Mental Slavery, Personal Freedom, etc
I’m having some really bad headaches and very sick, so not really writing anything too complicated today. Not exactly thinking straight right now and am having a hard time fitting sentences together, so let’s hope this looks okay.
Darla of “The Anatomy of a Coming-Out” wrote a great article about how sad it is to see that many blacks still subscribe to the religion that was historically forced upon them and used to mentally enslave them as well as physically.
This really brings up an important part to both atheists and supporters of black/racial equality. Christianity has historically been used to control and enslave foreign people such as Indians, blacks, women and more. Christianity, as we all know, is like Islam in that it uses fear, sexism and racism to control people. So why do those who have historically been oppressed rally so hard against the racism and sexism of those who oppressed them and their ancestors, yet still follow the religion that was used to do it?
I would have loved to write a more thought out article on this, but Darla said all that can be said from the viewpoint of a white person, and I have nothing more to add, to be honest–I’d love to hear the black viewpoint. I’ll be asking two black bloggers I respect, Francis L. Holland and D.
Also, I know this is off topic, but what the hell is with nudity being illegal? Who cares? Kids could use some sex education, and our society could certainly de-sexualize the body a little. No one’s harmed by it, so why are we bothering with it when there are far more important things to worry about, like the economy and the environment?
Oh, and the image to the left is horrifyingly disgusting. Who thought it would be a good idea to put the mental imagine in my head of an old geezer in tights? Seriously, what the fuck? When Obama does it, it’s funny and cool, because he is young and not lame. That’s like your grampa dressing up as a gangster because he wants to compete for your attention against the ‘hip youngins’. It’s just wrong.
Thanks for the plug : ) I have been thinking out a blog about women and religion and WHY?!?!?!! so many subscribe to the misogynist teachings in the bible, but since my work in in Sociology, and one of my biggest topics is family violence it may need to be turned into another full academic paper….or not : P lol.
When I lived in Germany, I remember how bare breasts were casually regarded, and it was nice that they were, more often than not, beautiful and natural ones, not huge oversized fish bowl looking veiny mounds…
I really liked your blog on makeup, too. Though I love her, my mom would always tell me how plain and washed out I looked when I wasn’t wearing makeup, and for a long time I wore it everytime I went out. When I stopped wearing it as much when I became a mom, I liked it better. Now I rarely wear it…usually only to events.
Hope you feel better soon…and Mac in tights…uh I’d rather see…uh…anything LOL
I can tell you, first of all, what that idiotic pin is about in the photo above: <a href=”http://francislholland.blogspot.com/2007/05/lately-weve-been-discussing-magic-negro.html”The Strongest American Myth Historically is the Superhuman White Man Myth
As for Blacks and Christianity, I’ve tried to see Christianity as the road to my salvation, but found that it was just the road to beggar at the gate of “God” (for me).
But, in the process I found much more to love about some of the people I met in the African Methodist Episcopal Church than I found to love about the God whom they revere. Let me put it this way: No God such as the one we are taught about could possibly create a world such as the one in which we live.
But, human beings have always wanted to believe in some divine or supernatural explanation for things which are really just nature in action. Black people in the United States are no different.
I live in Brazil where most people say they are Catholic, although most Blacks in the United States are not Catholic. But most, here and there, believe in the “Holy Bible” and Christ. Why? Maybe we need to believe that somewhere there are two white men, God and his Son, who are not as duplicitous, hypocritical and devious as some of the white men who surround us here on earth? HAHAHA
No, seriously: It’s just as hard to be an atheist in the United States as it is to be a Socialist, or enter a bartering economy and stop using money. Because Black people are constantly set upon by forces beyond our control, we need to believe that there is some force even more powerful, just as children need to believe their parents can protect them, otherwise they’ll go insane.
I love to swim nude and have done so at nude beaches in the United States, in France and at a nude pool in Chile. If people were allowed to go around nude then it would destroy the Internet sex industry, the nude magazine industry, and religious authorities could not tempt little boys into sex acts by showing them photos of the forbidden. That’s why nudity is illegal.
http://francislholland.blogspot.com/2007/05/lately-weve-been-discussing-magic-negro.html
Ahh, an issue close to my heart.
Why do Blacks follow their oppressor’s religion?
Well the simple answer is that proud, racially conscious Black Christians don’t. Confused by that statement? Let’s break it all down.
