# Why did slaves believe the same religion as their masters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 5, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138 "2013-11-05T13:08:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oedipus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Oedipus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oedipus)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/1 "2013-11-05T13:08:17Z")
During the Holocaust, there was a noted rift in how Jewish people viewed God and their religion as a result of their ordeal. I specifically remember the supposed quote carved on the wall of the concentration camp saying “If there’s a God, he will have to beg for my forgiveness.” I know slaves were taught to from the Bible and many couldn’t read or write, but I know they weren’t dumb. Why, throughout this entire horrible ordeal, did they maintain in the thought of a merciful God above? A God that was very often the same God their masters believed in. Even afterward, the tradition of Christianity ran (and runs) strong throughout the African American community, despite it being the exact same religion practiced by racist white supremacists who captured their ancestors, put them into slavery, fought to keep them slaves, and then continued to oppress them even to this day. Especially with the masters justifying their use of slavery with direct scripture from the Bible, it seems like slaves would just be disingenuous to their slave masters and pretend to follow their same God, while, in their head, have a secret revulsion towards Yahweh. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/2 "2013-11-05T13:23:00Z")
I often wondered this myself. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/3 "2013-11-05T13:27:00Z")
As opposed to what? It’s not as if much of the West African religions survived the Crossing, although I have heard arguments that many of the distinctively Black American styles of worship can be traced back to West Africa. People tend to follow the religion they were raised in, no matter if it is objectively good for them. I fully believe that then, as now, most churchgoers do not really have the time, education or inclination to deeply question anything they are told from the pulpit. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/4 "2013-11-05T13:31:13Z")
Presumably many African Americans were and are well aware of the efforts that many Christians made to abolish slavery, and that may have been involved in their decision to become a Christian. Alternatively, African Americans may simply have become Christians for the same reasons that so many members of all races did and still do. In any case, it’s certainly true that a great many African Americans did and still do believe in Christ, and I’m sure that no one on this board is going to suggest that it’s because they’re less intelligent than other races. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/5 "2013-11-05T13:36:59Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > In any case, it’s certainly true that a great many African Americans did and still do believe in Christ, and I’m sure that no one on this board is going to suggest that it’s because they’re less intelligent than other races. I for one do not believe that African American Christians are any less intelligent than white Christians. ---
**Author:** ![Oedipus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Oedipus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oedipus)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/6 "2013-11-05T13:39:30Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > Presumably many African Americans were and are well aware of the efforts that many Christians made to abolish slavery, and that may have been involved in their decision to become a Christian. > > Alternatively, African Americans may simply have become Christians for the same reasons that so many members of all races did and still do. > > In any case, it’s certainly true that a great many African Americans did and still do believe in Christ, and I’m sure that no one on this board is going to suggest that it’s because they’re less intelligent than other races. Yea, but it seems like, if nothing else, the whole situation would make them more hardened and angry towards Christianity as a religion. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/7 "2013-11-05T13:45:57Z")
Really? A book filled to bursting about promised lands, persecuted chosen people and a god figure that dies like a criminal would seem to me very appealing to a persecuted populated. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/8 "2013-11-05T13:50:48Z")
I think you need to understand this whole “Slavery” concept. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/9 "2013-11-05T13:51:59Z")
It wasn’t the religion of their masters. The “Christianity” taught to the slaves focused entirely on subservience and wasn’t intended to much more for the slaves than to reinforce the culture of slavery. One of the reasons it was illegal to teach slaves to read was so that they couldn’t read the bible for themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/10 "2013-11-05T13:55:48Z")
Possible reasons: [ul][_]It’s rare for anyone to consciously sit down, compare religions, analyze benefits and beliefs and come to a conclusion about which one to subscribe to or not. Most people continue in the same religion they were brought up in. [_]It might have been expedient to believe (or pretend to believe, at first) what they were told to believe to avoid exacerbating master-slave conflicts. [_] You can justify almost anything if you try hard enough, and preachers can distort an angry, vengeful god into a sacrificing, loving one as long as the congregation wants to believe and isn’t too skeptical.[_]The idea of Christians being persecuted, then redeemed in Heaven provided a ready excuse for belief.[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/11 "2013-11-05T14:08:21Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > Presumably many African Americans were and are well aware of the efforts that many Christians made to abolish slavery, and that may have been involved in their decision to become a Christian. I doubt they “became Christians”. They were raised as Christians. They just didn’t, generally, become something else. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/12 "2013-11-05T14:15:31Z")
