The Slave Bible
I've written in the past about the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC. It is a $400 million (US) project developed by the Green family, owners of the Hobby Lobby chain. I maintained that if I was in DC it's highly unlikely that I would visit the museum, out of principle. They are conservative Christians who refused to include birth control for employees as part of their health coverage and held the opening gala for the museum in the Trump hotel. There was also a scandal about artifacts in the museum which had been illegally obtained, resulting in their return to countries of origin.
Just the same, I'm intrigued by some of the seminars the Museum of the Bible is offering during this Black History Month. Several are related to the use and misuse of the bible in the era of slavery. There were debates in which those supporting slavery drew on scripture passages while abolitionists quoted passages to oppose it.
The Slave Bible contained only “select parts” of the biblical text. Its publishers deliberately removed portions of the biblical text, such as the exodus story, that could inspire hope for liberation.
The great Black orator Frederick Douglass included references to the exodus and the prophets in many of his speeches to great effect. Here are some of the presentations from the museum this month, including one which will look at the bible as a source of strength during the Civil Rights movement in the 20th century. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King employed the imagery of the Promised Land in his speeches:
The Slave Bible: Its Origins and Its Impact Today
The Bible’s Impact on the Abolition Movement, Part 1: Harper’s Weekly
The Bible’s Impact on the Abolition Movement, Part 2: Meet and Greet with Harriet Tubman
The Bible’s Impact on the Abolition Movement, Part 3: Meet and Greet with Frederick Douglass
The Bible’s Impact on the Civil Rights Movement: Meet and Greet with Martin Luther King Jr.
In today's Groundling blog I offer my musings on cacophony and "keeping the peace" in the beseiged city of Ottawa. groundlingearthyheavenly.blogspot.com/2022/02/cacoph
Harriet Tubman
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