How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"We had slavery when I was a boy. There was nothing wrong with slavery. The local pulpit told us God approved of it. If there were passages in the Bible that disapproved of slavery, they were not read aloud by the pastors." (56.13)
Mark Twain points out that religion and racism aren't mutually exclusive. It might be disturbing to think about, but many pastors didn't say anything against slavery when it was going on. His point? Sometimes religion doesn't have all the answers we need in life.
Quote #8
"The white man killed Hiram!" he hollered again. "But my friends, we are not like the white man! We cannot allow ourselves to be like that. The Bible tells us what to do. Jesus tells us what to do. It's plain to see. We have to do as Jesus did, we have to turn the other cheek." (63.10)
At Hiram's funeral, the pastor reminds the congregation how they should behave. Even though they read the same Bible as the white members of the community, they act much differently—the people from the Quarter seem to actually follow the ideas in the Bible, whereas many of the white folks in Eudora ignore biblical ideals whenever it suits them.
Quote #9
The men stood around in their white sheets with their hoods off, conducting the most ordinary small-town meeting. They discussed the collection of dues, a donation they'd recently made to a widowed young mother, nominations for a committee to represent the local chapter at the county meeting in McComb. (77.19)
How much the Ku Klux Klan resembles a church is a shock to Ben. They seem to genuinely care about their members and their families, and they even take up a collection for the widows, just like some churches do. It's troubling to Ben that an organization that promotes violence and hate (read: the KKK) could be so similar to one that supposedly preaches peace (church).