Conflict of Religion and Slavery in the Frederick Douglass Narrative Essay

Conflict of Religion and Slavery in the Frederick Douglass level - Essay ExampleReligion is not the domain of the dermatologist. The arguments of the whites to view religion from the perspective of color inevitably to be dismissed without further arguments, as only lunatics can forward such a forefront of view. Those who justify knuckle downry quoting scriptures are like Satan quoting the Bible. They just do not possess an mere(a) association about the revelation. Douglass encounters with the so-called Christians, who treat slaves in the most inhuman style, shake his belief in religion. Mr. Severe, overseer in charge at Colonel Lloyds plantation, is one of such individuals. As the divinity intervenes he dies as soon as Douglass arrives there. The gullible and innocent slaves take it as a blessing from God. The stand-in for his place, Mr. Hopkins, is a good person. The love-hate tussles as for religion in his mind continue, and he thinks that it is a good mickle that he is not one of the slavery victims when he is selected and shifted to the Great House Farm, where life is comfortable. The cruel strokes of component part fallen on his grandmother who is left to die alone shake his faith in God, and he puts his judgment to test by asking questions about His style of functioning. What deeply pains Douglass is the hypocrites donning the garb of preachers as guardians of religion. Some of them are Master Thomas, the Methodist who holds the slaves on the plea that he takes care of them, but in reality he does not spare even a crippled girl named Henny from his practices of cruelty. At St. Michaels, a Sabbath school for slaves established by Whiteman is closed under the violent threats by white religious zealots. Religion, as it is practiced, never helps the cause of blacks, and Douglass mentions Mr. Rigby Hopkins, one of the sterling religious hypocrites, who derives sadistic pleasure in beating his slave on silly pretexts. Such religious leaders quote from the Bible selectively, and their assertions are out of the context. Douglass writes, I have said my master found religious sanction for his cruelty. I have seen him tie up a lame young woman, and whip her with a heavy cow skin upon her naked shoulders, cause the warm red blood to drip and, in justification of the bloody deed, he would quote this passing game of Scripture ? He that knoweth his masters will and doeth it, not shall be beaten with many stripes. (Douglass 52). This is the highest division of insult to Christianity. Thus, in the mid-1800s, religion is used as the tool to destroy the emotional world of the slaves and hesitate their psyche. Severe whipping is normal which often causes bodily harm to the slaves. Their working hours are long, from the sun-rise to the sun-set in the unaffixed farms, in all kinds of weather. With no educational facilities and no scope for personal empowerment possible for the slaves, the doors to the knowledge world remain shut for them f rom the cradle to the grave and from the womb to the tomb In Douglass time, slavery is existence practiced at its worst. The majority of the religious clusters in America barring the Society of Friends support slavery. That is the end when the North and South are vertically divided by the issue of slavery. The Christians of the North favor the abolishment of slavery, but the Southerners are adamant about retaining it and thoroughly convinced that it has the religious sanctity. The worst part is the strong belief and appreciation of slavery is done in the name of Christianity. So, the politics of religion dominates the issue of slavery. Douglass does not objurgate Christianity as such, but his strong resentment is