The Role Of Religion In The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass
Religion is something that can sway someone's opinions of things and ideas around them. The hypocrisy of religion and how it aided in slavery's justification is one of the topics discussed in The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass. Hypocrisy is to claim to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist who taught himself how to read and write. He went on to write the The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass in which he argues for the abolishment of slavery. In The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, Douglass describes how religion affects the slaveholders, the slaves, and Douglass himself as well as the hypocrisy of religion and how it fuels slavery. …show more content…
Douglass's slaveholders would whip their slaves while reciting Bible verses out of context to make the slaves believe they deserved the punishment, like they did with Henny (Douglass 37). An example of this is when Douglass says “I have said my master found religious sanctuary for his cruelty”(Douglass 37). His slaveholders would bring up the example of Genesis 9 in which god curses Ham’s son to a life of slavery(Douglass 13). The religious slaveholders would see this and truly believe they were performing God's work by beating and putting the slaves to work. The slaveholders would use Bible verses out of context and find churches that supported them so they could justify their
Religion is something that can sway someone's opinions of things and ideas around them. The hypocrisy of religion and how it aided in slavery's justification is one of the topics discussed in The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass. Hypocrisy is to claim to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. Frederick Douglass was an abolitionist who taught himself how to read and write. He went on to write the The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass in which he argues for the abolishment of slavery. In The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, Douglass describes how religion affects the slaveholders, the slaves, and Douglass himself as well as the hypocrisy of religion and how it fuels slavery. …show more content…
Douglass's slaveholders would whip their slaves while reciting Bible verses out of context to make the slaves believe they deserved the punishment, like they did with Henny (Douglass 37). An example of this is when Douglass says “I have said my master found religious sanctuary for his cruelty”(Douglass 37). His slaveholders would bring up the example of Genesis 9 in which god curses Ham’s son to a life of slavery(Douglass 13). The religious slaveholders would see this and truly believe they were performing God's work by beating and putting the slaves to work. The slaveholders would use Bible verses out of context and find churches that supported them so they could justify their