense spiritual warfare.
*Resource: When I Was a Slave, edited by Norman R. Yetman. (For more about this important book, see part 1.)
Review
Let’s do a quick review from the last post.
Teams and denial
Before we dig into the details, let’s think about the role of Us vs. Them in denial. When I think of my team as Team Good and your team as Team Evil, I’m justified—in my own mind—in doing whatever I choose. Because you’re on Team Evil, you’re no longer a person. You’re a thing. You’re a target. You’re a military-like mission. You’re a calling—my calling—to punish, control, abuse, own, torture and/or exterminate. “You’re mine.” And not in a good way.
Remember: The presence of Us vs. Them thinking gives a high likelihood for violence.
When I truly believe I’m on Team Good, I’m in denial about my own wrong thinking and wrong actions. My errors—my failure to protect, my silence, my refusal to really think about what’s going on here. And my own evil—my complicity, my cruelty, my crimes.
Here’s the big takeaway:
Evil often masquerades itself using Us vs. Them.
Let’s step back in time….
A new beginning—or not
Wandering and finding
After the Civil War, the slaves were supposedly free. Delicia Patterson* described how she and other ex-slaves wandered and worked for food and shelter. Robert Glenn* described being freed “by degrees.” He enjoyed hunting with two white friends who helped him acclimate to his new freedom. Robert moved to Illinois because the former slaves were treated terribly in Kentucky.
Us vs. Them.
Robert was treated kindly in Illinois and started saving money—eventually traveling back to the South to be reunited with his parents—last seen when he was sold on “the block” at age 8.
*Interviews with Delicia Patterson and Robert Glenn, When I Was a Slave.
The vow
Other former slaves were paid a little for sharecropping. Some saved their money and rented or bought a little piece of land to farm. For others, the violence continued or escalated. Tines Kendricks* revealed this dark truth. Some former slave owners were so livid about emancipation that they vowed to kill every last slave. They shot former slaves by the hundreds.
Us vs. Them.
*Interview with Tines Kendricks, When I Was a Slave.
Death, chains and more
Some owners fled and kept their slaves in bondage after emancipation. *Ben Simpson’s owner branded all his slaves, put chains around their necks, chained them to the horses, and made them walk from Georgia to Texas. Ben’s mom collapsed on the long walk. The owner shot her, kicked her, and left her dead body on the ground. The owner was a killer who’d gotten in trouble in Georgia. When he arrived in Texas, he changed his name. His slaves worked naked, in chains, and were chained to a tree at night. The owner was an outlaw who was eventually hung for horse stealing.
Us vs. Them.
What happened next will encourage you. Read When I Was a Slave to learn about the men who helped Ben start a new life. He got married a year later. Ben and his wife had 13 children. God is good.
*Interview with Ben Simpson, When I Was a Slave.
The KKK and the wannabees
Mary Ella Grandberry* described the “Ku Klux,” who started terrorizing the “colored folks” right after the Civil War. Klan men would come to their homes and scare them to death, whispering threats through their windows. They’d whip former slaves and tie others up by their fingers and toes.
W.L. Bost* described the KKK as “terrible dangerous.” At night, they rode horses through town, looking for any black person who spoke up or had earned “a little,” and they’d whip him almost to death and put a gag in his mouth.
After the KKK got bad, Mingo White* moved back to the property where he’d been a sharecropper for Hugh Nelson. Why? For protection. The KKK also threatened to whip Mr. Nelson, a man from the North who stuck up for former slaves. Mingo and the other former slaves would often leave home because they heard the KKK was coming. The “Ku Klux” murdered black people and “white folks, too.”
Us vs. Them.
*Interviews with Mary Ella Grandberry, W.L. Bost and Mingo White, When I Was a Slave.
There were also imitators. Anthony Dawson* talked about “low white trash” and “devilish” black men pretending they were in the KKK who went around stealing horses and more.
Us vs. Them.
*Interview with Anthony Dawson, When I Was a Slave.
Spiritual warfare:
the ultimate Us vs. Them
Demons and prophets
We need to look more closely at the obvious spiritual warfare at play in slavery—which remains a horrific evil today. But first, we need to consider some misconceptions about spiritual warfare. Some people think spiritual warfare means someone is possessed by a demon or a host of demons. When I experience a dark intrusive thought, does that mean I’ve just become demon-possessed? No. Certainly not. (Read this Intrusive Thoughts post.) When God helps me replace lies with truth—to change my thinking—does that mean a demon just walked voluntarily out of my spirit? Uhhh, no. Are all people with addictions possessed by demons? Some are. Some aren’t.
