Shem Hotep ("I go in peace").
Why I walked away from church...
My view on why Christianity or just religion was not for me.
"I freed a thousand slaves I could have freed a thousand more if
only they knew they were slaves." Harriet Tubman
“The word `religion` means business, a God for sale. Religion is
created by man, as opposed to spirituality, which is found in man.
The temple of the most high begins with the human body, which
houses our life, essence of our existence. Nubians (Blacks) in
America are in bondage today because we approach spirituality
through religion provided by our grand father’s and mother’s slave
masters. We must stop confusing religion and spirituality. Religion
is a set of rules, regulations and rituals created by humans, which
were supposed to help people grow spiritually. Due to human
imperfection, religion has become corrupt, political, divisive, and
a tool for power struggle. Spirituality is not theology or
ideology, it is simple a way of life. Pure and original as was
given by the most high. Spirituality is a network linking us to the
most high, the universe...and each other.” Dennis D. Caldwell
Negro Preachers have black Christians looking for a heaven too
high, a hell too low, and a devil that is too spooky.
The way a preacher teaches should be based on how well the
information is transmitted, not how much applause he can obtain or
how well he rouses the crowd. Imagine yourself in a college class
room for mathematics, do you think you would get much learning done
if the teacher brought in an 8 piece band and throughout the lesson
shouted at you to get your attention? “Yeah!” “Uuuuhhh!” Most will
reply, “It’s not the same!” My point is, in all methods and
institutions of learning; this method for teaching is unacceptable,
excepting the church. Most will agree, I assume that a concert and
screaming throughout the lesson would not benefit them in any other
place of learning. So why do we accept it at church? I am not
saying that music should not be a part of the experience. That is
just as African as Africa itself. But there is a time and place for
everything and the music and entertainment should not overshadow
the teachings. The mind must be in a calm state to really understand what
instructions are being given. My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). Knowledge is what’s missing from today’s churches. Too much emphasis is on preaching than teaching. In a book called The Negro Church in America by Dr. E. Franklin Frazier, he points out that;
“the religious instruction of the slave required preaching rather
than instruction in the Christian faith. Preaching meant
dramatizing the stories of the Bible and the way of God to man….
Another qualification which the slave preacher must possess was the
ability to sing.” The method of teaching found in most churches
today, are not the methods of our ancestors. This new form of
charismatic preaching does not allow the mind to really concentrate
on the teachings. People are too caught up into how the preacher is
preaching in the sermon as compared to what the preacher is
preaching.
TRUTH, FACT & BELIEF
What's The Difference?
BELIEF...
Most people don't realize that a belief in a thing and ignorance is
one in the same! To believe in something simply means that you
aren't sure, but you place your faith in that thing anyway. Take
this scenario for example: Some one asks you, "Have you seen
Bobby?” and you say, "I BELIEVE I saw him in the store!" You
"believe", but you don't "know". And that goes for a belief in
GOD, the DEVIL, Angels, Jesus, and the likes. In most cases we
place our beliefs in religion because that's what we've been taught
all our lives, or when we were younger we were scared into
believing these things. Now we have carried these beliefs with us
into adulthood, and then scare and/or teach our children these same
convictions. Nevertheless, we carry these beliefs as luggage for
the rest of our lives, and we don't dare question them! We don't
question these beliefs because we were equally scare into believing
that questioning belief's means questioning GOD, and questioning
GOD meant being placed in a fiery pit "forever and ever Amen".
This is what most of us have been taught, and if not this it was
something similar in theory. The legal definition for Belief isn't far from the above, but the only definition that I could find that was unbias (meaning non religious) was in Blacks Law Dictionary. This is because some one with a religious background usually makes most dictionaries, while
Black's Law Dictionary is a dictionary bounded by law. According
to this dictionary, belief means.
1. A conviction of the truth of a proposition, existing subjectively in the mind, and induced by argument, persuasion, or
proof addressed to the judgment.
2. A conclusion arrived at from external sources after weighing probability.
3. A conviction of the mind, arising not from actual perception or
knowledge, but by way of inference, or from evidence received or
information derived from others.
4...an assurance gained by evidence from other persons.
5...necessarily based on at least assumed facts.
According to definition number one, belief is something of the mind
(or imagination), meaning a propossion that is normally placed
there by an argument or persuasion that is addressed as proof. But
this argument is not an actual fact! By way of definition number
two you can see that belief is also a conclusion that you come to
by weighing probability, but probability still isn't fact. Saying
that something "probably will be" isn't to say that it "will be",
because the word "probably and probability" shows that you aren't
sure! Definitions three and four are on in the same in that they
show you belief also comes from heresy or word of mouth, and not
from actual evidence of a things and situations actually existing.
And finally, definition number four shows you that belief is
basically an assumption, and from the definitions above you can see
why. Now all of this brings to mind that saying. "When you assume
(ass-u-me) you make an ass out of you and not me!"
Now because belief is not based on fact, but persuasion of heresy
(words) and arguments, it is safe to say that BELIEF IS IGNORANCE.
While the basis of ignorance is to ignore [the facts], the basis of
belief is sometimes equally so. I say this because most people who
live by the school of belief tend to not care about any evidence
you bring them, if it isn't found in their Bible, Qur'an, Torah and
so on they will just ignore actual proof.
TRUTH.
The word "truth" does not always mean reality, and can sometimes be
mixed up with the word "fact". For example, the world being flat
was once thought to be true, but it is now a fact that the world is
an "imperfect sphere". Black's Law Dictionary has this to say
about "truth".
1. An agreement of thought and reality
2. an eventual verification
3. a consistency of thought with itself
Definition number one tells you that truth can be something that is
unanimously agreed upon, even it that thing isn't a fact it can be
an agreed to be true. The second definition shows that truth can
be based on hopes, dreams, or eventual verification, and this
sounds a lot like belief to me! Now definition number three seem s
to be the one that most us humans fall victim to, because it deals
with us keeping ignorance alive by teaching it over and over again.
