He began to use religion to sanction his cruelty toward slaves. He became pious, attended Church meetings, and invited other persons of religious piety to his house. But in his treatment of human beings whom he held in bondage, nonetheless, the master became a more cruel and sadistic monster. He became a barbaric religious hypocrite.
Ultimately, Douglass argues that American slaveholders totally perverted the meaning of Christianity and that the slaveholders were not true Christians. He makes it clear toward the end of his narrative that his criticism of religion was directed at the specific way American slaveholders practiced it. Douglass explains:
What I have said respecting and against religion, I mean strictly to apply to the slaveholding religion of this land, and with no possible reference to Christianity proper; for, between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest, possible difference -- so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure, and holy, is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked. To be the friend of the one, is of necessity to be the enemy of the other. I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity. I look upon it as the climax of all misnomers, the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels" (p. 116).
Douglass here is emphatically stating that he has no problem with Christianity as taught by Christ. He actually loves it. But his problem is with the way American slaveholders practice it. Douglass makes it clear that, in his opinion, American...
Narrative of Frederick Douglass Slavery is perhaps one of the most common forms of human justice in the history of the world. Although the phenomenon has existed for centuries, across many cultures, a particularly brutal form of the phenomenon was perpetrated in the United States before its abolition. It is, however, a testament to the human spirit that some, like Frederick Douglass, had the inner will and drive to escape overwhelming
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They also pointed out that my uncle would hardly have approved of the manner in which I was handling his death. In fact, it was this particular observation, more than any other, that helped snap me out of my grief and self-pity. Ultimately, the experience taught me that life's setbacks must be faced with understanding and equanimity, failing which one runs the risk of falling prey to despair and stagnation.
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