ABSTRACT
Principles of the Aloha Spirit were derived from the religion developed by Native Hawaiians. But foreigners brought all sorts of debauchery and misconduct to the Islands, violating various prohibitions in the native religion. Thus, the nineteenth century began with a spirit of liberation - including women's liberation - from past injustice based on religion. The nobility and monarchy accepted the new faith in part as an opportunity reassert norms of moderation from the Hawaiian religion. The missionaries believed that Christian teaching insisted that good people wear considerable clothing to protect the modesty of their bodies, and they undertook to dismantle the Hawaiian polytheistic religion as idolatrous. Once both Catholics and Protestants were accepted, the door was open for other religions to arrive in the Islands and enjoy peaceful acceptance, though after 1854 none were allowed to operate sectarian schools with more than twenty-five pupils.
