What Is The Church In To Kill A Mockingbird
In the 60s, although discrimination took place in many institutions, one of the most prominent places were churches. Blacks had to go to unequal and separate churches but it was a safe place and sanctuary for them since no white man dared step foot in there. It was the only place they really truly had for themselves besides schools. In other segregated places like diners and buses they had to give up their spots and act invisible in white presence. Churches were one of the only places they had for them.
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem and Scout’s black maid Calpurnia takes the two children to church with her, an all black church since everything was separate but equal. Taking two white children to church with her was unheard of. Black people …show more content…
In it he addressed several different parts of the Civil Rights Movement but one of the most important things he wrote about was the white church and his disappointment in it. King was very disappointed that the white church decided to stay quiet about what had been happening instead of speaking up and helping one another. “So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent--and often even vocal--sanction of things as they are” (King). He felt as if the church should speak up about it all instead of staying silent. It was the same God after all. In his mind the churches were the safest and the strongest when together. No segregation and no laws, just two skin colors worshipping the same God in the same building. That way there would be no bombings, no fires, and no separate buildings. It would be the safest place for both when they just came and worshipped together like they were supposed to all along. “There was a time when the church was very powerful--in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society”
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem and Scout’s black maid Calpurnia takes the two children to church with her, an all black church since everything was separate but equal. Taking two white children to church with her was unheard of. Black people …show more content…
In it he addressed several different parts of the Civil Rights Movement but one of the most important things he wrote about was the white church and his disappointment in it. King was very disappointed that the white church decided to stay quiet about what had been happening instead of speaking up and helping one another. “So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent--and often even vocal--sanction of things as they are” (King). He felt as if the church should speak up about it all instead of staying silent. It was the same God after all. In his mind the churches were the safest and the strongest when together. No segregation and no laws, just two skin colors worshipping the same God in the same building. That way there would be no bombings, no fires, and no separate buildings. It would be the safest place for both when they just came and worshipped together like they were supposed to all along. “There was a time when the church was very powerful--in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society”