Thus keeping ignorant thoughts alive by repeating them, but never
looking to do research and prove them.
FACT.
Facts, on the other hand, must be proven with evidence to
substantiate a things existence, and this is the opposite of belief
and religious convictions. Black's Law Dictionary says.
1. A thing done; an action performed or an incident transpiring; an
event or circumstance; an actual occurrence; and actual happening
in time or space or an event mental or physical; that which has
been taken place.
2. A fact is either a state of things, that is, an existence, or a
motion, that is, and event.
3. The quality of being actual; actual existence or occurrence.
Here, by all three definitions, you can see that before a thing or
situation can be said factual there must be some evidence that this
thing or happening ever existed, and hearsay or one sided
references don't count in this case. So stories that can only be
found in one cultures book don't count as evidence and that is the
case of the Torah-Bible and in part the Koranic Stories. What is
meant by this is the stories of Moshe (Moses), Abrawham (Abraham),
Yashu'a (Jesus) and so forth can only be found in the Bible as
proof. No other neighboring cultures have records of these stories
except them, with the exceptions of the partial stories they
themselves plagiarized from other cultures.
As far as truth, belief and fact goes, these definitions do not
only suite religious beliefs, but also life as a whole. In these
days and times we are in need a "school of thought" that recognizes
and respects these definitions for what they are, and one that
people will be able to apply to their lives
I will have to say I do not follow any of the major religions:
Islam (Although I use to be in the Nation of Islam), Christianity,
Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. My path of spiritual
enlightenment I would have to say is that of the Kemetic spiritual
system. It is the oldest and this is where the other religions get
their tenants. I hate the term religion because there were none
until the Khazar Russians, Greeks and other whites adopted African
culture and began to rename and categorize it.
You can read a book called the Thirteenth Tribe by an Arthur
Koestler. He is a Jewish man who does a family trace only to find
out the Jewish people are frauds. It is interesting. There are
other imposters such as the Greeks (332BCE) and the Romans (70AD.
I love seeing people question this issue. I have tried to get
answers to so many questions for so long regarding the Bible and
all answers or I guess I should say non-answers were this." have
faith ". Right I guess I must be retarded. I have spent endless
hours with "Reverend’s" asking the everlasting questions, although
the Bible clearly states “LET NO MAN BE CALLED REVEREND “why are
only black ministers called that anyway? Most Christians pick and
chose their way through the Bible and if they followed everything
it said? They would convert. The Bible is simply a story written in
a bad game of telephone that has been sold to those to afraid to
live THIS life and need the comfort or hope of a “heaven ". Only a
fool will settle for the old doesn’t question the answer, open your
minds and never settle.
Most Christians do not study. They regurgitate what the pastor has
preached. Christianity today is not what Christianity was early
1300 BCE. Most people don’t know its origin, why the Bible was set
up, who set up the Bible, why certain books were taken out, Who the
people are who are in the Bible, and how that relates to them and
their salvation.
The Bible says to study to show thyself approved. Study doesn’t not
mean read the Bible and form an opinion, based on what the pastor
told you to look for earlier that Sunday.
As for black people and the bible, i.e., the greatest STORY ever
told, until they embrace the concept of Jesus and everyone in the
bible as being BLACK, they will always hold whites in high esteem.
Dr. Na`im Akbar wrote of this in his book, "Breaking the Chains of
Psychological Slavery".
It means you have to compare scriptures with historical records of
that time period. It means you have to analyze the etymology of
words and terms. It means you have to read, NOT looking for a
specific answer, but reading and letting the truth come to you.
This takes work. This takes sacrifice of time. Most Christians
can’t commit to that. You would think it would be important enough
to deal with since their soul was involved.
Christians have this thing that if it is not in the Bible, it is
not true. Something is wrong and like I said, if the Bible is true,
it should be able to prove itself outside of itself, which it has
failed to do.
People today are becoming aware of more and believing less based on
authority. Too many top ranking people in government, education,
religion and family have PHUCKED up when it comes to leading the
people. So now we are skeptical. We do our own research and come to
different conclusions as to what has been taught before. This leads
to wisdom and this leads to understanding. I will post the main
issues surrounding the Bible.
Here are the issues surrounding the validity of the Bible and why
it has been proven to be a false doctrine.
The concept of the Trinity. Was added during the Council of Nicea
325 AD. It was taken from Egypt dealing with Asar, Aset & Heru. We
already know Europeans can’t deal with the fact of women in
leadership and equals as Divinities, so Aset (Isis) was changed to
the Holy Spirit.
There is no record outside of the Bible of any event that took
place. No one on the face of the Earth can vouch for any of the
names or events that happened in the Bible. That is a major
problem, especially since the prophets and all of the Israelites
traveled all around the known world at the time, spreading the good
news. When you look at the records, no one has ever heard of them.
The life of Jesus is too similar to figures in history that predate
him by thousands of years. That is important also. We know Islam
came after Christianity. To claim that Islam is the original and
true religion, even though it has stories from the Bible, would be
absurd. We know Christianity came after Judaism. To claim
Christianity is better and has the true knowledge of the religion
is absurd also. For how do you have better understanding of the
culture and the scriptures of the people of the Bible, better then
the ones who wrote it? That’s like you writing a poem and someone
else telling you what the poem said and meant. Not only that, they
took your poem and reworked it but came the basic tenants and
structure of the poem.
The same thing must be said about Judaism. For the Asarian religion
predates it thousands of years and Judaism takes its stories and
characters straight from Egypt, makes Egypt the enemy and renames
everybody and adds some people. It is out right plagiarism.
Christ and Heru are similar also. Heru is immaculately conceived,
he leaves his father’s house at age 12 to do his fathers business.
