Freedom, yet slavery; liberty, yet tyranny; Christianity, yet Godlessness. Has anything changed in the hearts of the people since the Revolution in 1776? Today, even though slavery is unconstitutional, people are still enslaved by bigotry and racism. My frustration is vented towards Christians who use scripture and the guise of societal norms to keep others "in their place." In Christ, all are set free and all are on equal footing.

In the past, Black preachers and evangelists like David George, George Liele, and Hannah and Andrew Bryan were allowed to preach the gospel to other Blacks. However, when they began to realize the hypocrisy in the contemporary implementation of the Constitution and preach true freedom in Christ, the white slave owners threatened beatings, whippings, and death. Even though protests against slavery were initiated by many well known white men, the fad was soon dropped when slavery was needed in the economic structure of the South. Today, the church must not stand-by and allow bigotry and racism to prevent Blacks and others in gaining the equality that should already be theirs. It is in the continued spirit of Frederick Douglas that I say . . . the existence of racism in this country and in the church brands our republicanism as a sham, our humanity as a base pretense, and our Christianity as a lie.