Yes, there are dark spiritual forces at work in our world. But the reality of these dark forces doesn’t mean we’re all demon-possessed. From the disturbing “demon trials” at the now-dead Mars Hill mega-church in Seattle to many self-proclaimed “prophets” speaking with authority about demons, my warning is this: Beware. Go directly to God and pray for discernment. Speak your own prayer or use this one from The Beauty of the Bible, part 10.
A prayer for discernment
God, show me the truth. What is good here? What is evil here? And give me the courage to do the right thing right now. Amen.
(To learn how to put on The Armor of God, read this post.)
Light vs. darkness
In a powerful and extreme way, slavery depicts the epic struggle of good vs. evil, light vs. darkness, God vs. Satan. People created in God’s image were rebranded into objects—for exploitation, physical and sexual assault, and vast monetary gain. Some were terrorized and murdered.
Frank’s story
Frank Bell* was owned by a violent saloon and brothel owner in New Orleans. “Master” stole Frank as a young child and had a fake “bill of sale” created. Frank was never fed. He ate the scraps left by his owner’s customers. Sometimes Frank was chained. He slept on a sack on the floor. Master was drunk most of the time and was extremely violent. When his master killed two men in a gun fight, he ordered Frank to tie a weight to them and throw them in the river so no one would find their bodies. Frank was “afraid to run,” since Master threatened to hunt and kill him.
Young wife
When Frank was 17, he married a young lady while his master was on a drinking spree. His master kicked her out. Frank slipped away at night to go see his wife. Master found out and beheaded her, tied a very “heavy weight to her,” and made Frank throw his wife’s body in the river. For a long time after that, Frank was kept in chains and was beaten every night.
After emancipation
For “long years” after emancipation, Frank was anything but free. Master paid him $1 per month and continued to threaten to kill him if he left. People questioned Master about keeping Frank, and Master always lied, saying Frank wanted to stay. During a drunken shooting brawl one night, people were killed, including Master.
Haunted and chained
Frank wandered, hungry, in New Orleans, trying to grasp what had happened. After he finally built up the courage to leave town, he couldn’t sleep the first two nights—terrorized and haunted by visions of his master—so he returned to New Orleans. Another man chained Frank up and made him cut rails with an ax. When he was let go, he wandered again. Frank felt like he was “a stray dog.”
Us vs. Them.
At last
Years later, Frank got married. He and his wife had a home and a son. When Frank was interviewed at age 86, he lived with his son—a farmer.
Two aspects of Frank’s interview stood out. He mentioned being haunted, and he never mentioned God. I hope he came into the light. I really do.
*Interview with Frank Bell, When I Was a Slave.
Deathbed confession
Owner Tom Ashbie in Virginia was described by Silas Jackson* as “brutal, wicked, and hard.” One night, the master’s father went to a slave cabin and heard one of the slaves asking God to change his master’s heart and to deliver the slave from bondage into freedom. The slave who was praying disappeared immediately. On his deathbed, “old man Ashbie” confessed to a preacher that he murdered Zeke “for praying.” The murderer said he’d be “going to hell” for what he did.
Us vs. Them.
*Interview with Silas Jackson, When I Was a Slave.
God’s people
A number of the former slaves who were interviewed talked about not being allowed to go to church or to pray. Why? W.L. Bost* described how the white people were afraid of the slaves getting “any religion and education.”
Let’s unpack that a little. People who are taught to read can read the Bible. People who oppose God—who are on Satan’s Squad—seek to squelch people’s access to God’s people and God’s word. They know at least a little about God’s power. They hate God and his people. The darkness hates the light.
Us vs. Them. (For a beautiful, important visual and spiritual reminder of wolves, goats and sheep, watch Jesus: The Soul Shepherd.)
W.L. shared a song they used to sing—a rendition of “Down to the River to Pray.” This video will amaze you with vintage images of baptisms in rivers all across this land.
*Interview with W.L. Bost, When I Was a Slave.
Battling together
From The Armor of God, part 5:
If you’ve ever battled against the darkness with a group of Christians, you probably know firsthand the remarkable power of the Lord. Whether the size of your group resembles a team, a squad, a platoon, a company, a battalion or a brigade, you can accomplish much more together than you could accomplish alone. And fighting together builds a unique and strong type of camaraderie. You’re unified. You know who you’re fighting against and why. And you draw strength from each other.
Read more of that post for some very visual examples of spiritual warfare—the illness, the tree, the plumbing. The demons were busy, but we weren’t demon-possessed.