He is not heard of until age 30 when he is baptized by Anup. He is
the eldest of 3 brothers and a sister. Heru has two mothers Aset
the virgin and Nebethet who nursed him. After Heru`s baptism, he
made his transformation into the beloved son and only begotten of
the Father, the Holy Spirit, represented by a bird.
WWW.Skepticsannotatedbible.com
It refers to the contradictions that I mentioned.
JESUS (SON OF MARY) WAS NOT A CHRISTIAN; HE WAS A HEBREW ISRAELITE
FROM THE TRIBE OF JUDAN. WHO CAME TO RATHER THE LOST SHEEP OF
ISRAEL ONLY? MATTHEW (10)
Now let’s look at Jesus.
Jesus had two mothers, Mary the virgin and conceived him and Mary
the wife of Cleophas, who brought him forth as one of her (five)
children. Jesus remained with his mother, the Virgin, up to age 12,
when he left, `to be about his father’s business." From 12 to 30
there is no record of his life. Jesus at age 30 was made a man in
his baptism by John the Baptist. Jesus in his baptism is hailed
from heaven as the beloved son and the only begotten of the Father,
God, and the Holy Spirit, represented by a DOVE. If we can go back
thousands of years before Christ and find the exact same story with
a different name, what does that tell you? And what does that say
about God and the validity of the Bible? Christians don’t want to
deal with that. There is no evidence that the events or people
existed in the Bible. Nazareth wasn’t even a town when Christ was
born, but this is a place he supposedly frequented all of the time.
You can check as one of my references Nile Valley Contributions to
Civilization by Anthony T. Browder and Civilization or Barbarism,
Chiekh Anta Diop.
What I think about SPIRITUALITY?
“Spirituality is a way of accepting the fact that there is a
spiritual force in the universe larger than all of mankind. But
someone had to come along and invent a word called God. Then some
had to serve another God and say mine is better than yours, and
some had to create faith, someone said I have the true faith.”
( RELIGION)
“Religion is the organization of spirituality into something that
became the hand maiden of conquerors. Nearly all religions were
brought to people and imposed on people by conquerors, and used as
the framework to control their minds.”
(IMAGE of GOD)
“My main point here is that if you are the child of God and God is
a part of you, then in your imagination God suppose to look like
you. And when you accept a picture of the deity assigned to you by
another people, you become the spiritual prisoners of that other
people.”
(The Holy Ghost)
This is my position on organized religion and all that other stuff.
But I want to know what people feel about the Holy Ghost or
whatever you want to call. I used to sit in church contemplating my
life and where I stand in the scheme of it all and I also would
observe the so-called "saved" people. Every time the choir stood up
and certain songs came on I knew who would get the "spirit" first
and who would follow after that It. Always started from the first
lady, the deacons wives and down the chain of command. I mean it
was crazy every Sunday like clockwork. Now I understand if you’re
so overwhelmed with emotion that you just burst out. But I don’t
think it should be almost mechanical. I feel as if it’s a show, the
holy ghost is all powerful, so it should be able to hit you without
a drum beat...and hit you at work, school, or whenever, not just at
church before offering time. Also I notice that 90% of the time
it’s women, how come men don’t flop around like that? There are
classic ways people "get happy" in church, which makes me question
the act. The Holy Ghost doesn’t work in a set pattern like that. At
least that’s the way the bible tells it.
Most black folks are slaves to SOMEBODY`S interpretation of Jesus’
words, and some folks feel like the Bible says, and therefore, GOD
says, that in order to show everyone how Holy Ghost filled they
are, they have to act a fool and convulse, cry and dance every
Sunday. At another church I visited, the pastor disdained such
behavior, and said that the only time people acted like that in the
Bible was when Jesus was casting devils out of them. I first went
to a Baptist church when I was a youngster. There were no speaking
in tongues or shouting allowed in that church. That made me
question why someone would stymie the goodness of the creator. Then
I started going to a Holiness church and EVERYONE was shouting and
speaking in tongues. The Bible says that it only happens to folks
who are truly touched by God. I used to look around at folks who
was doing the shouting and these were the same women who gossiped
about other church members, bad mouthed the direction of the
church, talked bad about other people’s kids, and then ten minutes
later they fronting singing the glory of the Lord talking about
they are saved
The New Jack Leg Black Preachers.
Reverend Creflo Dollar
No I’m not making that name up. This guy is actually selling tapes
on how to get rich and uses bible verses to back it up, that just
don’t add up to me. At one point in his "sermon"...he says "my last
name ain`t dollar for nothing y`all!” Most of these so-called men
of the cloth are fake and in my opinion. Creflo seats people down
in his church by how much money they make. Those who tithe the
most, get to sit closer to him. Yeah they sit in the front. I’ve
heard from several different people that you must fill out a W-2
form and a credit check, in order to join his "church". Not only
that but your tithes are deducted automatically from your checking
account. Don’t forget about the right Reverend TD (TD JOKES, TD
FAKES) Jakes and Frederick KC Price, Rev. Senator James T. Meeks,
etc. This game isn’t even new. TD Jakes prey on low esteem, lonely
women through the veil of religion only to gain fame & fortune as
well as a fat bank account & lots of property
Rev. Senator James T. Meeks 15th District of Illinois
The Rev. James T. Meeks is the Senior Pastor of the Salem Baptist
Church of Chicago, the largest Baptist congregation in the city of
Chicago and one of the most electrifying ministries in the nation.
A powerful teacher and preacher best recognized for the clarity of
his teaching ministry, Meeks is also an international leader in
ministry, social action, and civil rights. Pastor Meeks graduated
from Bishop College in Dallas, Texas. Meeks established the Salem
Baptist Church of Chicago in 1985 with nearly 200 members. Today,
membership has grown to over 22,000, making Salem one of the
top-ten fastest growing churches in the nation.
Rev. Meeks is the spiritual Advisor of R. Kelly.
Kelly as been indicted on 21 counts of child pornography stemming
from a videotape that allegedly shows him having sex with an
underage girl.
