On any given Sunday in churches all over the world, preachers regularly tell people that if they do not believe in Jesus Christ, they will be damned for eternity. They teach millions, no, billions of people that the ancient Egyptians were evil, genocidal, idol worshippers. They send people they call missionaries to various countries and attempt to instill feelings of inferiority in the native who for whatever issues he may have in his religion has figured out how to be hospitable and to not drop hydrogen bombs on anyone. All of the above is approved of by billions of Christians and supported with their monies. This offends me and millions like me, yet no one apparently cares, since we do not get air time to discuss our positions on this matter. No, instead the press, media and entertainment agencies regularly portray us as superstitious morons, scared to death of chicken blood,zombies and of course talking dolls. There are Christian bookstores where books, audio and video tapes stating such things are sold by the thousands. I am offended, and no one could care less.
Christian ministers go on TV and advocate for the assassinations of heads of state and are welcomed guests on programs such as Good Morning America. Clearly, Christians, which most, if not all the people involved with that program, are not upset by these things. On the other hand, Khalid Mohammed of the Nation of Islam said the Pope was a sissy and got a US congressional censor and no invitation to GMA to promote his book. Kind of hypocritical isn’t it.
And lest Muslims think they are off the hook because there were two empires in West Africa, you are not. Me and mine here in the states are quite tired of being referred to as Abeed by immigrant Muslims while shopping. I also resent the use of the term kafir, Infidel, or idolator. No, I don’t appreciate it one bit. And that whole bit about Mohammed not being violent, not exactly true see. When Mohammed was just starting out he ran into, shall we say, resistance. Mohammed decided going to war to spread his “new” religion was proper Muslim behavior. Even his successor, Abu Bakr, was convinced that military expeditions were the proper means of spreading the faith. So enough of the Mohammed did not believe in violence. History does not prove that to be true. And lest we believe that Muslim violence and imperialism started recently I will inform the reader that as an example the conflict between Muslim Arabs and black Makuria’s and the baqt (settlement) that ceased hostilities and included the regular gifts of slaves to the now Muslim Egypt, This problem, specifically slavery is the source of the violence currently being waged against non-Muslims, both Christian and so-called “animist” in the Sudan. This clearly shows that Islam has a quite violent past. Yet many Muslims, just like their Christian brethren would rather we wear rose colored glasses where they can see only themselves as the enlightened ones. I think not.
In fact it is known by many scholars that the Islamicization and Arabization of parts of Africa are directly tied to the exploitation of black people wherever it occurs. In fact it is believed that the Islamic conflicts in west Africa, specifically Songhai created a situation that Europeans were able to exploit when they arrived. So really, I’m insulted by the notion that Islam is a religion of peace, when history simply shows the opposite. But I don’t think anyone particularly cares what a pagan, heathen, infidel, non-believing, idolator has to say.
And Jews, whom love to play the role of victim, have a well known history, well detailed in the Old Testament of killing the “non-chosen” for simply rejecting or simply not knowing the Hebrew godhead. Who knows, perhaps the current problems that Jews face are in some manner karma. Not that I support such things but you know, what goes around comes around.
And oh, yes, while I’m checking off offenses, another thing that bothers me: God as “Our Father” or any particular gender. That insults me. I find it greatly offensive since I and many millions simply do not believe God is a he or she. Anyone willing to stop using gender identifiers for God? Anyone? Thought not.
Yes, It strikes me as greatly hypocritical that the Secretary General of the UN would tell people to “respect the beliefs and tenets of all religions” when he goes to church and agrees with Christian dogma about the burning hell that awaits us so called, pagan, heathen, idolator, infidel, kafir peoples.
So how about this: all sides shut the hell up until they are prepared to radically alter their so called ‘Holy Books” to remove those ideas and justifications for inferiorizing and “otherizing” the beliefs of other people and perhaps insert more verses, surahs and what have you about righteous behavior. How about it?
Technorati Tags: Africa, Pan-Africanism, Religion
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