Also, remember that slavery of Africans was not limited to the United States. In St. Domingue, slaveholders were required by law to convert slaves to Catholocism, and African religious practice was suppressed. The result was, among other things, [Haitian Voodou](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Vodou), a blend of West African religion and Catholicism (plus a few other influences). ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/13 "2013-11-05T14:33:43Z")
> [@Oedipus](#): > > Yea, but it seems like, if nothing else, the whole situation would make them more hardened and angry towards Christianity as a religion. Well, how much do you actually know about “the whole situation”. You say “I know slaves were taught to from the Bible”, but among all the black slaves in the Americas, how many are you sure are taught from the Bible? The wealthy Spanish landowners were not known for being particularly fervent in their religious beliefs. The claim that “white supremacists captured their ancestors, put them into slavery” doesn’t mention that slavery had always existed in Africa, long before European explorers arrived. Both the Muslim kingdoms in the north and other African nations captured and traded slaves for centuries. Portugese and Spanish traders simply joined a system already in existence. The comment about “continued to oppress them even to this day” also calls out for explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/14 "2013-11-05T14:35:15Z")
A crappy life and the fact that their religion had been forced on their ancestors didn’t cause medieval European serfs to abandon Christianity - so why should slaves be any different? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/15 "2013-11-05T14:39:46Z")
I’ve read a couple of different theories. The masters were more powerful than the slaves, so the god(s) of the masters is more powerful than the gods of the slaves. If you’re going to worship, you want to worship the most powerful god and get on his good side. I also suspect that a lot of the worship that slaves did was pure lip service…that is, the slaves would act as if they believed in Christianity (or the version of Christianity that was taught to them) simply to avoid the appearance of being uppity. I can’t say that I blame them. Uppity slaves got treated even worse than compliant slaves, so why invite trouble? Just say the words, do the actions, and avoid another whipping. You can always worship in your own way in private. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/16 "2013-11-05T14:47:20Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > The claim that “white supremacists captured their ancestors, put them into slavery” doesn’t mention that slavery had always existed in Africa, long before European explorers arrived. Both the Muslim kingdoms in the north and other African nations captured and traded slaves for centuries. Portugese and Spanish traders simply joined a system already in existence. In fact this leaves out a major reason that religion was relevant here: Christians believed it was wrong to enslave other Christians, but doing it to non-Christians was OK. The racial component didn’t exist until later on. In that sense it’s incorrect to call these horrible people white supremacists. > [@](#): > > The comment about “continued to oppress them even to this day” also calls out for explanation. I bet you can figure out what he means without hijacking the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/17 "2013-11-05T15:20:23Z")
A lot of supposition here, much of it wrong. There are several books that get into the subject of how and why Christianity was purposefully spread among the slaves, but [this Wiki link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States#Religion) tells of the organizations that got the whole ball of wax rolling: > [@](#): > > Prior to the American Revolution, masters and revivalists spread Christianity to slave communities, supported by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. In the First Great Awakening, Baptists and Methodists from New England preached a message against slavery, encouraged masters to free their slaves, converted both slaves and free blacks, and gave them active roles in new congregations. The first black congregations were started in the South before the Revolution. > Over the decades and with the growth of slavery throughout the South, Baptist and Methodist ministers gradually changed their messages to accommodate the institution. After 1830, white Southerners argued for the compatibility of Christianity and slavery, with a multitude of both Old and New Testament citations. What happened was planned, not natural. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/18 "2013-11-05T15:23:53Z")
One of the central stories of the Bible is that of the Exodus: the escape of the Hebrews from their slavery in Egypt. This resonated powerfully with the slaves in the American South. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/19 "2013-11-05T15:32:32Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > One of the central stories of the Bible is that of the Exodus: the escape of the Hebrews from their slavery in Egypt. This resonated powerfully with the slaves in the American South. Christianity set root in the African American community long before that, due to the efforts of The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and the effects of The First Great Awakening: > [@Wiki](#): > > The First Awakening (or The Great Awakening) was a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, and especially the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138/20 "2013-11-05T15:34:35Z")
It’s not like they had a lot of choice, either. _Toby: Hey Massuh! Toby gwine convert to Islam. You cool wit dat?_ Master: Why sure, Toby. Whatever you find spiritually fulfilling. _As-salamu alaykum_! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-slaves-believe-the-same-religion-as-their-masters/673138.md?page=2)