Fredrick Douglass

In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave Chapter 10, Douglass explains his own experiences and horrors from Masters that he had that were supposedly Christian slaveholders. I don’t think Douglass had to do anything specifically to prove his point about the hypocrisy of Christian slaveowners. He simply told his story. Anyone reading his accounts would have a really hard time arguing that their actions were reflecting those views projected in the bible. Themes in the bible like respect, kindness, and treating everyone with love no matter who they are. Anyone, even those who are Christians, like me, have a hard time arguing that Douglass’ point is wrong. As someone who has grown up as a Christian and is proud of their religion, this is one of those moments when reading this that pains me. Hearing Douglass call these slave owners “religious wretch[es]” is hard to hear because there is no doubt that this is what those people were like (1043). I don’t doubt that all of this happened. And I do not doubt that those who claimed to be Christian were the worst ones. The main point I had to remind myself of whilst reading was…claiming to be Christian is not the same as being a Christian. But, Douglass’ main center point was exactly that, the hypocrisy of these people. It is completely wrapped up in claiming to be something and misrepresenting an entire group with that. I saw what Douglass was doing with his friends as a religious experience in a way. When he would teach them to read on the Sabbath. Religion is where people find their beliefs, their passions, and their community. I think Douglass finally found that here. having a community of friends and people like him that shared the same hard experiences while also still having the capacity to love each other and care. Although Douglass’ main point is about the religious bigotry of his experiences, I think it was also about the truth that he found with those people, and his own religious experience outside of religion.