# How does Darkwater develop the theme of Religion and Moral Hypocrisy?

> Darkwater by W. E. B. Du Bois

## Answer

Darkwater by W. E. B. Du Bois develops Religion and Moral Hypocrisy across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.

Du Bois critiques organized religion for its complicity in racism and oppression, while also expressing a deep spiritual faith and calling for a more authentic, justice-oriented Christianity.

The chapter is a raw theological struggle, accusing both God and the white Christian establishment of hypocrisy, as churches stand silent while innocent blood is shed.

The bishops, supposed moral leaders, react with disgust and political calculation rather than compassion, exposing the hypocrisy of religious institutions in the face of racial injustice.

The stranger, a Christ figure, is rejected by those who profess Christian values, such as the judge's wife who claims to love her neighbor but recoils at a black man. The lynching is juxtaposed with a vision of the crucifixion, highlighting the hypocrisy of white Christianity.

## Evidence

- [a-litany-at-atlanta](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/darkwater_se/chapters/a-litany-at-atlanta.md): The chapter is a raw theological struggle, accusing both God and the white Christian establishment of hypocrisy, as churches stand silent while innocent blood is shed.
- [the-second-coming](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/darkwater_se/chapters/the-second-coming.md): The bishops, supposed moral leaders, react with disgust and political calculation rather than compassion, exposing the hypocrisy of religious institutions in the face of racial injustice.
- [jesus-christ-in-texas](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/darkwater_se/chapters/jesus-christ-in-texas.md): The stranger, a Christ figure, is rejected by those who profess Christian values, such as the judge's wife who claims to love her neighbor but recoils at a black man. The lynching is juxtaposed with a vision of the crucifixion, highlighting the hypocrisy of white Christianity.
- [the-prayers-of-god](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/darkwater_se/chapters/the-prayers-of-god.md): The poem critiques a God who remains silent amid atrocity and reveals the speaker's realization that God is crucified in the suffering of the oppressed.
- [a-hymn-to-the-peoples](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/darkwater_se/chapters/a-hymn-to-the-peoples.md): The hymn invokes multiple religious traditions (Buddha, Christ, al-Koran, Bible) as holy, critiquing the hypocrisy of those who 'lie and steal and kill' while claiming righteousness.

## Links

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