The Color Of Christ, And Matthew Vine 's The Gay Debate

In discussing the various differences between Biblical slavery and Southern slavery, Grimke points out about treatment of slave families in comparison to non-slave families, asking, “But do the fathers of the South ever sell their daughters?” (Grimke, 1836, p5). This somewhat rhetorical question induces an instinctive condemnation of Southern authority figures in the readers. She actually uses this question to build up to a more pointed question for the readers, personally, asking , “…but then you may try this question in another form—Am I willing to reduce my little child to slavery?” (Grimke, 1836, p13). These questions involving family members as examples act yield intuitive answers that work quickly to dismantle pro-slavery arguments in the minds of

In Baltimore, almost everyone had slaves, and all of these slaveholders were extremely religious. They used their religion to justify slavery, but one particular slave knew that what they were doing was not what God wanted for him. He knew that there was something wrong with how they were dehumanizing all these poor, innocent people. This slave’s name was Frederick Douglass. Douglass was held as a slave for a long time, but he was eventually able to become strong and courageous and escaped the home he was being held in. But not all slaves were strong enough to overcome the struggles of slavery. But Douglass was able to use these hypocritical people’s own words and beliefs against them.

Christianity was new to most slaves who had been abducted from their native country and taken to the Americas. Some were hesitant to abandon their old traditions for the Christ their white captors taught of, but after several generations of slavery, most black slaves had succumbed to relentless preaching. However, the Christianity that took hold within the slave community was often interpreted differently, conveying different messages to pockets of slave population. The use of Christianity in slavery was a double edged sword, creating not only a tool for control, but a weapon of discontent in slave communities. Examining the works of Richard Allen and the stories of Nat Turner, create a narrative of how Christianity was applied differently to slaves.

During the early makings of the United States, colonialist heavily relied on slave labor, particularly African slave labor. The introduction of African slave labor in the economy was seen as more efficient than indentured servitude and due to their naturally darker skin tones African slaves were easily marked, which, lead to racial discrepancies about how slaves should be treated and handled. Colonialist often used the Bible to support their opinions of slavery since rules on governing slavery can be found in both the Old and New Testaments of the bible and white slave masters often cited biblical references to justify slavery as an institution. One argument that white colonialist often used to defend the enslavement of African people came from the 15th century, Ibn Khaldun’s curse theory, which states that “Negroes were the children of Ham, the son of Noah, and that they were signaled out to be black as the result of Noah’s curse, which produced Ham’s colour and the slavery, God inflicted on his descendants. The direct result Khaldun’s medieval theory laid the foundation for racist concepts in society for the following centuries, and helped white slave owners justify the use of African slaves. From 1619-1810, Slave traders continued to import African slaves to the United States, but the relationship between slaves and Christianity would remain estranged until the late 18th century. In this essay I will examine the common biblical justification and social control associated

Frederick Douglass (1845/1995), a famous abolitionist, wrote the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass telling readers of the mistreatment slaves endured from their white owners, both Christian and non-Christian. Douglass tells readers how Christians used the Bible to support their actions, which led them to be just as cruel, or in some cases more cruel than non-Christians. Through his personal experiences, Frederick Douglass tells the horrors of slavery and shows that Christians who used the Bible to support their actions were just as cruel as non-Christians. Through Douglass’s experiences, he is able to express to the readers the cruelty of slave masters.

After years of enslavement, the African slaves became Americanized and later converted to African-Americans, understanding English but not all could read or write English. The master’s thought their slaves Christianity; the stories of Moses, Jesus and the Bible in whole. The slaves endure hardship after hardship, that today Americans couldn’t hold the strength capacity to survive. The slaves had white masters that looked at them as nothing more than cattle or property; not all but most. The slaves were field workers of inhuman tolerances, house workers, toys for the master’s children, and forced sexual objects (rape). The slaves may have not known yet how to physically escape the endeavors of their white slave master’s but

When Douglass compares between the true Christianity of Christ he believes and the wrong Christianity of the south slaveholders’ practice, he recognizes the wide difference between them in which, the true believer follows “pure, peaceable, impartial Christianity…” and, in the contrary, he finds the slaveholders’ Christianity- “corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity.”(430) Douglass describes “religious slaveholders” are the worst, meanest, basest, most cruel, and cowardly. He considers them as so because he believes that Christianity of “this land” (in his time) is quite different from the Christianity of Jesus Christ with the widest possible difference in which, the “slaveholder’s religion” cannot be comparable with the “proper”(430) religion.