Rev. Meeks was the spiritual Advisor of Ex-Congressman Mel Reynolds
of Illinois.
Ex-Congressman Mel Reynolds of Illinois was convicted on Aug. 22,
1995 of 12 counts of sexual assault, obstruction of justice and
solicitation of child pornography, was sentenced to five years in
prison.
Rev. Meeks, paid for a $450,000 house, which he stated was paid for
by his church members from a love offering (What in the blue hell).
I am told that Preachers have salary? So you tell me that people
paid for some one to read the bible for them? Jesus (Son of Mary)
taught on the hill and in the valley, performed miracles and didn’t
get any pay.
Bishop Jakes, this popular preacher, also known as comes from a
United Pentecostal background. He pastors The Potter’s House
(Dallas, Texas) one of America’s fastest-growing Mega churches. He
is also a leader and elected bishop of the "Higher Ground Always
Abounding Assemblies," a network of Oneness Pentecostal churches -
though not identified as such at the T.D. Jakes.
In 1979, Pastor Jakes opened the doors of his first church located
in a store front facility in Montgomery, WV with only 10 members.
The church eventually became known as The Temple of Faith and was
affiliated with Ohio-based Higher Ground Always Abounding
Assemblies, a Pentecostal organization that governs many churches
of similar persuasion.
Bishop Jakes speak and write books about black women, but he would
never tell you this.
The woman, is she what we have been taught in religion (Judaism,
Christianity & Islam)? Is she what was explained to us by our
fathers, who have also been taught by the above religions? If she
is, has she always been the creature described to us in our holy
books (Talmud, Torah, Bible, Qur`an)? In all my research what I
have come to realize is that men have never been successful at
defining her being, because in most cases their definitions have
been cut short by chauvinism and sexist views. No man in the Bible,
Torah or Qur`an has ever accepted the woman for what she truly is
and was, and if we continue to follow in their footsteps we never
will! They are our mothers, sisters, daughters, nieces and cousins.
Yet till this day they are not widely respected and are not looked
upon as great, or not as great as men are. We have been taught that
man was first, man is the rightful ruler, men are better, the woman
was the first to sin, and so forth. But what hasn’t been told is
the true history or works of the woman! No one could better tell
this than a woman herself, and I am not a woman, I will do my best.
(Smile)
Goddess to some, mother to others and sisters to brothers, but she
alone has carried the weight of the earth. For she alone has the
capability to mother, to bring forth existence from the womb
(darkness). This is a task that no man is built for, nor would he
be able to survive. "A little research will do you good", is what I
was told by a wise man, and in all my researching I have found that
all has originated from the woman. From man to god! From Sumer to
the ancient America’s! All has come from women! It wasn’t until
patriarchal religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) that the
woman became a "seductress hoe", a sinner and less than man, but
this was not always the case! In more ancient times women were
considered to be equal to men, and in many places they ruled over
all and did a better job at it!
It is now a scientific FACT that man is a hybrid form of the woman,
and thus proving the "man first" theory wrong! The Mitochondria DNA
is a trait that only the woman carries, and is now the proof that
man was not first. Through this DNA they have traced the first
human back to an "African Woman", and also the oldest bones found
belonged to an African Woman. It is also a fact that for a man to
be born, he must first come through a woman. Even though she brings
us into this world, she is still thought of as weak and dependant.
This is easy to do if you’re uneducated and have no knowledge of
the history women!
Many of the GODS of these new religions started off as women or had
women as partners, and it was this way until the patrilineal
religions came to be. Many of the symbols and beings we so love
started out as women, and many of the stories we have been told
were in fact stories of women. So lets go ahead a prove these
claims, as I try to give the woman their just due and hopefully
others will quickly follow suite.
THE STATE OF THE BLACK CHURCH.
THERE IS NO WAY TO CHANGE THE STATE OF THE BLACK CHURCH AND IT`S
FOLLOWERS. THE GOVERNMENT CONTROLS THE CHURCHES THE SAME AS THEY
CONTROL THE SCHOOLS. FOR INSTANCE IN THE TUSKEGEE EXPERIMENT WHERE
DID THEY GO TO FIND THEIR TEST SUBJECTS, THE TWO PLACES THE PEOPLE
TRUSTED THE MOST, CHURCH AND SCHOOLS. IT`S OBVIOUS THAT ANYONE
FOLLOWING THE KING JAMES VERSION (WHICH IS THE ONLY VERSION OUT)
THEY ARE FOLLOWING THEIR SLAVE MASTERS BOOK. THAT WAS THE FIRST
BOOK THE SLAVES WERE ALLOWED TO READ. THEY FADED THE FACTS OF JESUS
BEING BLACK AND MADE HIM WHITE SO NO ONE WOULD BE ABLE TO STAND
AGAINST THE FOUL. IT`S LIKE IF YOU KNOW YOUR GOD LOOKS LIKE YOU.
YOU WILL HAVE SOMETHING TO HOPE FOR, BUT IF YOU THINK YOUR GOD
LOOKS LIKE THE SLAVE MASTER YOU AUTOMATICALLY GOING TO BOW YOUR
HEAD AND BECOME SPIRITUALLY DEAD. I THINK IT IS EXTREMELY SAD THAT
PEOPLE CAN PUT THEMSELVES BEHIND A RELIGION SIMPLY BECAUSE THAT IS
THE WAY THEY WERE RAISED. IF ONLY PEOPLE WOULD TAKE THE TIME TO
ACTUALLY READ THE BIBLE. THE WHOLE BIBLE NOT JUST THE FAMOUS VERSES
EVERYONE QUOTES THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO SEE FOR THEMSELVES THE
CONTRADICTION PLACED IN THE BOOK. THAT IS IF THEY CAN EVEN STAY
AWAKE LONG ENOUGH TO GET THROUGH ALL THE PRONOUNS AND THOUS AND
ARTS AND ALL THAT BULL. SEE WHEN WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE REWROTE THE
BIBLE FOR KING JAMES HE WROTE IT FOR THE UPPER CLASS FOLK WHO WENT
TO PLAYS AND COULD AFFORD EDUCATION. THE BOOK WAS NOT WRITTEN FOR
THE COMMON FOLK. THE BIBLE IS A POSITIVE BOOK FOR PEOPLE IT HAS
ALOT OF GOOD IN IT MIXED WITH THE CONFUSION THE ONLY PROBLEM WITH
IT IS IT`S THE BOOK OF THE DEAD. NO ONE IN THE BIBLE IS STILL ALIVE.
