Essay On Primitive Baptist

Primitive Baptist of the South
During the 1930’s religion was a major component of people’s lives. They had a plethora of strong views for and against certain things in the world. One denomination discussed in To Kill A Mockingbird is the “Foot Washing Baptist”. This denomination is better known as Primitive Baptist. Scout and Mrs. Maudie have a discussion about the Primitive Baptist. Their view is that the church is harsh and narrow minded. This leads to their judgment of Mr. Arthur Radley. Primitive baptist were a strong group in the 1930’s, that would treat many people poorly if they thought what they were doing was a sin. Primitive Baptist even saw ordinary women as a sin.
The Primitive Baptist Church developed after a disagreement occurred within the church around the 1830’s. This disagreement

Maudie and Scout discuss how the Primitive Baptist see the female population as a sin. It says, “ Mrs.Maudie grinned. ‘Thank you ma’am. Thing is, foot-washers think women are a sin by definition. They take the Bible literally, you know’” (Lee 59). This brings the reader to think about the way women were treated during the 1930’s. Women during that time were to stay home, take care of the house, and be the one to bare the babies. In addition, men of this denomination felt like women should not be able to talk in church. Primitive Baptist developed this belief from a bible verse. The passage says, “ Women should be silent during the church meetings. It is not proper for them to speak. They should be submissive, just as the law says,”(New Living Translation, 1 Corithians 14.34). The Primitive Baptist took the verse literally, and felt that if women spoke during church that they were going to hell. In other words, the men wanted to be in control of not only the household, but also the church. Through this discussion about Primitive Baptist between Mrs. Maudie and Scout it tells how the Primitive Baptist would treat women in the