One of the most common misconceptions of Americanized Christianity is this Christianity is, itself the perfect model of Christianity. Our manifest struggles with the meaning of Christianity, and its application within our social structure has set to define the United States as a “Christian” nation – that is a nation founded and built upon a foundation of Christian principle. This misguided idea has lead many to defend a quasi-theocracy that was never intended to be the fundamental tenet of our national existence. Throughout United States history, this quasi-theocracy, built upon jaded interpretation of biblical text, doctrine and dogma has been employed to divide, conquer and oppress humans in conditions such as chattel slavery as well as
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Arguments for and against Christian liberty can be seen in the contrasting writings of Elijah Parish Lovejoy and Frederick Douglass. Lovejoy believed that because all men were born with certain inalienable rights (life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness), then by nature "one man cold not convert another man to property." Reducing another human to chattel, Lovejoy argued, was not merely sinful, but was the negation of the God given rights of all men, or a usurpation of these rights, upon the population of men and women forced into chattel slavery. For white abolitionists like Lovejoy the argument wasn 't merely about the consequences of sin upon the white slave-owner, but rather was a matter of abolishment of the infringement and negation of the inalienable rights stripped from the slave by the slave owner. Likewise, Frederick Douglass argued that slavery was an action of robbery; robbery where the white criminal (the slave-owner) stole the very humanity of the black victim through the institution of chattel slavery. However, Douglass distanced himself from Lovejoy and other abolitionists by arguing that the institution of “American Christianity” justified slavery. This justification did not stem from the perspective of righteous justification, but rather, Douglass argued that this "American Christianity" “created a dichotomy where …show more content…
While it is argued that mission work is well intended, missionary work, as propagated first by western Europeans and next by United States Christians, has served to force non-Christian communities to conform to Christianized models of civility. By imposing Christian morality upon communities and cultures perceived as “uncivilized” or “un-Christian”, mission work imposes a gaze of “otherness” upon these particular cultures. This gaze of “otherness” serves to demonize these cultures, presenting the previously “un-Christian” culture as a “less than” culture, thus diminishing the very worth of these human beings. Similarly, warfare that presents the United States Christian military complex as a force against evil (i.e.: Muslim and brown nations), negates the very tolerance that our forefathers, as influenced by Locke, were so intent upon developing as a democratic nation. And as we depart from that model and ideal of tolerance, the perception of the United States turns from being a nation considered to be a force of good within the global community to a reality of Christianity, as represented by the United States, being a colonizing, oppressive
Arguments for and against Christian liberty can be seen in the contrasting writings of Elijah Parish Lovejoy and Frederick Douglass. Lovejoy believed that because all men were born with certain inalienable rights (life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness), then by nature "one man cold not convert another man to property." Reducing another human to chattel, Lovejoy argued, was not merely sinful, but was the negation of the God given rights of all men, or a usurpation of these rights, upon the population of men and women forced into chattel slavery. For white abolitionists like Lovejoy the argument wasn 't merely about the consequences of sin upon the white slave-owner, but rather was a matter of abolishment of the infringement and negation of the inalienable rights stripped from the slave by the slave owner. Likewise, Frederick Douglass argued that slavery was an action of robbery; robbery where the white criminal (the slave-owner) stole the very humanity of the black victim through the institution of chattel slavery. However, Douglass distanced himself from Lovejoy and other abolitionists by arguing that the institution of “American Christianity” justified slavery. This justification did not stem from the perspective of righteous justification, but rather, Douglass argued that this "American Christianity" “created a dichotomy where …show more content…
While it is argued that mission work is well intended, missionary work, as propagated first by western Europeans and next by United States Christians, has served to force non-Christian communities to conform to Christianized models of civility. By imposing Christian morality upon communities and cultures perceived as “uncivilized” or “un-Christian”, mission work imposes a gaze of “otherness” upon these particular cultures. This gaze of “otherness” serves to demonize these cultures, presenting the previously “un-Christian” culture as a “less than” culture, thus diminishing the very worth of these human beings. Similarly, warfare that presents the United States Christian military complex as a force against evil (i.e.: Muslim and brown nations), negates the very tolerance that our forefathers, as influenced by Locke, were so intent upon developing as a democratic nation. And as we depart from that model and ideal of tolerance, the perception of the United States turns from being a nation considered to be a force of good within the global community to a reality of Christianity, as represented by the United States, being a colonizing, oppressive