Inclusive Spirituality in the Works of Linda Brent, Toni Morrison and Sapphire - Incidents in the Life of a Slave, Song of Songs and PushWhat would it be like to be torn from your home and sent so far away that he can never return? And what would it be like if your history was stripped away from you, your name discarded, and your religion replaced with one that has few, if any, ties to your previous life? When slaves were brought to America, they were taken away from everything they had known and forced to live in a land of dark irony that, while promising life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, provided them only misery. In a situation like the one the slaves were in, many people would have relied on their religion to survive. But would slaves be able to find spiritual comfort within the parameters of a religion that had been passed down to them by slave owners? In each of the three texts “Incidents in the Life of a Slave,” Song of Songs, and Push, African Americans struggle to find a spirituality that responds to their needs and that understands their experiences in a way that the religion of the dominant culture does not. Of the three texts to be examined, Linda Brent's Autobiography, "Incidents," most explicitly shows the inability of the religion of the dominant culture to meet the needs of the minority. From the tone of his story, one understands that Brent felt that "true Christianity," if it were found, could comfort the slaves and meet their needs. But Brent also felt that slavery created a paradox that made “true Christianity” impossible. Many times in his text Brent highlights the irony that, as slave owners, masters treat their slaves as property; however, as Christians, they should treat them as human beings. For example, Brent's mother's lover promises that Brent and his brothers will "never suffer for anything" (343). Brent assumes this means they will be given freedom when the lover dies; however, they are not liberated but passed on as property. Brent says that her mistress taught her biblical principles that she should treat others as she would like to be treated and that she should adhere to the biblical commandment to "love thy neighbor as thyself," but then adds pointedly, "But I was the his slave and I guess he didn't recognize me as his neighbor"(344).