Hypocrisy Of Christianity In Frederick Douglass

Hypocrisy of Christianity in Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass
Born into slavery and oppression in the early 1800’s, famed statesman and abolitionist Fredrick Douglass dedicated his life’s work to freeing the oppressed while fighting for “freedom and justice for all.” Born into an age when teaching slaves to learn to read and write was against the law, Douglass displayed inconceivable courage and incredible literary prowess by penning and publishing his memoir in 1845, The Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass: an American Slave. If Douglass purpose was to expose the cruel atrocities of slavery from the slave’s point of view, then he was successful. Through the narrative Douglass makes several important points over and over. He made major points on the hypocritical use of Christianity and how

slaveholders used it to justify their actions.
On multiple occasions Douglass brings light to the contradicting actions of Christian slaveholders, and their fight to be devoted to the very Bible they are disobeying. In prime example Mr. Covey, the slaveholders who broke him, Douglass comments how “few men would at times appear more devotional than he.” Mr. Covey, with the same breath that sings hymns to praise the Lord, orders his female slave, Caroline, to commit adultery. With no recollection of Hebrews 13:4, “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled,” he hires a married man to live with Caroline. Even though he appears as a committed Christian, adultery did not weight heavily on his conscious since he was “highly pleased” when Caroline gave birth to twins. Douglass even noted how Mr. Covey “sometimes deceived himself into the solemn belief that he was a sincere worshipper of the most high God.” Perhaps it is due to the fact “he would make short prayers in the morning, and a long prayer at night.” No matter how devoted Mr. Covey seems “for even Stan disguises himself as an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14).
The Christianity of the slaveholders is not hypocritical since they are just following the scripture and treating the slaves according to what is written in the Bible. In the case of Captain Auld, he whips his slave with “a heavy cow skin” which cause “the warm red blood to drip.” As awful as it seems, Captain Auld did nothing wrong because “he that knoweth his master’s will and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.” Not only that, it is okay to “treat them as your property” (Leviticus 25:46). Douglass comments how Captain Auld’s house “was the house of prayer,” so as a devoted Christian, he was just following what he believes in. Slavery is no stranger in the 1800s as it was present throughout the New and Old Testament. Jesus even approves of beating slaves, which was evident in Luke 12:47, “the servant will be severely punished for though he knew his duty, he refused to do it.” Therefore, Douglass should not “hate the corrupt, slaveholding … Christianity of this land.” because it was present in the Bible itself.
The sanctimonious slaveholders use the Bible for evil purposes, like beating a slave, when they could teach them about the word of Christ as devoted Christians.

Douglass points out how St. Michael’s religious masters would rather see slave spend Sabbath “engaged in degrading sports” rather than “trying to learn to read the will of God.” The slaveholders clearly did not finish reading the Bible because Mark 16:15 states, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” With complete disregard of that verse, slaveholder and the law condemns slaves for trying to read. Despite that, Douglass, out the kindness of his heart, tries to teach a group of slaves in a small Sabbath church to read the Bible. Douglass’s charitable act should be a role model, a perfect example for Christian everywhere; however, Wright Fairbanks and Garrison West “rushed in upon them with sticks and stones.” Slaveholders would rather hold weapons to steer slave away from God instead toward God “with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people” (Revelation

14:6).
From the dawn of time, mankind made their mistakes. From eating the forbidden fruit to enslaving a whole race of people. Christians nowadays persecute homosexuals over one verse, whereas “love thy neighbor” is forgotten. Humans are flawed. Humans wrote the Bible; therefore, the Bible is flawed. Considering the Bible is one of the oldest text in the world, it has been translated over and over again by people with their own bias views and interpretations. The Bible was written according to the people at that time; however, it is no longer applicable since it is 2015. As Douglass said, “I love the pure, peaceful, impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt...partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land.”