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Noah's Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery (Religion in America) |
Author: Stephen R. Haynes
Published: 2007-02-03 |
List price: $25.00
Our price: $25.00
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Customer comments on this selection.
 History repeats itself..
"History repeats itself", someone said. Humankind keeps repeating the same mistakes over and over, and seems never to learn any lesson. We witness abuse, violence, war, and sacrifice almost on a daily basis, and we do not even realize that our senses are immersed in a secular slumber, a state of semi-hypnotic condition, that refrains us from seeing clearly the true nature of things; homicides, genocides, and horrific principles such as Slavery, have catalyzed - and still are catalyzing - the lives of millions around the world, becoming in some cases, socially accepted behaviors. Fortunately for us, courageous authors, writers, and scholars, attempt to lift humanity to a higher level of consciousness, by inquiring on the reasons behind the occurrence of such horrible and questionable acts; by publishing their works, they aim to unveil the mysterious motives that may have caused those terrible outcomes, and more importantly, reach for new readers, so that to propagate a sense of general awareness among the current and the next generations, preventing those events from happening again.
Stephen R. Haynes, Ph.D, is one of them: he focuses on the history of United States of America, and seeks to find a justification to American Slavery with his book "Noah's Curse: The Biblical Justification to American Slavery". His work sapiently elucidates through a very extensive anthropological and historical analysis, how the Holy Bible has heavily contributed to the formation and continuation of the American social fabric, particularly in the Southern states of the Union; there, intellectuals, proprietors of lands, entrepreneurs, and simple citizens, relied on the scripts of the Bible - through their spiritual leaders and the clergy -, to create a religious rationale for slavery, racism, segregation, and secession from the Northern states. The key arguments of the book in actuality, are based on the centrality of the singular and biased interpretation of the paragraphs of Genesis 9-11 and 9-25 on behalf of the Southern religious congregations, whose most famous exponent was Benjamin M. Palmer, father founder of the Southern Presbyterian Church. The Bible's paragraph 9-11 treats of dispersion and segregation of the peoples on earth and racial differentiation, as supposedly conceived and designed by God. Paragraph 9-25 instead, relates to the overly famous curse that Noah throws to one of his three sons, Ham -who has disrespected and dishonored him - as an explanation and a justification for racial slavery. In fact, Ham casually views his father's nudity and derides him in front of his brothers, Shem and Japheth, who instead, remaining loyal to their father cover him with a blanket. Noah will curse Ham and all his descendants - biblically the "African Race", based on Genesis 9-11 -, condemning them to perpetual slavery to the progenies of the brothers, ergo, the rest of the population of the world.
As abovementioned, Haynes argues that these significant passages represent the foundation of the Southern religious thought, along with the legend of Ham's descendant Nimrod (Gen. 10: 6-10), and the Tower of Babel story (Gen. 11:1-10). From these sections of the Bible, Nimrod emerges as a rebel to the word and the sacred unquestionable teachings of God, an expansionist, a vain idolater and the precursor of tyranny, the symbol of human race's darker side; the writer explores tirelessly the numerous and variegate ways in which the Bible was read by American proslavery apologists, with reference to the same fundamental thesis of "Order and Disorder", which were truly sensitive values still, espoused in the Southern states. He comes to the conclusion that for these and other reasons, Nimrod and his descendants will be associated with "blackness", a synonym for impurity, lust, dishonor and disorder, and as such, inclined to disobey God and His laws. These components would eventually epitomize the rationale behind the intellectual and racial inferiority of the Africans, and support the cause for their subordination on behalf of the "superior white Christians".
Interestingly, the author emphasizes with outstanding accuracy how these concepts were initially adopted by the first devout Christian scholars, and then escalated throughout centuries of human history, particularly in chapter three of the book, (Unauthorized Biography-The Legend of
Nimrod and His Tower, 41-61), and later in chapter six, (The Grandson of Disorder-Nimrod Comes to America, 105-121); there, Haynes accompanies the readers in a ideal maritime journey that touches the havens of Jewish and Christian diverse interpretations through the Middle Ages, Reformation and Renaissance, and Eighteen and Nineteen Centuries. Fascinatingly, during these phases of history, the themes that shaped the ideological contribution that later led to the engagement in the activity of Slavery of the African Race, appear to be progressively tangible and evident.