Religious Blindness Religious blindness prevents biblical and Koran
scholars, and those that follow them – whether they are of the
Judaic, Christian, or Islamic persuasion – from daring to pursue
reality. To do this would mean venturing into the unknown, which is
something, most people fear. People base their whole lives on
religion and it’s so-called facts. It’s a known fact that the old
and New Testament, and the Koran were taken from ancient tablet
carvings from the walls in the Cuneiform language of an ancient
group of people, called the Shumarian (Sumerians). In a place the
bible calls Shinar (Genesis 10:10), who received them from beings
that came from beyond the stars.
Those who see themselves as "spiritual, but not religious" reject
traditional organized religion as the sole or even the most
valuable means of furthering their spiritual growth. Many have had
negative experiences with churches or church leaders. For example,
they may have perceived church leaders as more concerned with
building an organization than promoting spirituality, as
hypocritical, or as narrow-minded. Some may have experienced
various forms of emotional or even sexual abuse. This is one
reason why.
We must stop confusing religion and spirituality.
The Church and the Crusaders.
The year was 1095 CE; William the Conqueror had united England
under one crown 30 years earlier. The French had been dividing
properties amongst their sons for generations, causing bloodshed
between brothers over small pieces of real estate. In reaction,
Pope Urban II expanded "The Truce of God", which outlawed fighting
from Sunday to Wednesday, and banned fighting involving priests,
monks, women, laborers and merchants on any day of the week. Italy
was a collection of city-states, constantly being overrun by
invading hordes, the latest of which were the Normans, who had just
started to become "civilized".
There was also the Byzantine Empire, ruling from Constantinople,
whose emperor at this time was Alexius Comnenus. To his East, the
Turks were rapidly encroaching on his empire, and had begun
attacking pilgrims on their way to - and in - Jerusalem, causing
him great distress. He wrote to his friend Robert, the Count of
Flanders, in 1093, telling him about supposed atrocities committed
by the Turks on the Christian pilgrims, and Robert passed this
letter on to Pope Urban II. Urban, an opportunist saw this as a
perfect way to solve some of his local problems. He personally
promoted a Holy Crusade to reclaim the Holy Lands from the
barbarian Turks. Thus, the First Crusade was launched in 1096 CE.
All together there were Three Crusades, which cost millions of
people to be killed in the name of religion
The Honorable Elijah Muhammad (May you be at peace), and Minister
Louis Farrakhan. I love them like a Grandfather and a father. But
Islam is not the Black man or woman true way of life.
Offensive War to Spread Islam!
The religion of Islam, founded in Arabia in the early 7th century,
quickly united Arabs and inspired the expansion of a great Islamic
empire across the Middle East and North Africa. By 641 Muslims had
conquered Egypt, where they established a new ruling class of
administrators and merchants. Over the ensuing centuries, and
following further Arab immigration, most of the Egyptian population
converted to Islam and adopted the Arabic language, leaving the
Egyptian Coptic Church as a small Christian sect. Prophet Muhammad
and his successors initiated offensive wars against peaceful
countries in order to impose Islam by force as well as to seize the
abundance of these lands. Their objective was to capture women and
children and to put an end to the poverty and hunger from which
Arab Muslims suffered. So, Islam was imposed upon Syria, Jordan,
Palestine (Jerusalem), Egypt, Libya, Iraq, Iran, all of North
Africa, some parts of India and China, and later Spain.
Undoubtedly, the concept of an offensive war to spread the faith is
a genuine Islamic concept; it is known as a Holy War for the sake
of God.
Racism is in Islam.
The Black Diaspora, this ground breaking work tells the fascinating
and horrifying story of the Islamic slave trade. Islam’s Black
Slaves documents a centuries-old institution that still survives,
and traces the business of slavery and its repercussions from
Islam’s inception in the seventh century.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (May you be at peace); I love him like a
Grandfather. But Christianity is not the Black man or woman true
way of life.
Spread of Christianity!
By 100AD Alexandria had become the most important intellectual
center of the early Christian Church. From Egypt, monastic
Christianity spread south to Nubia and Ethiopia, and west to Berber
North Africa. In the latter region, the Berbers adapted the new
religion to fit in with indigenous beliefs. Subjugated by the Roman
Empire by 200, Berber Christians maintained a strong tradition of
religious independence from Rome, even after the empire had adopted
Christianity as the official Roman religion in the 320s.
Kersey Graves Book, - The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviors.
What can you now make of the story of the crucifixion of Jesus
Christ but a borrowed legend at least the story of his being
crucified as a God? The determination not to know anything but the
crucifixion of Jesus Christ was narrowing down his knowledge to
rather a small compass.
And such a resolution would necessarily preclude them from
acquainting themselves with the history of any other cases of
crucifixion that might have occurred before that of Christians own
favorite Messiah. "What! Was there ever a case of crucifixion
beside that of Jesus Christ?" a good Christian Brother or sister
sometimes exclaims when the world’s sixteen crucified Saviors are
spoken of. Paul the disciple whose position would not allow him to
know of any other cases of crucifixion but that of Jesus Christ.
Hence, he may have considered it meritorious to perpetuate his
ignorance on the subject. And you, perhaps, are ignorant from the
same cause.
