In To Kill a Mockingbird, Miss Maudie says that Mr. Radley had been a ''foot-washing Baptist." What does she mean?

Both Miss Maudie and the members of the Radley family are Baptists. Some Baptists in the South, such as Primitive Baptists, practice ritual foot-washing. The rite of foot-washing is done because Jesus had washed the feet of his disciples. The was done as a sign of humility.

Scout finds the act of foot-washing to be strange. She asks Miss Maudie about it. She asks her neighbor if all Baptists practice the rite of foot-washing. Miss Maudie says they all wash their feet in the bathtub. Then Miss Maudie gives Scout more insight:

"Foot-washers believe anything that's pleasure is a sin" (To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 5).

Some Primitive Baptists in the area even think that Miss Maudie's beautiful flower garden is sinful. These Baptists "take the Bible literally" and "think women are a sin by definition." Mr. Radley had been a foot-washing, or Primitive, Baptist before his death. Scout wonders if this is why he stayed inside his house most of the time. Miss Maudie tells Scout that she does not know.