Frederick Douglass’s narrative can and should open the eyes of everyone who reads it. He spoke a lot about his personal experiences of being a slave and his battles as a slave trying to be heard and seen as a human. Douglass is one of the few slaves that had and created opportunities for himself. …show more content…
He was angry by the fact that most slave owners were so called “Christians” but their actions towards slaves were barbaric and completely opposite of what the bible spoke of. Douglass tried to understand why these Christians who were so devoted to religion portrayed the devil more than God. Douglass despised his owners after he reads and understands what the bible speaks of. We know that he himself did not hate religion but he embraced it. He often spoke about his belief in Christianity and we know this from reading the appendix from his narrative. He says, “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 …show more content…
Douglass despised Christianity in America because it was appalling to see the interpretations most slave owners gathered from the bible. Douglass makes mention of how Christianity controlled everything in America. The words of the bible were law, judgment, mercy, and faith. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Page 1237). Douglass was a brilliant and outspoken man who made logical sense on the atrocious behavior that surrounded him every day. In modern time, law and religion are two words that hold so much power among our societies and daily lives that war can start when debating them. Although we have come a long way from the acts that were present in the past we have a long way to go if we want to be a people of peace and prosperity. Rightful interpretation of law and religion can create beautiful paths future generations can follow and live by but, wrongful interpretation of law and religion can lead to things like the justification of slavery or the experimentation and genocide of Jews. Douglass included a hymn that was sung in southern churches and two verses stood out to me: “They’ll crack old Tony on the skull, and preach and roar like Bashan bull, or braying ass, of