# Religion and Moral Hypocrisy in Darkwater

> Theme guide for Darkwater by W. E. B. Du Bois.

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.

## Where it surfaces

- [A Litany at Atlanta](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/darkwater_se/chapters/a-litany-at-atlanta): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/darkwater_se/themes/religion_and_moral_hypocrisy
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/darkwater_se/themes