Historically, black religion has been concerned with freedom, liberation, humanization, and the eradication of social evils in this world. Therefore, as opposed to being fixated exclusively with spirituality and heaven, the black church has been the vanguard of social, economic, and political activism within the black community. In fact, some scholars have gone as far as to identify the black church with the black community, and to suggest that neither can be identified apart from the other. The black church was born in protest against racism in the white church. The type of Christianity that Frederick Douglass characterized as “slave holding religion,” was a religion of the white status quo. It sought to justify the enslavement of blacks, rather than resist it and work towards its elimination. Reflecting on the period of American

Through out the entire time period of slavery, religion remained a high priority and a way in which to label different social groups. The lack or complete non-existence of religion among Africans led to them being viewed as somewhat inferior. Later in the second chapter Jordan talks about how during the slave era religion distinguished whites from blacks. Also how classification changed once Africans began to enter the Christian church. He himself viewed this type of labeling somewhat ridiculous, in that many of the Africans were baptized before the came to the New World. Thus they in many circles would be identified as Christians. This important information helps show the reader how the justifications for slavery evolved. Jordan captures the utter and blatant hypocrisy that the colonies exuded with regards to the slave situation. Jordan also sees religious injustice within the treatment of Indians and Africans. The English made attempts to convert the Indians and had little desire or intention to do the same for Africans. This again shows to what lengths early Americans went in creating a subculture for the purpose of slavery.

James H. Cone’s God of the Oppressed is his examination of the origin, development, and significance of black theology as it relates to how he and the black Christian community view God. For Cone, in an America seemingly dominated by white theology and the white Christian community’s views of God, it is imperative to acknowledge and attentively listen to the voices of the theologies of other races and what God means to them, especially that of the black community. Cone asserts without hesitation that the God that is referred to in the Bible and black religion is a Deliver of those held captive by the bondage of oppression. Cone not only asserts this viewpoint of God as the Freer of oppressed people, but he validates this assertion through the use of Scripture, the black experience, history, and tradition. Overall, the central theme of this book is that a plethora of factors continually shape and construct a people’s theology and how that theology is significant in regards to how they see God, the world, and themselves.

While many today would equate Christianity with purity and virtue, it is interesting to note how at some points in history, mostly during the times of slavery, there is “a striking paradox in the portrayal of slave-narrative violence- namely its frequent association with Christianity” (Ferguson 297). The Christian slave-holders professed their love for God in church, and then turned around and acted out violently against their slaves. The narratives of Jacobs and “Douglass demonstrate [this idea of] how the slave owner’s world negates and even perverts its own value” (Gates xviii). The true Christian values in the slave-holder’s life are nowhere to be found, as they commit demeaning and demoralizing actions against their slaves that go against

Fredrick Douglass and Henry Melville both critique Christianity as it was practiced in 19th-century America. Douglass illuminates the aspect of Christianity in relation to the way Christians also uphold the institution of slavery. He views it has ironic that those who claim the Christian faith also believe that there is nothing wrong in the practice of slavery. Douglass questions how one can be a true Christian and still not see that slavery in morally and religiously wrong. He ultimately critiques the way people practice the faith and still uphold slavery. Douglass goes as far to say that the slave master’s even become crueler when they find religion, because then they feel as if they can do no wrong. As Douglass states in relation to slavery and religion, “Here we have religion and robbery the allies of each other – devils dressed in angels’ robes, and hell presenting the semblance of paradise.”

In Is It a Choice? Marcus addresses probably the most regularly made inquiries about homosexuality and LGBT individuals. His answers are brimming with knowledge, mind and incidentally twinges with an insight of mockery. The book is sorted out topically, so readers will have the capacity to effectively discover responses to inquiries regarding religion or dating or whatever else may be of enthusiasm to them. Moreover, Marcus gives a phenomenal book reference to readers keen on diving more profound into the subject.

Homosexuality in the Bible is a difficult topic to address especially in modern day time. Now a day there is more debate than ever before about certain passages in the Bible that address homosexuality. The interpretation of specific passages and the true meanings of these passages has caused a stir amongst religious folks worldwide.

The Bible has been interpreted differently throughout different parts of the world and throughout distinctive time periods. It was seen and used as moral guidelines for Christians and some of its ideas made its way into laws, making it a useful and powerful tool in America. However, in America, Christianity was used as justification for the enslavement of other groups like the Africans who were brought to America against their will. As the African slaves became more familiar with the Bible, they connected with parts of it because their slave experience was like the experience of the Hebrew slaves in Egypt.1 Rather than viewing Christianity as oppressive like their master, the slaves viewed it as a religion of freedom and hope and crafted a religion that spoke to the needs of blacks. While there are some similarities between the two groups, there are also differences between them such as the lack of miracles as Africans wished for freedom and the role that 20th century Moses Martin Luther King Jr. would perform for his people. Although Christianity was used as a means for suppressing and enslaving African people by their masters, the religion was used by Africans as a symbol of freedom, rather than oppression.