Slavery did not end in 1865. A century and a half later, slavery is still with us. Here's a sad tale about a boy named Francis that illustrates the point. We can't retell his story and do it justice, so go over and read it. Then consider this:

The truth is there are more slaves now than at any time in history — 27 million — many of them living in bondage in Sudan, which has been ravaged for 20 years by a civil war between the largely Muslim population of the north and the Christian population of the south. But there are also slaves in Pakistan, China, Burma, India and the rain forests of Brazil, to say nothing of the 40,000 to 50,000 mostly sex slaves imported into the United States each year.

...Slavery is now a tool of modern war, as opposed to an instrument of racial or economic horror. In Sudan, the jihad — or holy war — that the Islamic fundamentalists have been waging against the people to the south is what is driving the slave trade. Francis' master did not pay a dime for him on the day he was taken from the market. The boy was simply part of the spoils of war. In the age of terrorism, slavery — far from being obsolete — is just another weapon.

Finally, Francis embodies a significant moral dilemma now facing the world at large. Namely: Is it immoral to buy slaves in order to win their freedom?

What is the going rate for a human life these days in Sudan? The answer is as unreal as the whole situation — between $30 and $35 a slave, less than dinner and a movie on any given night in America.

Is it right for modern-day abolitionists to participate economically in the world's largest slave trade? You bet it is.

In addition, the U.S. government should do everything we can to make it clear to the Sudanese government in the north — that is even now bombing villages and stealing more small boys from their mothers — that this too is part of our war on terrorism.

This is anything but a feel-good article, but it's one that needs to be read.