It is the nature of all religions based on fear and unchangeable
dogmas, to deter and thus exclude its disciples from all knowledge
adverse to their own creeds. And sometimes their own religions
systems are magnified to such an exalted appreciation above all
others as to lead them to destroy the evidence of the existence of
the latter for fear of their ultimate rivalry. Such influences as
referred to above have shut out from the minds of the disciples of
several religious systems knowledge of all crucified Gods but their
own.
The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviors.
I. CRUCIFIXION OF CHRISHNA OF INDIA, 1200 B.C.
II. CRUCIFIXION OF THE HINDOO SAKIA, 600 B.C.
III. THAMMUZ OF SYRIA CRUCIFIED 1160 B.C.
IV. CRUCIFIXION OF WITTOBA OF THE TELINGONESIC, 552 B.C.
V. IAO OF NEPAUL CRUCIFIED, 622 B.C.
VI. HESUS OF THE CELTIC DRUIDS CRUCIFIED, 834 B.C.
VII. QUEXALCOTE OF MEXICO CRUCIFIED 587 B.C.
VIII. QUIRINUS OF ROME CRUCIFIED, 506 B.C.
IX. (AESCHYLUS) PROMETHEUS CRUCIFIED 547 B.C.
X. CRUCIFIXION OF THULIS OF EGYPT, 1700 B.C.
XI. CRUCIFIXION OF INDRA OF TIBET, 725 B.C.
XII. ALCESTOS OF EURIPIDES CRUCIFIED, 600 B.C.
XIII. ATYS OF PHRYGIA CRUCIFIED, 1170 B.C.
XIV. CRITE OF CHALDEA CRUCIFIED 1200 B.C.
XV. BALI OF ORISSA CRUCIFIED 725 B.C.
XVI. MITHRA OF PERSIA CRUCIFIED 600 B.C.
The Spanish Inquisition.
Hernando Cortez, He was a Spanish Conquistador who defeated and
conquered the Aztec Empire.
The Spanish Inquisition force people to converted to Christianity
or be killed. It was the arrival of Europeans like Columbus, and
DeSoto that marked the beginning of the end for the Indians. This
is why Christianity is so heavy in Central and South America.
Slave Religion by: Albert Raboteau.
(A Must Read)
The Black Church and Christianity is Emotionalism 101#.
E*mo"tion*al*ism) (?), n.
The cultivation of an emotional state of mind; tendency to regard
things in an emotional manner.
The Religious Conversion of African Slaves.
When Africa slaves were brought to the United States, they were
already broken and cut off from their culture. Each tribe had its
own language and religion, but both were lost in the process of
bringing them here. The white Christians who brought them here
thought them stupid and evil because they didn’t speak English and
they practiced "evil" religions. The masters moved to indoctrinate
the slaves into Christianity as soon as possible. In fact, the
opportunity for conversion was one of the justifications for
slavery; these "evil heathens" could be converted thus saving their
souls even if their physical bodies were enslaved.
The Religion of the Slaves
As we have already seen, the shifting of attitudes towards slavery
resulted in profound changes in Southern society in general, and in
religious circles in particular. In the 1780's, Methodists--who
represent a standard example--had formulated strong rules against
slavery, and slaveholders. Slavery was deemed to be "contrary to
the laws of God, man and nature, and hurtful to society, contrary
to the dictates of conscience and pure religion." Indeed, by 1784
Methodists were so bold as to say that they "promised to
excommunicate all Methodists not freeing their slaves within two
years." By 1820, however, the Methodist church in the South was
increasingly at one with its culture on the issue of race, and was
advocating a "Mission to the Slaves."
As the conflict over slavery heated up, and as news of the Vesey
conspiracy broke in 1822, and word spread about the rebellion of
Nat Turner in 1831, a great fear enveloped whites. Afraid for their
lives, their investments, the civil peace, and the preservation of
the South's way of life, whites demanded--and their state
legislatures passed--laws curtailing the rights of
African-Americans to assemble, to worship, to become literate, and
to do much more, except under strictly controlled circumstances. At
the same time, this fear and anxiety was producing an outpouring of
concern to make Christians of the slaves in the hope that they
might learn to turn the other cheek, and to accept their lot in
life.
In the early decades of the nineteenth century, Christianity had
made little or no in-roads among blacks for fear that they might
take literally such narratives as the Exodus. But as this "crisis
of fear" spread across the South, suddenly rather impressive
efforts were made to address the "needs" of the souls of black
folk. These were well organized evangelistic endeavors,
particularly in those areas with large plantations. Congregations
stepped up their appeals, and refined their approaches to
African-Americans. Preachers and planters alike urged them to fill
the galleries, and special seating that was set aside for these
honored guests. Some owners were even motivated to build "praise
houses" on their land, and recruited black preachers to proclaim
the Lord's name (as long--of course--as a white foreman was present
to monitor things so that they did not get out of hand). Large
slaveholders like the Rev. Charles Colcock Jones worked to comprise
a Christian primer for slaves to instill teachings that were
designed as a response to the portents of revolution, and to serve
as preventive measures to any insurrection.
I do not mean to suggest that the whole effort to evangelize the
slaves was motivated by a concern for safety. Certainly, there were
numbers of whites who cared about blacks, both as persons
possessing immortal souls, and as friends with names. Many others
saw the mission to the slaves as an unfolding of God's divine plan
and these early evangelistic efforts as the first step in a long
process that would eventually lead to the converting of the heathen
of the Dark Continent. But there were many others who sought to
pacify and comfort the slaves, to make them more dutiful and
servile, and to defer any gratification they might have longed for
in this life to the next. In other words, the motives of White
Southerners were decidedly mixed. Often there was a genuine
recognition of the human needs of African Americans, but rare was
the time when members of the "Ruling Race" would overlook the
unique caste and economic status of black people.
It would be difficult to determine whose religion--that of
African-Americans or that of whites--was more profoundly affected
by this preoccupation with racial matters during the antebellum
period. On the surface, it would appear that the religion of black
people was. But the reality is that both were profoundly affected.
