In the book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, there is a line that grips me. There will be plenty time to be gripped by the specific atrocities of which I will read as I work my way through the book; but this line is early on in the Preface which was written by William Lloyd Garrison. Already an abolitionist, Garrison, after hearing Douglass speak for the first time said, “I never hated slavery so intensely, as at that moment”.
Garrison was moved by the message, but he was equally, if not more, by the caliber of the person who delivered it. Seeing the potential of this one individual, made for an understanding that was “more clear than ever” that the rage expressed in the brutal beatings was undeserved and beyond unfair.
And then the line; “With all his noble powers and sublime aspirations, how like a brute was he treated, even by those professing to have the same mind in them that was in Christ Jesus.” From an extreme example of a person’s ability to so twist their belief as to permit as acceptable the things they did, it made me wonder on a smaller scale what I permit that seems acceptable to me . . . but isn’t.
Hunger and Thirst 
Amen!
My belief is that the Southerners who agreed with slavery were deceived by their traditions, by their environment, by their proof-texting of scripture, and by Satan. And to some extent, we all are in some way or another. We should be thankful for His grace.