They have brought me to the conclusion that genuine goodness is the same, whether found inside or outside the church, and that to be an “infidel” no more proves a man to be selfish, mean, and wicked, than to be evangelical proves him to be honest, just, and humane.
Following an encounter with a noted "infidel," Douglass articulates his belief that true goodness transcends religious affiliation and that labels do not define character.
Share
More from Frederick Douglass
The father might be a white man, glorying in the purity of his Anglo-Saxon blood, and his child ranked with the blackest slaves.
He was called upon not merely to administer the government, but to decide, in the face of terrible odds, the fate of the Republic.
Our very lack of preparation for the conflict disposed us to look for some other than the way of blood out of the difficulty.
The good to be sought and the evil to be shunned were flung in the balance and weighed against each other.