From
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.
Never was there
a clearer case
of “stealing
the livery
of the court of heaven
to
serve the devil
in”.
I am filled with unutterable loathing
when I contemplate
the religious pomp and show,
together with
the horrible inconsistencies,
which everywhere 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 cowskin [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 its sacred influence,
and leaves them
to the ravages of wholesale 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 babies
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.
(......poem removed....)
The Christianity of America
is a Christianity,
of whose votaries
it may be as truly said,
as it was
of the ancient scribes and Pharisees:
“They bind heavy burdens,
and grievous to be borne,
and lay them on men’s shoulders,
but they themselves
will not move them
with one of their fingers.
All their works
they do
for to be seen
of men. ---
They love
the uppermost rooms
at feast,
and
the chief seats
in the synagogues, ....
and
to be called of men,
Rabbi, Rabbi.
-- But woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites!
for ye shut up
the kingdom of heaven
against men;
for
ye neither go in yourselves,
neither suffer ye
them that are entering
to go in.
Ye devour widows’ houses,
and
for a pretence
make long prayers;
therefore
ye shall receive
the greater damnation.
Ye compass
sea and land
to make one proselyte,
and
when he is made,
ye make him
twofold more
the child of hell
than yourselves.
-- 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.
Ye
blind guides!
which
strain
at
a gnat,
and
swallow
a camel.
Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites!
for ye
are like unto
whited sepulchres,
which indeed
appear beautiful outward,
but are within
full of dead men’s bones,
and
of all uncleanness.
Even so
ye also outwardly appear
righteous unto men,
but within
ye are full
of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
Dark and terrible
as is this picture,
I hold it to be strictly true
of the overwhelming mass
of professed Christians
in America.
They strain
at a gnat,
and swallow
a camel.
Could anything
be more true
of our churches?
They would be shocked
at the proposition
of fellowshipping
a SHEEP-stealer;
and
at the same time
they hug to their communion
a MAN-stealer,
and brand me
with being
an infidel,
if I find fault with them
for it.
They attend
with
Pharisaical strictness
to
the outward forms
of religion,
and
at the same time
neglect
the weightier matters
of
the law,
judgment,
mercy,
and faith.
They are always ready
to sacrifice,
but seldom
to show mercy.
They are
they
who are represented
as professing
to love God
whom
they have not seen,
whilst
they hate their brother
whom
they have seen.
They love the heathen
on the other side of the globe.
They can pray for him,
pay money to have the Bible
put into his hand,
and missionaries
to instruct him;
while they despise
and totally neglect
the heathen
at their own doors.
Such is,
very briefly,
my view
of the religion
of this land;
and
to avoid
any misunderstanding,
growing out of
the use of general terms,
I mean,
by the religion of this land,
that which is revealed
in the words, deeds, and actions,
of those bodies,
north and south,
calling themselves
Christian churches,
and yet
in union with slaveholders.
It is against religion,
as presented by these bodies,
that I have felt it
my duty to testify.
(.....introduction
to poem
removed....)
“Shall I not
visit
for these things?
saith the Lord.
Shall not
my soul
be avenged
on such a nation
as this?”
(.....poem removed....)
Sincerely and earnestly
hoping
that this little book
may do something
toward
throwing light on
the American
slave system,
and
hastening
the glad day
of deliverance
to the millions
of my brethren
in bonds --
faithfully relying upon
the power
of truth,
love,
and justice,
for success
in my humble efforts --
and solemnly
pledging myself anew
to the sacred cause,
-- I
subscribe myself,
FREDERICK
DOUGLASS,
April 28,
1845
“Narrative
of
the Life
of
Frederick Douglass”
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.
Never was there
a clearer case
of “stealing
the livery
of the court of heaven
to
serve the devil
in”.
I am filled with unutterable loathing
when I contemplate
the religious pomp and show,
together with
the horrible inconsistencies,
which everywhere 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 cowskin [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 its sacred influence,
and leaves them
to the ravages of wholesale 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 babies
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.
(......poem removed....)
The Christianity of America
is a Christianity,
of whose votaries
it may be as truly said,
as it was
of the ancient scribes and Pharisees:
“They bind heavy burdens,
and grievous to be borne,
and lay them on men’s shoulders,
but they themselves
will not move them
with one of their fingers.
All their works
they do
for to be seen
of men. ---
They love
the uppermost rooms
at feast,
and
the chief seats
in the synagogues, ....
and
to be called of men,
Rabbi, Rabbi.
-- But woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites!
for ye shut up
the kingdom of heaven
against men;
for
ye neither go in yourselves,
neither suffer ye
them that are entering
to go in.
Ye devour widows’ houses,
and
for a pretence
make long prayers;
therefore
ye shall receive
the greater damnation.
Ye compass
sea and land
to make one proselyte,
and
when he is made,
ye make him
twofold more
the child of hell
than yourselves.
-- 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.
Ye
blind guides!
which
strain
at
a gnat,
and
swallow
a camel.
Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites!
for ye
are like unto
whited sepulchres,
which indeed
appear beautiful outward,
but are within
full of dead men’s bones,
and
of all uncleanness.
Even so
ye also outwardly appear
righteous unto men,
but within
ye are full
of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
Dark and terrible
as is this picture,
I hold it to be strictly true
of the overwhelming mass
of professed Christians
in America.
They strain
at a gnat,
and swallow
a camel.
Could anything
be more true
of our churches?
They would be shocked
at the proposition
of fellowshipping
a SHEEP-stealer;
and
at the same time
they hug to their communion
a MAN-stealer,
and brand me
with being
an infidel,
if I find fault with them
for it.
They attend
with
Pharisaical strictness
to
the outward forms
of religion,
and
at the same time
neglect
the weightier matters
of
the law,
judgment,
mercy,
and faith.
They are always ready
to sacrifice,
but seldom
to show mercy.
They are
they
who are represented
as professing
to love God
whom
they have not seen,
whilst
they hate their brother
whom
they have seen.
They love the heathen
on the other side of the globe.
They can pray for him,
pay money to have the Bible
put into his hand,
and missionaries
to instruct him;
while they despise
and totally neglect
the heathen
at their own doors.
Such is,
very briefly,
my view
of the religion
of this land;
and
to avoid
any misunderstanding,
growing out of
the use of general terms,
I mean,
by the religion of this land,
that which is revealed
in the words, deeds, and actions,
of those bodies,
north and south,
calling themselves
Christian churches,
and yet
in union with slaveholders.
It is against religion,
as presented by these bodies,
that I have felt it
my duty to testify.
(.....introduction
to poem
removed....)
“Shall I not
visit
for these things?
saith the Lord.
Shall not
my soul
be avenged
on such a nation
as this?”
(.....poem removed....)
Sincerely and earnestly
hoping
that this little book
may do something
toward
throwing light on
the American
slave system,
and
hastening
the glad day
of deliverance
to the millions
of my brethren
in bonds --
faithfully relying upon
the power
of truth,
love,
and justice,
for success
in my humble efforts --
and solemnly
pledging myself anew
to the sacred cause,
subscribe myself,
FREDERICK
DOUGLASS,
April 28,
1845
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