I was surprised and delighted to see your post on Nancy Isenberg’s history, White Trash. And thank you for crediting me with the suggestion to read it. I’d just like to add that it was generally accepted by European Christian civilizations in early modern history that people were born into a certain class by the “grace” of God. There was no upward mobility, no leveling of class, and no recognition of human or individual rights until the late 18th century. “White trash” were just one step above enslaved Africans and were often hired as the overseers of the big plantations. Their resentment led to particularly brutal treatment of enslaved people.
We do. The point I was trying to make is that the Christian religion taught that everyone had been assigned by God their place in society, that was the order of the world. That’s why the class system worked for so long. Hence, the saying, “There but for the grace of God go I” was a literal statement of appreciation by those born into wealth and good fortunate. Even though America didn’t adopt a formal class system, it still existed and does to some extent today.
Hm, I am not religious, but I was raised Christian and never heard that God had assigned us all our place in society -- on the contrary. In both the old and new testament there are verses about equality -- "We are all equally made in God’s image" (Genesis 1:26-28 and "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:24) and "All people are morally equal before the throne of God" (John 3:16). My theory is the violence many children in the south and midwest face in families that still believe in whipping (and the schools in 16 or so states that still beat children with boards) condition many of those children to grow up to love a violent, tyrannical "father ruler
Like you, I was raised in a fundamentalist Christian family but am not religious. When I went back to school and studied women's history and human rights I learned this was a commonly held and accepted belief until the idea of human and individual rights surfaced in the 18th century in France (with the Revolution) and England. This belief enabled monarchies to remain in power until the French decided to overthrow theirs in 1789. Of course this applied only to men's rights. Even though women led the way in the French Revolution, their contributions were discounted in the end and they weren't given a seat at the political table.
I was surprised and delighted to see your post on Nancy Isenberg’s history, White Trash. And thank you for crediting me with the suggestion to read it. I’d just like to add that it was generally accepted by European Christian civilizations in early modern history that people were born into a certain class by the “grace” of God. There was no upward mobility, no leveling of class, and no recognition of human or individual rights until the late 18th century. “White trash” were just one step above enslaved Africans and were often hired as the overseers of the big plantations. Their resentment led to particularly brutal treatment of enslaved people.
Very true! We often lose track of how privileged we are...
We do. The point I was trying to make is that the Christian religion taught that everyone had been assigned by God their place in society, that was the order of the world. That’s why the class system worked for so long. Hence, the saying, “There but for the grace of God go I” was a literal statement of appreciation by those born into wealth and good fortunate. Even though America didn’t adopt a formal class system, it still existed and does to some extent today.
Hm, I am not religious, but I was raised Christian and never heard that God had assigned us all our place in society -- on the contrary. In both the old and new testament there are verses about equality -- "We are all equally made in God’s image" (Genesis 1:26-28 and "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:24) and "All people are morally equal before the throne of God" (John 3:16). My theory is the violence many children in the south and midwest face in families that still believe in whipping (and the schools in 16 or so states that still beat children with boards) condition many of those children to grow up to love a violent, tyrannical "father ruler
" (the same has been written about Nazi Germany).
Like you, I was raised in a fundamentalist Christian family but am not religious. When I went back to school and studied women's history and human rights I learned this was a commonly held and accepted belief until the idea of human and individual rights surfaced in the 18th century in France (with the Revolution) and England. This belief enabled monarchies to remain in power until the French decided to overthrow theirs in 1789. Of course this applied only to men's rights. Even though women led the way in the French Revolution, their contributions were discounted in the end and they weren't given a seat at the political table.
Keep 'em poor, keep 'em sick, and keep 'em stupid. Might've taken a whike, but it worked.