Alison Hill on challenging the sacred-secular divide in politics
Amazing Grace, the film which documents William Wilberforce’s efforts and eventual success in abolishing the slave trade in Britain, celebrates its tenth anniversary this year.
It has long been one of my favourite films, telling the inspiring story of how one man’s faith resulted in the overturning of one of the greatest evils of his day. One of my favourite scenes from this film – which struck me the first time I saw it – is the one where Wilberforce, faced with deciding what to do with his life and torn between devoting it to God in the study of theology or pursuing what was already a promising political career, was challenged by his new friends in the London Abolition Committee: ‘We understand you’re having problems choosing whether to do the work of God or the work of a political activist. We humbly suggest that you can do both.’