Very little of what the white church attempted and accomplished
from 1830 to the Civil War, remained free of racial and interracial
considerations.
The Religious Life of the Slaves.
By the standards of the early nineteenth century, African-Americans
were said to be "a wretched stock of heathen, in utter darkness of
a loathsome pagan idolatry." Various plantation owners expressed
the concern that "the superstitions brought from Africa have not
been wholly laid aside." Witchcraft, alleged superstitions, and
fetishist practices were often cited as evidence that the
plantation slave refused to abandon African paganism for American
Christianity.
There certainly may have been an element of truth to these
observations about the persistence of African-American spirituality
in the face of efforts of whites to erase it. The Ashanti had a
folk saying that "No one shows a child the Supreme Being." Although
the African's world was populated by a plurality of powers,
including the forces of nature and a legion of magical spirits,
most tribes believed in a Supreme Being who was viewed as a
creator, giver of rain, and sunshine, the all-seeing one, the one
who exists by himself. Moreover traditional African religion made
no distinction between the sacred and secular. All of life--not
part--was sacred. Nor was there any sense of a division between
this life and the one to come. All of life was part of a continuum
in which both the living and dead took part. Long before their
contact with whites, Africans were a strongly religious and deeply
spiritual people.
The African beliefs in one Supreme Being, in a realistic
distinction between good and evil, in lesser spiritual powers, and
in creation as the handiwork of God, paralleled much in the Hebraic
background of Christianity. These similarities lessened the
cultural shock as the African came into contact with the tenets of
White Evangelicalism. But on occasion there was conflict. A white
Methodist reported an aged Negro--to whom he had been trying to
explain the dogma of the Trinity--once asked which of the three
"was the head man to which he should go when asking for anything."
During the early history of slavery, the Africanisms that were
retained in African American spirituality were often seen to be (by
whites) a pagan faith. These rituals and dogmas were variously
described as Voodoo, Hoodoo, Witchcraft, and superstitions, and
were particularly prominent among the Gullah speakers of South
Carolina. Whites often commented on these "pagan practices," and
fetishes, and were threatened by them. As a result, great effort
was expended on eradicating these practices, and many were lost
within a generation.
The degree to which whites were successful in this, however, is the
subject of great debate. Melville J. Herskovits has advanced the
thesis that the success of Baptists in attracting blacks was rooted
in the appeal of immersion which suggests a connection in the
slaves' mind with the river spirits in West African religions.
Others have attacked this position including, the black scholar E.
Franklin Frazier who argues that enslavement largely destroyed the
social basis of religion among blacks, and that the appeal of
Baptists to blacks concerns the emotional content of their worship.
Stanley Elkins (whose views were heavily influenced by what took
place in the concentration camps of World War II Europe), has
argued--like Frazier--that slavery was so demeaning that blacks
(like the Jews in the camps) were eventually stripped of every
shred of dignity and humanity, including their faith. John
Blassingame, on the other hand, has provided a significant body of
evidence that blacks hung on to their religion as a form of
resistance.
What is clear is that African-Americans were fairly quick to abopt
the prevailing evangelical culture. Denominations such as the
Episcopalians and Presbyterians which stressed order did not
attract the slaves. Most African-Americans instead gravitated to
the emotionalism of the Methodists and Baptists. Indeed, in a
number of ways the religion of the South's black population shared
much more in common with the Evangelical Protestantism of the
region's whites than it diverged from it. After all, it was the
evangelicals among Southern whites who were motivated to bring the
slaves to the Christians faith. These evangelicals imparted to the
black church many of their forms and practices. (You may recall
that earlier in the semester I argued that the black church
preserves intact several forms of expression that characterized
white evangelicals in the nineteenth century.)
But blacks also bequeathed something back to the evangelical
tradition. There is fair body of evidence that suggests some whites
copied certain practices of black worshippers. Shouting in worship,
for example, was one such borrowing. Many blacks looked down on
whites who shouted in worship being poor copies of themselves, or
in the parlance of our day, as "wanna-be's." The call and response
pattern also appears to be derived from the African heritage.
Even though Black evangelicalism shared much in common with its
white counterpart, when African-Americans held their own services,
whether approved and overseen by whites or held clandestinely
("stealing away to Jesus"), they added their own flourishes and
unique styles to the white religious legacy. In so doing, they
created an "invisible institution," a church that was their own.
Because Black evangelicalism was not identical to its white
counterpart, the points of difference between the two tell us a
great deal about the religious world of the slave.
One of these differences was the expressiveness of spirit that came
to characterize black religion. While it is true that White
Methodists and Baptists were also expressive, as the Reverend Henry
Mitchell suggests in Geneovese's book, "the whites were fiery mad,
while the blacks were fiery glad." For Black Christians, the
message was presented unvarnished and the response was uninhibited.
Such bad news as one's eternal damnation called for a groaning and
bewailing befitting one's anguish and sorrow. Such good news as
God's gracious offer of forgiveness through the love of Christ's
sacrificial death was received with shouts of joy and praise for
blessed release. This expressiveness meant that most blacks felt
inhibited in white churches, even though many were seen at the
altar along with whites.
Most African-Americans found their spiritual needs were best met in
secret. They would gather in "hush arbors" and "praying grounds." A
pot would be turned over to hold in the noise, and in the safety of
the wee hours or a secluded location, they could express themselves
freely, and interpret their faith as they saw fit.
As Black Christians had the opportunity to develop their own styles
of preaching and singing they did so. The preacher may have been
unlettered, but his preaching was far from theologically
illiterate. He knew all he needed to know--the biblical message of
salvation--and a rich intimate awareness of the Savior who lived in
the believer's heart. Slaves were highly critical--in these
settings--of white preaching that tried to keep them in their
place. They saw sermons on stealing--for instance--as self-serving
in that it tended to hide a greater evil. It was alright to steal a
ham--they reasoned--if it was needed to feed one's family. This
theology is reflected in a song sung by the slaves:
We raise de wheat,
Dey gib us de corn;
We bake de bread,
De gib us de crust;
We sif de meal,
Dey gib us de huss;
We peal de meat,
Dey gib us de skin;
And dat's de way
Dey take us in;
We skim de pot,
Dey gib us de liquor,
And say dat's good enough for nigger."