Us vs. Them.
Knowing God
One of my favorite parts of When I Was a Slave came from W.L. Bost*. After he described how the white people didn’t want the slaves to know God (through “religion”), he talked about how something inside of them just told them about God and heaven—“a better place” after this life. They just knew. They knew God and they knew their destination. The slaves snuck off for prayer meetings, even though sometimes they were caught by “the patterrollers,” who would “beat us good.” W.L.’s mom was a strong Christian who sang and prayed for their deliverance from slavery. Despite the obvious dangers, they kept on praying.
Us vs. Them.
*Interview with W.L. Bost, When I Was a Slave.
Hearing God
We know this truth from Romans 1 and we know it from life. God makes himself known. When Lewis Jackson* experienced something very frightening, “God took me” into “his bosom.” Later, he heard a voice that led to his conversion. (For my audible experiences with the Holy Spirit, read this post.)
Lewis ended his interview talking about the church being “the gospel way” and how everyone needs to be in it. Amen.
*Interview with Lewis Jackson, When I Was a Slave.
Side by side
But we know, Peaceful Readers—sometimes from personal experience—that many people will not leave the darkness. They hunger for power. Control. Violence.
And they use deception.
In his interview, Anthony Dawson* revealed details of the lies, the tricks, the stealing, the murder. The patrollers. The underground railroaders. The deals. The arrangements. The danger. Anthony described it poetically. “Devils and good people” were walking down the road side-by-side and no one could tell which one was which. So true. Have you ever been deceived? Can you think of a time when your first impression about someone was dead wrong? I sure can.
Us vs. Them.
*Interview with Anthony Dawson, When I Was a Slave.
Despair and suicide
Hopelessness and suicide have been around for a long time. We read about these spiritual battles in the Bible. And some of us have attended funerals for people who committed suicide. Let’s get a glimpse at these issues in the 1800s.
Around age 4 or 5, Mingo White* was sold and taken away from his parents on a wagon with many other slaves bound for Alabama. Mingo believed that his life—slaving in the cotton fields as a young child, being whipped for the “least li’l thing,” and enduring bad living conditions—would make anyone “soon as be dead.”
Us vs. Them.
Sarah Gudger* described how her dad’s master hung himself with a horse bridle in the barn. A few days earlier, he’d threatened to drown himself—fretting about how his children never did “de right thing.”
The “cruel suffering” of slavery for Martin Jackson* included his mother committing suicide by drowning herself. She was losing her mind and believed death was better than that.
Us vs. Them.
*Interviews with Mingo White, Sarah Gudger and Martin Jackson, When I Was a Slave.
988 = suicide prevention
Did you know the United States launched a nationwide 3-digit mental health crisis hotline last year? We all know the emergency number 9-1-1. It’s time to learn 9-8-8.
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, dial 988.
For more information, see the website for The 988 Lifeline.
Open gates
Contrary to what many Christians have been taught through the ages, suicide does not close the gates of heaven.
For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 10:13, New Heart English Bible
Read this excellent article from GotQuestions.org: “What does the Bible say about suicide?”
Support
If you or someone you know is grieving the death of a loved one, find a local GriefShare® group and read this post. Walk slowly through the Grieving series here on Choosing Peace.
Prayer circles
Sunday morning
Our life group sits around a group of tables in a circle (or an oval). When it’s time to start our prayer time, sometimes my friend Meagan says, “I’ll dial and you hang up.” In other words—I’ll start prayer time and you end it, please.” I like that.
Prayer is powerful.
Both teams know that.
In secret
When he was very young, William Moore* arrived in Texas as a slave with his family in a covered wagon. Often hungry, he slaved as a shepherd boy. They were allowed to go to church and to sing in their cabins, but the slaves weren’t allowed to pray. William talked about how the slaves spent half their lives praying. Someone would serve as their lookout to watch for “Marse Tom.” If the coast was clear, they’d get in a circle on the floor and they’d moan “low and gentle” about the yoke of slavery being lifted off their shoulders.
Us vs. Them.
The danger
Their owner, “Marse Tom,” displayed a horrific, sadistic hunger for violence. Almost every day, he’d beat someone with a bullwhip “to satisfy his cravin’.” The target for the day would be tied to stakes in the ground. Another slave was forced to hold the man’s face in the dirt while the master whipped the slave until his blood turned the ground red. Then the master told the slave children to go get salt from the cook. He sprinkled salt in the open wounds while the man would “jerk and quiver” and would “slobber and puke.” The slave’s shirt would stick to his wounds for many days. (We get the saying, “Pouring salt on someone’s wounds” from this torture.) One day, “Marse Tom” grabbed William’s mom by the hair, drug her outside and grabbed a saw off a tool bench. He tore up her back with a saw blade! Why? She was the cook and he didn’t like her cooking that day.
