[Vision2020] Frederick Douglass on Slavery and Christianity

[keely emerinemix]

Visionaires,

I was fortunate in high school and college to read the autobiography of 
Frederick Douglass and many of his other works, and this post, sent to my 
friend Tom Hansen by a friend of his, is as prophetic and  powerful today as 
it was when written, and they certainly contrast to those written by our 
Confederate apologists, Doug Wilson and Steve Wilkins.

I can hear some folks saying, "My God, when will she-they-the Intoleristas 
drop the slavery thing???!!"  My answer to that, and I think I can fairly 
assume others agree, is that we'll stop protesting Wilson/Wilkins' 
pseudo-scholarship on the issue when they come to their senses and express 
their regret for having written such garbage.  Until then, it's fair game 
and utterly relevant -- after all, if privilege and power blind you to 
historically verified oppression and abuse from more than a century ago, 
you're not likely to give a rip about oppression and abuse in the world in 
which you live.  And ignoring Jesus' call to contend for the weak and poor 
among us is always -- eternally -- relevant.

What follows is from a conservative Christian in the American South, a 
friend of Tom's I'm eager someday to meet:

>>A great deal of what passes
>>for Christianity, at least here in the South, is a counterfeit knockoff
>>passed down through generations of theological hucksters.
>>
>>The following text can be found at this link (Douglass' words are in
>>quotes):
>>http://www.liberalslikechrist.org/about/godvsgreed-3.html
>>
>>         Frederick Douglass was an extraordinary man, who not only managed 
>>to
>>throw off the shackles of slavery but went far beyond the conventional
>>wisdom of his enslavers.  In his autobiography, he contrasted the
>>Christianity that characterised America's Southern "Bible Belt", and the
>>Christianity of Christ :
>>       " I find, since reading over the foregoing Narrative that I have, 
>>in
>>several instances, spoken in such a tone and manner, respecting religion, 
>>as
>>may possibly lead those unacquainted with my religious views to suppose me
>>an opponent of all religion.  To remove the liability of such
>>misapprehension, I deem it proper to append the following brief 
>>explanation.
>>F.Douglas         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.
>>         . . .  I am filled with unutterable loathing when I contemplate 
>>the
>>religious pomp and show, together with the horrible inconsistencies, which
>>every where surround me.  We have men-stealers for ministers, 
>>women-whippers
>>for missionaries, and cradle-plunderers for church members.  The man who
>>wields the blood-clotted cow skin (whip) during the week fills the pulpit 
>>on
>>Sunday, and claims to be a minister of the meek and lowly Jesus.  The man
>>who robs me of my earnings at the end of each week  meets me as a
>>class-leader on Sunday morning, to show me the way of life, and the path 
>>of
>>salvation.  He who sells my sister, for purposes of prostitution, stands
>>forth as the pious advocate of purity.  He who proclaims it a religious 
>>duty
>>to read the Bible denies me the right of learning to read the name of the
>>God who made me.  He who is the religious advocate of marriage robs whole
>>millions (of slaves) of its sacred influence, and leaves them to the 
>>ravages
>>of wholesale (moral) pollution.  The warm defender of the sacredness of 
>>the
>>family relation is the same that scatters whole families, --- sundering
>>husbands and wives, parents and children, sisters and brothers, leaving 
>>the
>>hut vacant, and the hearth desolate.  We see the thief preaching against
>>theft, and the adulterer against adultery.  We have men sold to build
>>churches, women sold to support the gospel, and babes sold to purchase
>>Bibles for the poor heathen! all for the glory of God and the good of 
>>souls!
>>The slave auctioneer's bell and the church-going bell chime in with each
>>other, and the bitter cries of the heart-broken slave are drowned in the
>>religious shouts of his pious master.  Revivals of religion and revivals 
>>in
>>the slave-trade go hand in hand together.  The slave prison and the church
>>stand near each other.  The clanking of fetters and the rattling of chains
>>in the prison, and the pious psalm and solemn prayer in the church, may be
>>heard at the same time.  The dealers in the bodies and souls of men erect
>>their stand in the presence of the pulpit, and they mutually help each
>>other.  The dealer gives his blood-stained gold to support the pulpit, and
>>the pulpit, in return, covers his infernal business with the garb of
>>Christianity.  Here we have religion and robbery the allies of each
>>other--devils dressed in angels' robes, and hell presenting the semblance 
>>of
>>paradise."*4
>>
>>         " I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the South is 
>>a
>>mere covering for the most horrid crimes--a justifier of the most 
>>appalling
>>barbarity, a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds, and a dark shelter 
>>under
>>which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slave
>>holders find the strongest protection. Where I to be again reduced to the
>>chains of slavery, next to that enslavement, I should regard being the 
>>slave
>>of a religious master the greatest calamity that could befall me... I...
>>hate the corrupt, slave holding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, 
>>partial
>>and hypocritical Christianity of this land."
>>         -- Frederick Douglass (After the Escape)
>>
>>These writings (and others) can be found at this link:
>>http://www.liberalslikechrist.org/about/godvsgreed-3.html
>>
>>It definitely sounds like Douglass recognized the "theological dilemma" of
>>the slaves. He called the false religious establishment of his day that
>>masqueraded as Christianity: "...devils dressed in angels' robes, and hell
>>presenting the semblance of paradise."
>>
>>Amen, Brother.
>>
>>
>>Mike Holland
>>
>>
>
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