The film "Amazing Grace" is named for a hymn penned by a repentant slave trader who mentored British abolitionist William Wilberforce. It is about Wilberforce, and its producers hope to inspire the same wave of Christian social action that Wilberforce did 200 years ago.
The movie chronicles his 20-year struggle to end the trafficking of Africans. While the film ends with that victory, he worked another 26 years to free all slaves in the British Empire, helping to launch a bill that passed days before his death in 1833.
Wilberforce was a legislator, social reformer and evangelist. He spent his early teens in the church of John Newton, the slave-trader-turned-priest who wrote "Amazing Grace." He later lost his faith, but he found it again early in his political life. Tempted to quit parliament for a holier calling, he sought advice from Newton, who urged him to use his post to help the helpless. His many causes also included prison reform, child labor and animal rights...
Cont'd
Should be a good movie, most likely heart-wrenching as well.
02-24-2007, 03:51 AM
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