“Because I was raised in a Christian culture I never considered myself to be a totally free human being.”
In this quote, James Baldwin reflects on the impact of his upbringing in a Christian culture on his sense of personal freedom. Baldwin suggests that his religious upbringing imbued him with a sense of moral codes and expectations that influenced how he perceived his own autonomy as a human being. This quote speaks to the complex relationship between personal beliefs and social influences on individual freedom and identity.
“It is in Christianity that our arts have developed; it is in Christianity that the laws of Europe--until recently--have been rooted. It is against a background of Christianity that all of our thought has significance. An individual European may not believe that the Christian faith is true, and yet what he says, and makes, and does will all spring out of his heritage of Christian culture and depend upon that culture for its meaning...I do not believe that culture of Europe could survive the complete disappearance of the Christian faith. And I am convinced of that, not merely because I am a Christian myself, but as a student of social biology. If Christianity goes, the whole culture goes.”
“I never for a moment considered killing myself, because it wouldn't have achieved anything.”
“Most of us assume that human beings have free will. However, . . . [we] are very much conditioned by our species, culture, family, and by the past in general. . . . It is rare for a human being to have free will. . . . (140)”
“I hope that as a totally literate human being that you don't even know what "illiteracy" is because it simply doesn't exist in your world.”
“I don't necessarily consider myself a virgin, probably because I have such a penetrating personality”