Thinking Anew: Removing Berkeley’s name raises important issues

The decision by Trinity College to remove the name of George Berkeley, the renowned philosopher, from one of its libraries because of his association with slavery raises important issues. For Christians, the idea that a bishop could be involved in such a horrendous practice seems dreadful.

In New Testament times, there appears to have been an acceptance that slavery was part of life. In tomorrow’s gospel reading, for example, Jesus seems at ease with the practice while suggesting that the nature of the relationship between slave and master was what mattered. “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and the slave like the master.”

We find a similar approach in St Paul’s Letter to Philemon, a slave owner, written circa 60 A.D. It concerns a slave called Onesimus who had stolen from Philemon his master and fled to Rome where he met up with Paul. Paul decides to return the fugitive, still a slave, to his owner, bearing this letter suggesting “that you might have him back forever – no longer as a slave but better than a slave, as a dear brother”.

Early Christians rarely criticised slavery so, in any rush to judgment, we must consider what was acceptable at any given time. We know, for example, that in medieval times, clergy, religious orders and even popes owned slaves. That situation worsened during the so-called Age of Discovery between the 15th and 17th centuries when Europeans, with church approval, began to colonise distant parts of the globe.

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For example, in May, 1493, when Christopher Columbus was exploring the Americas, Pope Alexander VI issued a Bill supporting the Spanish conquest of the New World, stating that any land not inhabited by Christians was available to be “discovered” and that “the Christian religion be exalted and be everywhere increased and spread ... and that barbarous nations be overthrown and brought to the faith itself”.

Thus, “barbarous” peoples were denied rights of any kind in their own countries, provided the religion of the papacy was imposed – a form of slavery in itself. As economic opportunities grew, huge numbers of Africans were seized and transported into slavery, better fitted to cope with the climate. That was the way of the world when George Berkeley was born near Thomastown Co Kilkenny in 1685; he was a man of his times and a great man at that.

Latest Global Estimates of Modern Slavery tell us that, today, almost 50 million people live in slavery, roughly a quarter of them being children. They make our cheap clothes, pick our crops, work in factories and in houses as domestics and, perhaps worst of all, as victims of sex trafficking. These are features of a world economic system that favours the West, including countries like Ireland, and contributes to the pension funds of many of us – but 21st century slavery doesn’t seem to bother us that much.

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The decision to remove Berkeley’s name from a library is a matter for Trinity but it can never undo the terrible wrongs done to enslaved peoples who lived and died in misery. And, while it is understandable that people feel ashamed about how people behaved long ago, it would, perhaps, be better to reflect on what we are doing today that future generations will condemn us for – like the destruction of the planet. We are told that our extravagant lifestyles are a threat to the very survival of our species, yet, little changes because we, the entitled, must not be inconvenienced no matter how it affects future generations.

Greta Thunberg, the student activist warned us: “You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: ‘We will never forgive you.’”

Changing the name of a library matters little when what we desperately need is a change of heart and mind – and lifestyle.