Southern View of Religion in Lillian Smith’s Killers of the Dream Essay

Southern View of Religion in Lillian Smith’s Killers of the Dream â€Å"Our first lesson about God made the deepest impression on us. We were told that He loved us, and then we were told that He would burn us in everlasting flames of hell if we displeased Him. We were told we should love Him for He gives us everything good that we have, and then we were told that we should fear Him because He has the power to do evil to us whenever He cares to. We learned from this part of the lesson another: that â€Å"people,† like God and parents, can love you and hate you at the same time; and though they may love you, if you displease them they may do you great injury; hence being loved by them does not give you protection from being harmed by them. We learned that They (parents) have a â€Å"right† to act in this way because God does, and that They in a sense represent God, in the family.† -Lillian Smith, Killers of the Dream, p. 85 This short passage introduces the first of many paradoxes and contradictions that dominate the Southern way of life that Smith depicts in Killers of the Dream. It is fitting that Smith (and her contemporaries) should remember their first lesson about God as a terrifying self-contradiction, because this theme perpetuates itself in the Southern view of religion. It lays the framework for a theological doctrine that banishes a person to the flames of hell for taking a sip of alcohol, yet turns its head as human beings banish others to the ghettos and old slave quarters for having dark skin. This passage also creates a parallel between the white people and their role as the â€Å"God† of Southern society. Smith states, â€Å"We were told we should love Him for He gives us everything good that we have, and then we were told that... ...hild understands his relationship with God and his parents as such, it is fairly natural that he will grow up to perpetuate a facsimile of that relationship between himself and his own children and the black community, both environments in which he is â€Å"God.† Smith summarizes her description of her early â€Å"lesson† with â€Å"We learned that They (parents) have a â€Å"right† to act in this way because God does, and that They in a sense represent God, in the family.† This satirical presentation of the word â€Å"right† in parentheses both the parental and the societal desire for the white man to play God. However, Smith ironically suggest that God does not act this way, He is simply drawn into the trial as an unwitting testimonial justifying the behavior that society wants to believe is right, despite their gnawing knowledge that it is far from right, and far from human, or humane.

The World – Creative Writing

After the dreamless sleep of eons, the time had come for him to awaken, to view what was known only as The World. He traversed the nothingness of the desolate area around him, aimlessly trying to find something, someone, anything. Yet isolation was all he found. The World was a place where the order of time was non-existent and all of intelligent life's technology was lost for all eternity, all under a veil of turmoil. The more he searched, the less he found. The only sound to be heard was the sound of skulls crushed under foot. Yet his pointless journey continued. He became more frantic; he wanted to find something, a flower, a butterfly, or someone he could socialize with. Still, nothingness was all he found, himself was all he could socialize with. He became scared even though there was nothing to be afraid of. Fear had consumed him, just like fear had consumed The World. He believed too, he would become just a number. However, then he saw it. Pillars of blackness emanating from the horizon, piercing the sky above him, a fair distance away from him. He also saw faint figures, just like himself near the origin of the Pillars, and a city surrounding them. He started walking towards the city. A walk soon turned into run as he was struck with inconsolable relief. He knew, now, he was not the only person in The World. He thought he was alone, but now his fears were all except present. When became closer, inconsolable relief turned to inconsolable pain as he saw the figures close up. He did not see humans, people, or even animals. They were monstrosities. Turned to their state by their own greed and power hungry minds, only mutated organisms were left. One turned and slowly trundled towards him. It wore a long grey unblemished garment, with a hood obscuring its face. Diamonds, gold and other precious materials covered it, in a delicate and intricate pattern. He shivered as it put a limb, similar to a hand, on his shoulder. ‘You are lost, are you not?' it muttered to him. He nervously nodded, not able to open his mouth to speak. He continued ‘After many centuries of searching I have finally found the one I am looking for, the one I can call my own. You may not think you know me, however, you know me more than you think you believe, and more than you want to believe.' He was mystified. A figure he had never seen before that claimed to know him. It was too much for him. He started to back down, but then he saw someone behind the figure, someone he recognized. She was talking to someone, a figure just like him. ‘Orta, you know her do you not? She came here, only recently, to meet her friend. Her friend Vertigo, who knew her, just like I know you.' He was mystified, ‘Is this a dream, a nightmare?' He thought to himself. The figure stated ‘This is not a dream. I am as real as you or Orta.' He was puzzled, being driven to insanity by the information overload. He could not understand what was going on. The area around him had people around him arriving all the time, meeting mysterious figures just like him. ‘Look around,' the figure continued, ‘There is your friend Alambad with Insanity, your doctor Xenia with Death, your cousin Vyse with Paranoia, you are not alone.' He became hysterical, his eyes widening, his face as pale as the moon itself. He ran at his cousin, screaming and shouting. Yet Vyse did not notice him. ‘You attempts at communicating with beings other than me are futile. I am the only one you can converse with at The World.' He stopped, with tears in his eyes and dragged himself back to the figure. ‘What is your name?' he asked, as he tried to hide his emotions. When he received no response, he repeated his question louder with more infurity. It replied ‘The figure you see before you now, the figure you are conversing with now has no name. It is nothing. It does not exist except inside yourself. However as humans require a name for everything, you may refer to me, as Isolation.' He raised his claw like limbs to lift the hood that covered its face. As the hood fell behind it, he winched in disgust as he saw what the hood was hiding. On his face he had, nothing. ‘Victims of our own fear brought us here, there is no way out.' Isolation said with his none existent lips. He raised a boney finger towards the pillars of shadow and continued ‘You humans fuel The World through your fears and phobias. They are non-existent, yet prove useful to us. You feed the The World, governed by Chaos our king and ruler, you keep it open. Our apparent existence is created by you. The endless walk you had when traveling here, you created it, you made it. Orta entered The World through the Clouds above you. Xenia entered The World through a car accident, on Earth. I am sorry but you will never return to the place of your origin.' They looked up into the sky together, observing at the beauteous gem in the sky they knew as Earth. Walking along memory beach together, they were soon talking and joking together as if they were long lost friends, walking to the end of time.

