There are
Christians around the world consisting of many
different ethnic backgrounds; so why do I choose to
write about religion, mainly as it relates to
African Americans? I have been asked this question
on more than a few occasions. Please allow me to
explain my reasoning. African Americans have
a different dynamic when it comes to their
relationship with religion/Christianity. Blacks were
introduced to Jesus while enslaved and were told the
bible was their ticket to freedom and their roadmap
to eternal life. This was music to enslaved men and
women's ears. How sweet the sound it was, to hear
about a man, a Son of God, that would deliver them
from the inhumane suffering of servitude and
physical bondage! It was this belief, coupled with
the unusual institution of slavery that separates
the Black believer from the rest of the world’s
believers.
The bible was used to justify
Black enslavement and therefore became the greatest
condoner of Black bondage. Blacks wrestled with a
perplexing paradox. On one hand, there was Jesus;
the
collaborator of
Black physical enslavement, yet the liberator of
Black souls. In other words, Jesus, as told to
Blacks by their enslaver, completely approved of
their enslavement but would one day grant their souls the
opportunity to dwell with him and his father, freely up
in heaven; if they
believed. To this day, there has not been an
acceptable rationalization to justify such a
contradiction.
Meanwhile, in the midst of all of
this new and strange information being digested into
the Black consciousness, Blacks were provided with
an image of a savior which was similar in appearance
to their oppressor. So, to make us feel better about
being forced to accept our oppressor’s image and
belief system, Blacks, ultimately compensated
by dipping Jesus and all of the other biblical
characters in “chocolate.” This was an ego-defense
mechanism which also made the stories in the bible
more relatable and palatable.
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