Manipulated Scriptures
We live in a nation where blackness and white supremacy are nearly synonymous with Christianity. It’s nearly impossible to separate the two in relation to the faith. However, this isn’t a union, this is a historical demonstration of a power imbalance and hypocrisy by a ruling class. In this installation of the Dozer blog entitled “Bestemmia” we will be analyzing the relationship between Black people and our complicated roots to Christianity. Together we will delve into topics of African religion pre-colonialism, the effects of Christianity during slavery, and much more.
It only seems right that I add context to why I hold this perspective. I’ll spare the elongated version of my relationship with Christianity and keep it simple. Ironically, while writing this blog entry I will exclusively be listening to gospel music, a Black genre of music that’s linked to the most visible sect of Black Christianity. I know it’s an odd choice given the fact that the motivation of this article is to think critically about our relationship with Christianity, but it makes sense to me. Since childhood I have always had a shaky relationship with Christianity. At the young age of six I vividly remember staring at some cupcakes I’d made with my mom for school the next day. While staring at the cupcakes I had my first experience of existentialism. I was thinking about how heaven was a lose-lose because the thought of eternity even at the age of six was too much to bare. I quickly made my peace with it by understanding that I could just go to sleep for a long time in heaven if I wanted to. As I grew up and made solid connections with people this idea of heaven became more appealing to me. You’re telling me I get to live in a paradise with all the people I’d ever known as long as I follow God? Sign me up! The only problem is, when you’re promised a paradise in exchange for cooperation through scripture, it can make your life about planning for the “next stage”. Building your resume to enter the gates of heaven. With that a lot of people lose or never get to develop an identity beyond their belief in God. I remember playing SuperSmashBros (and losing) with my Jewish friend when I was eight. I told him he would go to hell if he didn’t convert. Which begs the question, why does the end of life have to be so extreme? Why does it HAVE to be hell fire, utopia, or doctors waiting room? When I grew up a little more I definitely took my foot off the petal overtime. My faith remained but at this point I’d figured that as long as I’m not a bad person God and I were square. I hadn’t felt the feeling of existential dread since the cupcakes. That is until the tail end of my freshman year of college. My friend was talking about the existence of aliens and it shook me to my core. I understood that life more than likely did exist beyond earth. However, the implications didn’t register until that conversation. I had the immediate realization that it made everything I knew about creation and life invalid. The bible said we were made in God’s image so how the fuck does life outside of earth make sense within what we’re taught? I was abruptly faced with the reality that everything I’d known no longer felt real. Think about the safety and comfort any belief can offer, and then imagine it’s shattered by an insignificant conversation about aliens. It sounds silly but it’s the reality of my situation. So much of our security and personality can get wrapped up in our beliefs and interests that anything that effectively makes you question your stance can disrupt your understanding of yourself and life itself. While growing up in church and attending Sunday school we were taught that you might question your faith but God would always bring you back. Yeah, well I was past that point after the infamous alien conversation. There were basically no doubts. It felt like I’d entered a newer larger room and the door into the old room disappeared. The only way to get back in that room would be to break the wall down and hop back in. In other words, I unlocked an entirely new perspective and choosing to go back and live the old way would be the conscious decision to live in delusion. You only find comfort in a lie when you’re convinced it’s the truth, but living that lie after learning the truth can be a prison in itself. The aftermath of the alien conversation was met with 7 months of extraordinarily uncomfortable questions of life and happiness. Many of these questions forced me to think critically about topics like human ego and race. A singular moment was paramount to this journey of Christianity and Blackness. I was visiting the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston with my friend in the European division of the museum when I noticed numerous paintings of Jesus. Believe me the paintings were gorgeous, however, Jesus was white in every single one of them. A feeling of hopelessness engulfed my body within seconds. As the reader you might think I’m going to mention something about whiteness and how the God that “rules” us is depicted as a white man. You would be incorrect. It occurred to me at that moment that oftentimes different races depict Jesus in their own image. I’d seen Jesus depicted as Black, Korean, White, Spanish, you name it. In the long run that epiphany actually gave me much needed clarity and aided me in my exit to Christianity. I’d seen Jesus be commodified and customized to/by an audience much like the depiction of Santa Claus. Some people actually just want to believe in a God that looks like them, and the more that sunk in the more detached I was with my ties to Christianity. A few months later after I’d healthily coped with my existential crisis by finding value and meaning beyond my faith; I was no longer Christian. A few years later on a not so fun phone call with my antitheist brother I was told that black people only follow Christianity because of slavery. In comes another epiphany, only this time there wasn’t an emotional barricade I had to find my way around. This time my interest was piqued. In my mind he’d brought up a solid point that demanded more contemplation and research. Is Christianity for black people based on our perceived introduction?