A significant part of the book however, is dedicated to the figure of Benjamin M. Palmer, a proslavery intellectual and leader in the southern Presbyterian Church from the 1850s until his death in 1902. Haynes provides facts and references on the life of this individual, whose endeavors twisted irreparably the minds of the Southern people. Palmer's speeches were able to attract thousands of viewers, and become legendary. "National Responsibility Before God", delivered in New Orleans in 1861 and strongly endorsed by the Government of Louisiana, is one of them, in which Palmer makes a very strong case for Slavery and Segregation by referring to the testament of the Sacred Scriptures. More importantly, Palmer accentuates the uniqueness of the God-given mission of the White Christians to prosper, expand their territories - as direct descendants of Noah's son, Japheth -, and perpetuate the state of servitude of Ham's progenies.
Interestingly, the use of verbs such as "prosper and expand" represent the true leitmotif behind the institution of Slavery, a motive that was never acknowledged by the Southern supporters. Slavery guaranteed the supply of labor at no-cost whatsoever and rich plantations' owners subtly sheltered in the aforementioned religious rationale to justify it and motivate its preservation.
Haynes portrays Palmer at times as a living paradox, because of his remarkable and chameleonic ability to adapt his interpretation of the Bible to the different moments of American history. Whether to advocate slavery or secession Palmer acts as an apostle towards his congregation and his proselytes, providing an appropriate version depending on the cause to defend. Curiously, the author also attempts to draw a psychological profile of Palmer based on his biography (159), where the conflicted relationship with his father seem to have impinged on the aggressive bias that conditioned Palmer's view of Noah's prophecy; in actuality however, although Haynes' argument potentially carries some hints of veracity and tends to offer an interesting reading key to better comprehend Palmer's perspectives, we should recognize that it is probably dictated by the author's basic disapproval of his ideas; it amounts to a brief, succinct and non-scientific analysis that essentially cannot be proved.
Nevertheless, the book is particularly appreciable and represents an amazing source of information, if not for the extensive work of research, at least for the endless list of references to other texts and the Bible itself, which amounts to almost thirty percent of the whole volume. In fact, Haynes repeatedly includes references to the efforts of other scholars, such as Eugene Genovese, and quotes citations from other proslavery writers of the past centuries, such as Christopher Memminger and Michael P. Johnston (79); astonishingly, Memminger explained in 1835 that "the slavery institution dignifies the family, because each planter is a patriarch" (like Noah, who was attempting to re-establish order in the world after the deluge). He was then echoed by Johnston, who suggested that "the reciprocal parent-child obligations and affections of the plantation household gave meaning to those involved". In essence, Haynes helps us understand that according to the southern intellectuals, the institution of slavery was sacred because it was synonym of social order and stability, and both the master and slave benefited from it.
On the other hand, although Haynes' approach certainly attests the diligent and profound dedication invested in the development of this extraordinary work, it is somewhat observable that the unprepared reader - or at least that who does not regularly enjoy the pace and the structure of similar academic tomes - might face a few difficulties with his writing style; in fact, the majority of the passages of the book continuously refer to other texts, so that the reader is compelled to consult with notes and bibliography, with the result of losing the harmony and the flow of Haynes discourse.
Overall, Stephen Haynes, who is an associate professor holding a Ph.D. in Religion and Literature from Emory University, an M.A. from Florida State University, and a B.A. from Vanderbilt University, has produced an amazing book, whose philosophical and social impact on the minds of readers cannot be neglected; it is in fact one of the recommendations, evidenced in his conclusion (220), that the we all should be aware of the intertwined nature of Religion and Society, and he argues that many in the past have failed to include the importance of the religious influence exerted on the development of racial prejudice. As an example, the author cites "The Anatomy of Prejudices", by Elisabeth Young -Bruehl, where psychoanalysis is instrumental in defining racism as a form of hysterical prejudice based on repressed sexual desires. In essence, Haynes claims that this book lacks of any "attention to the beliefs and tradition transmitted by religious communities". To support that, he provides an invaluable amount of evidence that in his words could be used to "incriminate Jews and Christians alike", and concludes inviting both scholars and readers to consider Religion as a critical and crucial - if not fundamental - catalyst of Social Behavior.
In conclusion, "Noah's Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery" can be easily defined as an amazing work, for both its staggering and captivating content, and ability to attract the readers into a fabulous journey of religious and cultural exploration, throughout the most salient phases of human history. It's a tremendous informative instrument, and provides a valid opportunity to comprehend the reasons that have led to the endorsement of Slavery in America. More importantly though, it is also evident that it is a powerful text with a strong social message: a subtle but resolute wish to generate general awareness in the world, in order to avoid, or more possibly limit, the repetition of analogous atrocious mistakes on behalf of humankind.
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