Sojourner didn't make any moral demands on her audience. Despite being devoutly Christian and having a firm faith in God's ability to help change the status quo, she trusted the common sense of the listeners to realize the truth of her words.
This isn't to say she didn't make several allusions and invocations of God throughout "Ain't I a Woman?" That was only good speech-making sense, given that a large portion of her audience was somehow involved in religious groups. She played to her strengths without preaching at the attendees.
Questions About Religion
- Which Biblical figures does Truth reference? How does she use them to make her message stronger?
- Why would some of her Biblical allusions have been seen as radical?
- Would a similar speech today be well received if it used the same references to Biblical figures?
Chew on This
"Ain't I a Woman?" turned conservative religious arguments on their heads, and upended an entire basis for denying women the vote.
Truth should have picked a less divisive Biblical character than Eve to make her point about the accomplishments of strong women.