After finishing the eye-opening,
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, I was very moved by the intense passion and bravery of Frederick Douglass. Douglass was truly like none other: he was able to teach himself how to read and write although it was illegal and his incredible oratory and writing skills enabled Douglass to become
"...the most powerful and influential black American of his time..." (iii). Douglass knew that the main audience of his autobiography were northerners (mainly Christians) who were unsure if slavery should be continued. Many times throughout his narrative, Douglass makes reference to religion. Often using the epithet, "hell of slavery," it is likely that Douglass wanted his readers to come to the conclusion that those who allowed the evil of slavery to continue would have to endure the wrath of G-d. I believe Mr. Douglass tried to showcase the hypocrisy of the "religious" slave owners in the hope of giving readers a deeper feeling of hatred towards slaveholders: "[Mr. Covey] sometimes deceived himself into the solemn belief, that he was a sincere worshipper...when he may be said to have been guilty compelling his woman slave to commit the
sin of adultery" (37).
Based on Douglass' narrative, many people during that time had strong religious beliefs and feelings. Today, it is becoming more and more common for people to reject religion. There may be many reasons why people in the United States are generally less religious nowadays than they were in Douglass' time. I feel that the main reason is that people have less to worry in terms of health issues because improved medical care over the years. When I went to Hebrew school, I could see a clear lack of faith among many of my peers. After 7th grade, almost 1/2 of my religious school peers no longer attended. The graph below represents data that was collected in a study done by the University of California, Berkeley. The results of the graph seem to accurately depict my own experience in Hebrew school.
Why do you think people are less religious these days?
I think that you are correct when you say that people have less to worry about that they used to believe faith could only help. There is no doubt that with modern medicine many illnesses that could have been deadly in the past are now easily curable. So instead of just praying that you get better you can go to the doctor and get it all fixed. With modern science I also feel that we now know how/why many thinks happen or why the world is as it is. Since we can answer these questions through science I believe it just gives people one more reason not to look towards religion for all answers.
ReplyDeleteThough there is an obvious decrease in religious affiliation over the last few decades, does that mean that people are becoming less spiritual? The way presidential candidates are forced to talk about G-d or to run the risk of losing many votes seems to tell the opposite story of the graph I presented from the UC Berkeley study. Have Americans still held onto their faith even with technological advances?
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