Religion is the basis for a lot of things good and bad. It is often used as a scapegoat to justify the wrong doings of some people. The verses of the Bible are often twisted to mean what people want them to mean. In fact religion is the foundation of bondage during the Slave Era in Frederick Douglass' story Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself.
             In Douglass' narrative he describes the brutality to which he and his fellow slaves were often subjected. He speaks of the harsh beatings they received for doing no wrong, and how the slaveholders believed it to be "God's will" to commit the horrid acts that they committed. In this narrative Douglass states "I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes, a justifier of the most appalling barbarity, a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds, and a dark shelter under, which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest protection" (346). There is a woman slave in Douglass' narrative, which he does not name, whose back was constantly raw due to the callous whippings her master would give her simply because he felt it was his duty to do so.
             It is apparent that the slaveholders believed they had religious endorsement for their vindictiveness. As they would beat the slaves they would quote scriptures from the Bible to rationalize their actions. Douglass elaborates on this as well. He states "I
             have seen him tie up a lame young woman, and whip her with a heavy cow skin upon her naked shoulders, causing the warm red blood to drip; and, in justification of the bloody deed, he would quote this passage of scripture [He that knoweth his master's will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes]" (336). How
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