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.
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This was a new and special revelation, dispelling a painful mystery against which my youthful understanding had struggled, and struggled in vain, to wit, the white man’s power to perpetuate the enslavement of the black man.
Our very lack of preparation for the conflict disposed us to look for some other than the way of blood out of the difficulty.
We (the people of the North) are a charitable people, and in the excess of this feeling we were disposed to put the very best construction upon the strange behavior of our southern brethren.