Us vs. Them. (Plus a hearty portion of Justifications and Excuses from part 1.)
In the end
Early in his interview, William said he believed his former master was in hell, which seemed like “where he belong.” Amen to that. Surprisingly enough, “Marse Tom” and his “mean wife” had the kindest, sweetest children “the Lord ever let live.” After the war, “Miss Mary”—one of the owners’ children—welcomed, fed and helped William and his family.
Despite all that he suffered, William ended his interview “praiseful.” You’ll read about that shortly.
*Interview with William Moore, When I Was a Slave.
Mothers praying
When he was 10 years old, Tom Robinson* was sold away from his mother. He remembered how she would take her children and kneel in front of their fireplace to pray. She’d pray for the day when they “could worship the Lord” as free people. Her prayer included part of this verse:
But they will sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and no one will make them afraid: For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.
Micah 4:4, New Heart English Bible
And Tom remembered his mother’s prayer 77-plus years later. The Lord brought this memory to his mind again and again. Tom talked about how mothers on other plantations were also praying for the same things. “All over the country,” [men and] women of God were on their knees, crying out to God for freedom—for him to rescue them and their families. Tom believes the Lord heard The Prayer for Freedom “and answered it.”
*Interview with Tom Robinson, When I Was a Slave.
A massive prayer circle
Think of it as a massive prayer circle filled with thousands of voices—of men, women and children.
Are we being called to form a massive worldwide prayer circle
to pray for the end of trafficking?
I believe we are.
The endings
These men and women, who suffered so much, displayed remarkable resilience. A number of the interviews in When I Was a Slave ended with expressions of gratitude and joyful anticipation of heaven.
Anticipation
Delia Garlic* was happy about going to heaven, where she’d hear Jesus say, “Delia, well done.” In the last sentence of his interview, Tines Kendricks* said he and his wife would stay right where they were until “de Lord” called them “to come on home.” “I’se thankful,” said Rose Williams*, for the people who provided her with basic food and shelter the last 10 years. She knew that she’d be going “to Jordan” soon, where she’d enjoy “rest and peace.”
Gratitude
William Moore* ended his interview in a state of gratitude—“thankful to God.” He said one of my favorite things in the whole book—that he was “praiseful for the pension” that allowed him a place to live and food to eat. Lewis Jenkins* expressed his deepest gratitude for Abe Lincoln, who he felt was “next to” our Savior, Jesus; and “the best human man ever”—who died helping the slaves. He also talked about how it was God’s plan for people to be free.
And for these men and women—the faithful remnant—
the Us vs. Them is over.
*Interviews with Delia Garlic, Tines Kendricks, Rose Williams, William Moore and Lewis Jenkins, When I Was a Slave.
Summary—spiritual warfare
What examples of spiritual warfare did we see in these stories?
(1) The enemy scattered the former slaves—seeking their harm and destruction. The Lord provided for them, gave them marriage and children, and reunited some with long-lost relatives. (2) Evil slave owners murdered hundreds of former slaves. Despite the murders, a new generation was born. (3) The KKK terrorized and killed people. The Lord protected most of them—or helped them step into eternity. (4) Satan lied to the slaves about their worth and their purpose, leading some to despair and suicide. Many former slaves became strong voices for God, his love and his way. (5) Some former slaves were haunted by their past. Many more were filled with joy about their future.
God and his people were victorious.
Do you see the epic battle? Think about some of God’s victories in your life. Write them down and get down on your knees to thank him.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
and his greatness is unsearchable.
Psalm 145:3, King James Version
Coming next: We’ll finish digging into Us vs. Them. And with the Lord’s help, I’ll answer those questions from the beginning of part 2. Thanks for reading and for Choosing Peace.
Truth from The Word: Joshua 3 was the inspiration for the spiritual below.
Song: I hope you’re blessed by these performances of “Deep River.” I told Brandon that I’d be featuring this spiritual. Guess what? He sang “Deep River” in a vocal competition when he was a teenager. I love that.
“Deep River” by bass-baritone Oral Moses.
“Deep River” by The Norman Luboff Choir.
“Deep River” by jazz guitarist Grant Green. This version caught my attention recently, and I’m most grateful.
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