One Great Political Idea 

In an 1852 speech in Ithaca, New York, abolitionist Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) boiled down his politics to one Biblical idea:

“I have one great political idea … That idea is an old one. It is widely and generally assented to; nevertheless, it is very generally trampled upon and disregarded. The best expression of it, I have found in the Bible. It is in substance, “Righteousness exalteth a nation; sin is a reproach to any people” [Proverbs 14:34 KJV]. Sir, this constitutes my whole politics—the negative and positive of my politics, and the whole of my politics.… I feel it my duty to do all in my power to infuse this idea into the public mind, that it may speedily be recognized and practiced upon by our people.”

Douglass returned to the theme repeatedly, including in his 1882 autobiography. Here, in a famous phrase, he is speaking of the judgment due to slaveholders and their supporters: 

“The lesson of all the ages upon this point is, that a wrong done to one man is a wrong done to all men. It may not be felt at the moment, and the evil may be long delayed, but so sure as there is a moral government of the universe, so sure as there is a God of the universe, so sure will the harvest of evil come.”

Reflection

Consider the two parts of the proverb Douglass quotes, and the similar theme of punishment and reward in today’s Bible passage from Romans 2. Douglass writes in the context of slavery. 

• How might these passages apply in today’s public life? 


• In your life?