Why can't atheists, agnostics, and non-Christians answer this?

Question

Were any important abolitionists non-Christian? We always here the line about the Bible and slavery, but what about the role Christianity played in abolition? What about the KKK? When Grant took at hard line against the organization, was he doing so as a Christian or non-Christian?

Ronin, so you can't answer the question. Right?

Hose, I doubt you've read more about the KKK than I have. No, it isn't Chrisitan. It started as a political movement and then became plain racist.

If you are positing the KKK is a Christian organization, do yourself a favor and read about it.

I'm still waiting for a name or two that answer the question.

I think you got it, Jayelle!

Kjelstad, Lincoln was not an abolitionist. He stated several times his interest in the war was the Union, not slavery. And do worry about my views of the Founding Fathers until I express them.

DuckPhup, not so fast. Washington owned slaves. Here is a list of them in his will.

http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/will/slavelist.html

Regarding the Bible, the most prominent theologian to defend slavery was Robert Dabney. His arguments were a but more nuanced than what you have, but it is good you are familiar with them.

That is a good one, Paladin.

Answer 1

**Were any important abolitionists non-Christian?**

Moses E. Levy of Florida: A Jewish Abolitionist and a slave owner.

August Bondi, a Jewish abolitionist who fought with John Brown...

***What about the KKK? ***

The Bible Luke 19:26-28
"He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them, bring them here and kill them in front of me." After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

Yes, Christianity did have a role in abolishing Slavery.

Answer 2

"Were any important abolitionists non-Christian?"

I don't know, but I am confident that there were, especially considering that the secular north was pro-abolition, and the christian south was pro-slavery, for the most part.

I bet if you ask christians the same questions most of them wouldn't know either.

This is a very unimportant and trivial question. What are you trying to get out of it?

If no atheist, agnostic, or non-christian can provide you with a satisfactory answer does this somehow prove anything? Or is this just a personal ego boost?

What I do know is that it was the christian empire of America that created and supported slavery. Whether it was or wasn't christians who ended up helping to abolish slavery is almost moot.

Answer 3

Why do you include non-Christians in this? Jews have never called the KKK a Christian organization and at that time were just trying to stay out of the way because they were in danger from the KKK as well.

Answer 4

The bible was used to JUSTIFY slavery. The Christian church's main justification of the concept of slavery is based on Genesis 9:25-27. According to the Bible, the worldwide flood had concluded and there were only 8 humans alive on earth: Noah, his wife, their six sons and daughters in law. Noah's son Ham had seen "the nakedness of his father." So, Noah laid a curse -- not on Ham, who was guilty of some type of indiscretion. The sin was transferred to Noah's grandson Canaan. Such transference of sin from a guilty to an innocent person or persons is unusual in the world's religious and secular moral codes. It is normally considered highly unethical. However, it appears in many biblical passages. The curse extended to all of Canaan's descendants:

Genesis 9:25-27: "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers. He also said, 'Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japeth live in the tents of Shem and may Canaan be his slave'. "
Christians traditionally believed that Canaan had settled in Africa. The dark skin of Africans became associated with this "curse of Ham." Thus slavery of Africans became religiously justifiable.

The call for the abolition of black slavery came not from Christians but from atheists generally. Slavery was abolish in France in 1791, not by the church, but by the atheistic founders of the revolution. In the U.S. the early critics of slavery, Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), George Washington (1732-1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) and John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), were all either atheists or Deists. Later the abolitionist cause was taken up by such people as Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), a Deist, Raplh Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), a Unitarian minister turned atheist, and William Lyold Garrison (1805-1879), an atheist. Quakers were, for all intents and purposes, the only religious group who made it a mission to abolish slavery. In England, the battle for the abolition of slavery was fought mainly by such as Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) - atheists all.

The majority of the opposition to ending slavery came mainly from the churches and religious groups. For them it was not important whether slavery was inhumane, it was more important whether it was permitted by the Bible.

Answer 5

There is good and bad in every group. And yes. As a matter of fact, Christians, and in particular, Quakers, were at the forefront in the abolition of slavery in the United States. So, taking your point to the next level, "How many practicing Quakers are left in the United States?" Christian or not, it is the Quakers that should be congratulated. Don't try and bask in their reflected glory.

Answer 6

I can't provide all of the sources, but a quick search of the Internet indicates that Charles Darwin was indeed an atheist, but was also strongly and publicly against slavery. There is a story that Darwin converted to Christianity on his death bed, however, the story is not very credible. I think if you do a little Internet search on Darwin, slavery and Christianity you can confirm my answer.

C. Chew

Answer 7

From what I know (I was raised in the South), the KKK is VERY Christian...

Cupcakebutt: Quite possibly you have. I've not done much reading on the subject. However, a lot of the individual members seem to claim that they are "good, white, wholesome, decent, Christian men".

Answer 8

As a matter of fact, if you read the book "Freethinkers" by Jacoby, you will learn about how xian leaders in the USA held back the cause of black freedom, black civil rights, women's civil rights, and others.

All of these rights were held back b/c they were "unnatural" The fact is that if it weren't for religious leaders, blacks and women would have had their causes recognized DECADES earlier than they were.
After these rights were a fait accompli, the religious leaders soon began re-writing their own history to claim that they were with the downtrodden all along.

You do know what the KKK burns on lawns of blacks, right?

Answer 9

Maybe you'll find an answer here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolitionism

BTW, IMHO, the KKK thinks it's very Christian, but it isn't, really. Followers of Jesus shouldn't lynch people they don't like. Followers of Jesus shouldn't judge people by the color of their skin. BTW, IMHO, Jesus wasn't white! The KKK would lynch him, too! As the poet Gwendolyn Brooks wrote, "The loveliest lynchee was Our Lord."

Answer 10

How about Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and William Garrison?