Religious blessing of slavery severed white Christians’ natural moral restraint

Evidence

In his first piece of public writing, Douglass eloquently cut to the heart of the problem with white Christianity. The “garb of Christianity” and the church covered the injustices of slavery in the social realm, and Christian theology gave “religious sanction” to punishment and cruelty in the personal realm. The churches conferred respectability, and even elevated esteem, on white Christian slaveholders; and the theological blessing of slavery paradoxically lobotomized white Christian consciences, severing what natural moral impulses there may have been limiting violence and cruelty. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 251

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the ADDENDUM thread on how ideology justifies atrocity — echoes the moral-blindness claims from earlier commentary on religion legitimating violence. — connects to: A leading theologian declared selling slaves aroused no more guilt than selling a horse — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 105; White theology’s main power was constricting whites’ moral vision rather than active opposition — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 218; White slaveholding Christianity subsidized and sanctified the slave trade. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 244 (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Theological blessing of slavery severed slaveholders’ natural moral impulses #corroborates (0.95) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 251
• Racist ideas softened slavery’s religious scruples to preserve enslaver interests #corroborates (0.85) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 105
• Racist theological ideas sanctioned and made American slavery acceptable to Christian churches #corroborates (0.80) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 20
• Western religious doctrine gave slavery its highest moral sanction #corroborates (0.80) — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1709
• White Christianity’s function was protecting white racial innocence #responds-to (0.75) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 69
• Scientific racism emerged to justify slavery once religious justifications failed #qualifies (0.70) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1041