I was in a Black Arts and Literature class my Sophomore year of college, and there was this essay we were supposed to go to the library and read. It was in a resource book, so you couldn’t check it out.
I was an A/B student, but I wasn’t always up on every assignment; and never made it around to reading the essay. On our next test, we had an essay question about it. The question asked about how Christianity affected Black slaves as far as their response to their enslavement.
My professor had made a comment in class that the essay would not be what you think in explaining the issue. So based on my knowledge of how Christianity and Black oppression is usually framed, and having a deeper knowledge of how it has really worked for Black liberation; I winged my answer. I stated an answer to the effect that the essay says that liberation message of the Bible, and Jesus coming to “set the captive free”, and the message of all people being equal in Christ inspired slaves desire for freedom. I got full credit for the question.
The greatest slave revolt in America was led by a slave preacher, Nat Turner.
Blacks have long not followed their former slave masters religion to the point that in 1787 Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, William Gray and William Wilcher http://www.ame-today.com/history/index.shtml started the African Methodist Episcopal Church because their former masters religion did not regard and accept them.
Marcus Garvey, the greatest precursor to what would be come the Black Power movement, pan-Africanism and Black Nationalist thought was a devout Christian. He wasn’t a preacher, but if you read many of his speeches, you’ll see that he might as well have been.
The civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s was largely led by Christain preachers. It started with the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Almost everyone on the MIA board was a preach, including Martin Luther King. Their religion informed their direr belief in their right for to freedom.
MLK’s understanding of Christianity amalgamated with Black Nationalist thought (which their isn’t a big gulf anyway if you know where King really stood) is what lead to the formation of Black Liberation Theology. The same BLT that has white folks in fervent hatred of Pastor Jeremaih Wright. Does he seem like an oppressed, mentally enslaved Black man to you?
The fact of the matter is, whites do not, and never have had a sole ownership license to what is called Christianity. For which, anyway, has varied manifestation in which one chooses to understand and practice it.
The fact of the matter is that Christianity was in Africa before the invasion of White people. I’ve studied the issue, and much of the Bible takes place in Africa. Babylon which is modern day Iraq; where Abram ham hails from was a Black populated land in those times. I can speak more to that.
Those who read the Bible know of the Egyptian Queen in the Book of Acts who takes on Christianity and takes it home with her. The Ethiopians, though mostly becoming Orthodox Christians since; have also maintained a very primitive form of Christian practice since the Days of the Apostles until right now. Ancient Hebraic practice can be found amongst the Fulani of Nigeria and else where in Africa, dating back to ancient times.
I’m a Christian, and I’m an unapologetic Black Nationalist.
My faith informs my Nationalist stance. Why, because I know I’m an equal creature to any man; created of God; and have an unyielding God given right to be free and treaded equally.
Knowing that by dictate of God Yehova that I’m equal to any other man, disallows me to accept being given or being treaded less than any other humans; hence my fervent resistance to such mistreatment, and hence my strong humanitarianism as well.
You will find my practice of Christianity to differ in many ways than my oppressors’ version of religion and Jesus created in his own image.
Thank you, you two, for the excellent responses on the matter. :) Definitely a clear insight into the matter that I simply would never have been able to have my own. So thank you!
I can understand both of your points, though personally I’m anti-religion–I feel that we should be able to have moralities and equalities without religion, and historically religion has provided all but that. But I can certainly see now why many still do practice it and happily.
I stand enlightened. :P
Herein lies Christianity’s strength – it is able to be easily adapted to different cultures, the nature of the bible makes it easy to, on the one hand justify slavery and on the other inspire some to rise up and free themselves.
And while I disagree with yobachi’s claim that he has a god given right, I will agree that he has a human right to be free and to be treated equally, as do we all.
Loved the age discrimination in your last paragraph! Here’s something you might want to try:
Do-It-Yourself Tests for Racism, Homophobia, Ageism and Anti-Obesity Bias:
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/10/do-it-yourself-.html
In case you hadn’t noticed, Linda, old men do NOT look good in tights. That’s not age discrimination, that’s cold hard fact.
Please don’t belittle a teenager about age discrimination after one of your own writers at LGStarr chose to insult my age.
Thank you. :)
Note: I did check out those tests, and I feel they’re a bit skewed. You could make it look like someone hated chickens. I’m not denying that everyone has bias, but I found myself easily confused by trying to rapidly answer the questions and having the sides flipped.