Profit: the Defiler of Christianity
Profit, the Defiler of Christianity: a comparison of religion in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Letter from Birmingham Jail
In the year 313 AD, Emperor Constantine I adopted the Edict of Milan, allowing Christians to practice their faith without persecution. Although Christianity had been around for more than three hundred years by then, this was a foundational building block of the institution known as the “Church”. When we look back at the history of Europe we can see that the church played an important role in shaping social ideals such as tolerance, beliefs and morals. These concepts were shipped across the Atlantic during the colonial era and long after the American Revolution, remained fixed in the minds of the people. By comparing the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave Written by Himself and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, we can see the injustices in which the Church displays towards coloured people in American in order to gain wealth. We also, get a sense that the churches influence over society has changed from the original revolutionary concepts of peace and love, to the totalitarian concepts of domination and control. Both men shared a vision of a pure Christianity. Both men shared the condemnation of the church’s position on equality and justice. Both men shared the feelings of societal manipulation inflicted by the church. Both men shared their talents with the world in order to cure prejudice and demand equality.
King showed us his vision of true Christianity by redefining Christ as an extremist. “Was not Jesus an extremist for love: ‘ Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.’” (King, p. 7) His idea of Jesus being a radical allowed for two major points to be made: 1 that true Christians should be full of love and acceptance not hatred and ignorance and; 2 that he himself was
In the year 313 AD, Emperor Constantine I adopted the Edict of Milan, allowing Christians to practice their faith without persecution. Although Christianity had been around for more than three hundred years by then, this was a foundational building block of the institution known as the “Church”. When we look back at the history of Europe we can see that the church played an important role in shaping social ideals such as tolerance, beliefs and morals. These concepts were shipped across the Atlantic during the colonial era and long after the American Revolution, remained fixed in the minds of the people. By comparing the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave Written by Himself and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, we can see the injustices in which the Church displays towards coloured people in American in order to gain wealth. We also, get a sense that the churches influence over society has changed from the original revolutionary concepts of peace and love, to the totalitarian concepts of domination and control. Both men shared a vision of a pure Christianity. Both men shared the condemnation of the church’s position on equality and justice. Both men shared the feelings of societal manipulation inflicted by the church. Both men shared their talents with the world in order to cure prejudice and demand equality.
King showed us his vision of true Christianity by redefining Christ as an extremist. “Was not Jesus an extremist for love: ‘ Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.’” (King, p. 7) His idea of Jesus being a radical allowed for two major points to be made: 1 that true Christians should be full of love and acceptance not hatred and ignorance and; 2 that he himself was