John Brown and His Raid on Harpers Ferry

The abolitionist John Brown remains one of the most controversial figures of the 19th century. During a few years of fame before his fateful raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Americans either regarded him as a noble hero or a dangerous fanatic. After his execution on December 2, 1859, Brown became a martyr to those opposed to slavery. And the controversy over his actions and his fate helped stoke the tensions that pushed the United States to the brink of Civil War. Early Life John Brown was born on May 9, 1800, in Torrington, Connecticut. His family was descended from New England Puritans, and he had a deeply religious upbringing. John was the third of six children in the family. When Brown was five, the family moved to Ohio. During his childhood, Browns very religious father would exclaim that slavery was a sin against God. And when Brown visited a farm in his youth he witnessed the beating of slave. The violent incident had a lasting effect on young Brown, and he became a fanatical opponent of slavery. John Browns Anti-Slavery Passion Brown married at the age of 20, and he and his wife had seven children before she died in 1832. He remarried and fathered 13 more children. Brown and his family moved to several states, and he failed at every business he entered. His passion for eliminating slavery became the focus of his life. In 1837, Brown attended a meeting in Ohio in memory of Elijah Lovejoy, an abolitionist newspaper editor who had been killed in Illinois. At the meeting, Brown raised his hand and vowed that he would destroy slavery. Advocating Violence In 1847 Brown moved to Springfield, Massachusetts and began befriending members of a community of escaped slaves. It was at Springfield that he first befriended the abolitionist writer and editor Frederick Douglass, who had escaped from slavery in Maryland. Browns ideas became more radical, and he began advocating a violent overthrow of slavery. He argued that slavery was so entrenched that it could only be destroyed by violent means. Some opponents of slavery had become frustrated with the peaceful approach of the established abolition movement, and Brown gained some followers with his fiery rhetoric. John Browns Role in Bleeding Kansas In the 1850s the territory of Kansas was rocked by violent conflicts between anti-slavery and pro-slavery settlers. The violence, which became known as Bleeding Kansas, was a symptom of the highly controversial Kansas-Nebraska Act. John Brown and five of his sons moved to Kansas to support the free-soil settlers who wanted Kansas to come into the union as a free state in which slavery would be outlawed. In May 1856, in response to pro-slavery ruffians attacking Lawrence, Kansas, Brown and his sons attacked and killed five pro-slavery settlers at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas. Brown Desired a  Slave Rebellion After acquiring a bloody reputation in Kansas, Brown set his sights higher. He became convinced that if he started an uprising among slaves by providing weapons and strategy, the revolt would spread across the entire south. There had been slave uprisings before, most notably the one led by the slave Nat Turner in Virginia in 1831. Turners rebellion resulted in the deaths of 60 whites and the eventual execution of Turner and more than 50 African Americans believed to have been involved. Brown was very familiar with the history of slave rebellions, yet still believed he could start a guerrilla war in the south. The Plan to Attack on Harpers Ferry Brown began to plan an attack on the federal arsenal in the small town of Harpers Ferry, Virginia (which is in present-day West Virginia). In July 1859, Brown, his sons, and other followers rented a farm across the Potomac River in Maryland. They spent the summer secretly stockpiling weapons, as they believed they could arm slaves in the south who would escape ​to join their cause. Brown traveled to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania at one point that summer to meet with his old friend Frederick Douglass. Hearing Browns plans, and believing them suicidal, Douglass refused to participate. John Browns Raid on Harpers Ferry On the night of October 16, 1859, Brown and 18 of his followers drove wagons into the town of Harpers Ferry. The raiders cut telegraph wires and quickly overcame the watchman at the armory, effectively seizing the building. Yet a train passing through town carried the news, and by the next day forces began to arrive. Brown and his men barricaded themselves inside buildings and a siege began. The slave uprising Brown hoped to spark never happened. A contingent of Marines arrived, under the command of Col. Robert E. Lee. Most of Browns men were soon killed, but he was taken alive on October 18 and jailed. The Martyrdom of John Brown Browns trial for treason in Charlestown, Virginia was major news in American newspapers in late 1859. He was convicted and sentenced to death. John Brown was hanged, along with four of his men, on December 2, 1859 at Charlestown. His execution was marked by the tolling of church bells in many towns in the north. The abolitionist cause had gained a martyr. And the execution of Brown was a step on the countrys road to Civil War.