Such theologizing helped them to develop what today might be
referred to as a situational ethic.
John Jasper and Black Worship
Interestingly, given the increasing racial proscription in the
mid-1800, Many Black preachers developed a significant following
across the South among both whites and blacks. John Jasper of
Virginia was one such man. Slaves would defer funeral ceremonies
for as long as necessary to bring him to the plantation for the
service. And Jasper was equally popular among whites. During the
Civil War, Jasper won a warm response from the Confederate wounded
to whom he preached and offered solace.
On the surface, Jasper's preaching sounded unlettered, but his
message was informed with a profound theology. His most famous
sermon was entitled "De Sun DO Move' an De Earth Am Square." He
gave this sermon hundreds of times to both whites and blacks, who
listened to it, but the message his listeners heard was dependent
on their race.
Jasper had heard that some heretics were misleading his people into
believing that the earth moved around a stationary sun, and so he
choose to respond to this new scientific understanding. When he
arose to speak many of Richmond's most fashionable whites and the
countryside's poorest slaves had flocked to hear him. Jasper went
on to proclaim that "Joshuar tell de sun ter stand' still till he
could finish whipping de enemy an de sun was traveling' long dar
thew de sky when it stops for Joshuar. It stopt fer business an' it
went on when it got thew." The whites had come for their own
amusement, and many left laughing at what they considered to be
Jasper's childish ignorance.
But they missed the power of what Jasper was saying. Although he
sounded illiterate to them, this man was fully capable of perfect
English. Using (for want of a better term) Black English, he was
putting forward the proposition that God could intervene to alter
the natural order. And what was slavery according to whites? It was
part of the natural order of things. In their own hearing, Jasper
was proclaiming that "the God of Joshuar" could and would intervene
to save his people. He was putting forward a damming critique of
their position although few if any of the whites who heard him
recognized it. But slaves did not miss the point.
Other revolutionary themes were also implicit in the preaching of
men like Jasper, themes that were very clear to Blacks, but opaque
to whites. When the Bible taught that Jesus came to die for
everyone, African-Americans knew that meant them as well. The story
of Adam and Eve and as it was told by Black Preachers, had Adam
becoming so frightened by his sin that he turned white.
Nor did Blacks accept the pro-slavery argument that their condition
was a result of a curse for the sin of Ham. Yes, the conditions in
which they lived were evil. But they did not see themselves as
being evil. (This rejection of Orginal Sin probably reflects a
survival in that West African religions tended to be life-affirming
rather than guilt inducing.)
The spiritual music composed and sung by African-Americans was as
direct, heartfelt, and expressive as Black Preaching. Such
African-American hymns as "Swing low, Sweet Chariot" conveys a
message that few whites heard: a fundamental equality of persons.
God welcomes both whites and blacks to the skies.
Some Concluding Observations
African-American religion dealt with life as blacks lived it. It
was about pain and sorrow, sin and shortcoming, pardon and joy,
praise and thanksgiving, grace and hope. This version of
Evangelicalism provided a wonderful benefit; it was able to
accomplish great things in their lives that were frequently shouted
about.
Evangelicalism took root among African-Americans. Large numbers
underwent conversion, baptism, instruction, worship, and lived the
life of Christian even in face of oppression. Although, the
development of their own religious institutions would await
Emancipation and the war's end, there were many thousands of Negro
Baptists and Methodists by 1850.
In some ways, church life proved to be more important than family
life, (which says something about the impact of slavery on
African-American family life as much as does about the power of
religion and spirituality in the lives of African-Americans). That
is significant, because in the first decades of the nineteenth
century, the impact of Christianity on the Southern black
population had been extremely small. Indeed, the religion of modern
blacks, represents a relatively modern development that dates back
to the last several decades before slavery was brought to an end.
Spirituality to me:
Spirituality some people think that you have to believe in God or
go to Church or even prays to be spiritual. Doing these things will
not detract from your over all spirituality, but being spiritual
doesn’t necessitate doing any of these. I have believed in God my
whole life, but that has not made me any more spiritual. I am a
spiritual being, because I am a spiritual being and I understand
that. The "fear of God" has not made me any more kinder and gentler
than I am as a person in general. I believe spirituality has more
to do with growth than belief systems. I think that if you are
determined to grow, then that is spiritual. I believe your spirit
lives on after death and that you are always growing. Karma, is
therefore, not what must return to you for equality in the
universe, but rather, what you would have come back at you to teach
you a lesson, or make you move foreward. I do not believe that "God
Punishes". Rather I believe that we punish ourselves for not
growing fast enough, or rather we do what is necessary to force
ourselves to move onward toward our individual growth. (Not
necessarily punishment) I believe, my idea of "God" is different
than most individual’s idea of "God". That is because when I talk
to most people about "God" they believe that "God" is a vengeful
deity. They believe that because of what has happened to the world
in the last few thousand years, that "God" has forsaken mankind and
is taking his wrath out on humanity at this time. This is total
BULLSH*T Sorry, but, "Everything in this world as far as reality is
concerned is made up every day by nitwit morons who do not know
what is really going on, controlled on top by nitwit morons who DO
KNOW what is going on". Most people believe what they are told, by
people who don’t have a clue, and reinforced daily throughout
society by those that KNOW what going on but want to prevent you
from finding out. This control is maintained PRIMARILY BY THE
CHURCH! Probably the "evilest" of Institutions, because "they" know
you are coming seeking spiritual guidance, but it is in their best
interest to have you "kept in the dark" as to true spirituality and
your "personal" relationship with "GOD".
