American Christianity remains politically separate and unequal

The Tuesday Talking Points!

Christianity, as interpreted by white males who imported the religion to the Western Hemisphere, has ALWAYS been at the root of colonial exploitation, the slave trade, the subjugation of women in America and, inherently separate and unequal along these demographic lines.

In fact, as you learned during your school days, most post-Renaissance European explorers who ventured into Africa, Asia, and the Americas did so with the approval of both the crown (government) and the Church; the Vatican, Anglican, and Lutheran churches endowed their followers with the belief that it was their “divine right” to pillage, plunder, and defile both human flesh and material wealth on all other continents—in the name of Jesus Christ or the Blessed Mother!

Pertinent to today’s blog and its author, the material rape of Africa by Europeans was not enough; most Africans who remained on the continent, and those who were transported to the Americas in bondage, were not taught the more liberating aspects of Christ’s teachings by so-called Christian missionaries and slavers. Rather, Africans were forced fed scriptures of submission, like:

***Ephesians 6:5: “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ…”

Or this one:

***Romans 13:1: “All of you must obey the government rulers. Everyone who rules was given the power to rule by God. And all those who rule now were given that power by God. 2 So anyone who is against the government is really against something God has commanded…"

Sigh… 😠 😠 😠

Tragically, many generations of Blacks have collectively experienced a form of “Stockholm Syndrome,” which I interpret as an unrequited love for their white (and mostly Christian) oppressors. Seriously, those colonizers did a whole number on their prey, as they equated Black resistance to colonialism and slavery as being akin to rejecting God Himself! A god, mind you, that they depicted as a skinny and pale white male with thin hair—not the darker skinned, kinky haired man as the Scriptures described as being "bronze" with hair like "lamb's wool.

Who is this?

Now, to be balanced, over time a few white Christian sects opposed slavery, including some Methodists, Presbyterians, and Quakers. But to be crystal clear, the majority of Catholics and Protestants, in Europe and the Americas, profited greatly from both the slave trade and slave labor!

Even after slavery was formally eradicated at the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865, when Reconstruction ended in 1877 and the deconstruction of Black civil rights began during the Jim Crow era (1878 to 1968), those white mayors, governors, and legislators who drafted the laws to deny Black rights called themselves Christians—and they praised Jesus during mid-week Bible study and on Sunday mornings. 

Those Ku Klux Klansmen that donned the white robes and clown hats to terrorize and lynch Black people? They called themselves Christians and praised Jesus during mid-week Bible study and on Sunday mornings. 

Such is why Dr. Martin Luther King  chastised his “Dear fellow (white) clergymen" in “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” because many of those pastors gave communion and preached about Jesus to vicious white supremacists each week, while at the same time, they told King and his fellow Black clergymen to "be patient" and "wait” while the white supremacists in their flocks ran amok. Lest we forget that even after the Civil Rights Movement ended in the late 1960's, it took Southern Baptists until 1995 to issue a hollow apology for slavery! 

These are the very reasons I stare in astonishment at the modern day so-called "values voters," self-proclaimed (and mostly white Republicans) who, once more, refuse to separate their personal feelings about race, gender, and sexual orientation from God's word or will. 

You see, contrary to the lies that spew from the mouths of religious conservatives, I know fully well that the reason that the Republican Party has feared immigration and abortion for the past four decades is because this country is literally becoming darker complexioned!

Those so-called pro-lifers and "Build that Wall" adherents fear predictions that whites will no longer be in the numerical majority by the end of the 21st century, so the real push is to prevent white women from having abortions. Just this past Saturday, U.S. Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill) said what millions of her fellow MAGAs think as she thanked former President Donald Trump for saving “white life” at a political rally to help her campaign.

Listen for yourselves:

Implicit within Republican fears is a concern that Mexicans, Muslims, and "The Blacks" will treat whites as poorly as whites have treated racial minorities since the first Pilgrims landed back in the early 1600's. Which is decidedly unfounded when you consider anecdotal evidence which shows that racial minorities have actually paid attention to the "red-letters" in the Bible that signify what Christ supposedly said as racial and ethnic minorities have historically shown far more grace, compassion, and mercy for their racist oppressors than can be adequately described in an 800 word blog! 

This past Sunday, I addressed race and the Christian faith during a speech to graduates at New Mt. Zion AME Church in Tallahassee, which is led by my Frat Brother and friend, Rev. Dr. Anton Elwood, Sr.

Which leads to my conclusion, that Christianity, as a social or political construct, has been (and remains) THE most useful tool of white supremacists in America. Which is why Ol' Hobbs, a baptized sinner who is only saved by Grace, fully supports the separation of his faith from his politics because the truth is that Christ really isn't the problem—but his intolerant alleged followers, the ones who twist His words for their evil purposes, remain THE problem!