If Black people were introduced to Christianity through slavery then the question of choice has to be begged. Today Black Americans and Christianity are tied at the hip. I find it difficult to think slavery didn’t play a role in the ongoing results. According to Pew Research, Black Americans are the most religious racial group in the country. While Black Christians make up most of the population a whopping 97% of Black adults believe in a God or a higher power. While 64% believe that their God is as described in their respective texts. Slavery and Jim Crow have had an immense long-term impact on the Black reality. We see this most offensively through wealth disparity. Slavery lasted so long that there were not only many generations of Africans that were born into it, but those same Africans saw a pre-enslavement world as a meer fantasy. Black people were working to build the wealth of white people, that was their purpose. For centuries they were fundamentally forced to work, in turn diminishing their own accumulation of wealth. So then you gain “freedom”, and you’re still denied wealth accumulation through institutional violence. Policing, access to quality education, exclusion from social safety nets like the New Deal in the 1940s are only a few examples. All those years add up to Black people facing perpetual poverty since arriving to America. I bring all this up to paint a picture of just how totalizing an experience like slavery can be, and the long lasting effects it can have. So why would the teaching of Christianity during slavery be any different? The same way we were damned into our current conditions through slavery, the same can be said for our loyalty to Christianity. Christianity was used as a vehicle to passively demand obedience from slaves. The irony and audacity of subjecting people to hell while selling them a heaven. The truth of the matter is it’s an easy selling point. If you live a life full of pain and death where you’re further expected to perform strenuous physical tasks daily, hope is survival. The owners often practiced Christianity themselves, however, they would manipulate their own religion to benefit them at the behest of slaves. It was a common practice to give slaves Sundays off and even have Sunday school. Preachers would come to read select scriptures to manipulate slaves. A commonly used passage was Ephesians, VI, 5-7. “Servents be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart." Parables like this played an integral role in the indoctrination of Christianity in the mind of slaves. Much of what was taught would put slave owners on a pedestal; not quite making them God but giving them authority due to a perceived proximity to God. Not unlike the literal role of a preacher today. The funny thing is, the practice of manipulated text to maintain power isn’t new at all. Throughout history information through text has been weaponized to control those who can’t read. Books didn’t start getting mass produced until the Middle Ages, but the first literary texts were produced around 3,500 BC. As a consequence, those who couldn’t read were at an extraordinary disadvantage. That was the exact situation slaves found themselves in. Slaves weren’t allowed to read out of fear of disrupting the social order. Well they were permitted from reading anything but the Slave Bible. The Slave Bible was a version of the King James Bible that was gifted to slaves to study. Produced in London in 1807 the Slave Bible was a heavily modified version of the King James Bible that cherry picked verses for slaves to read. In other words, a bible that solely existed to teach slaves to know and accept their place. The more I go on I hope everyone understands the intention and the airtight echochamber slave owners built for the slaves they owned, FOR CENTURIES! The long term effects that can have on a group of people is limitless. The interesting bit of all this is there were genuine disagreements between slave owners over the idea of converting slaves to Christianity. In an article by Jefferey Padgett titled “The Christianization of Slaves In The West Indies” for the University of Miami, Jeffery writes about how slave owners feared that converting slaves would undermine the institution of slavery. He writes about how they feared if slaves were given the notion of equality through religion, or the promise of eternal life awaited those martyred to the cause of freedom and equality on earth, it would cause trouble for the institution. Christianity was so exclusionary to these slave owners that they not only didn’t want Black people to adopt it, they feared it would also empower them. Which is why they chose to give them manipulated scriptures to keep them at bay. Despite the clear racist intent by these slave owners to keep slaves out of Christianity they actually might’ve had a point. There is an argument that can be made that Christianity has aided Black people to form community throughout history, and has empowered us in our revolutionary efforts over the years.
According to The Gospel Coalition, Christianity was established in Africa 1000 years prior to colonization. In an article written by Andrew Buttersworth he states that the religion made its way out of Jerusalem by going west to Europe, east to Asia, and south to Africa. In a sense making the three continents long lost cousins in the faith. He’s quoted writing “When the Portuguese landed in Ethiopia in 1493, they found to their shock that it was already full of churches!" Moreover, there were Ethiopian monks who sat on the Council of Florence with the Pope in the 15th century. Even ‘Church Fathers’ like Tertullian and Cyprian were African. So, it’s not only clear that Christianity was established in Africa, but African theologists have had a long lasting impression on the faith. While it’s important to note, it doesn’t distract from the absence of Christianity in West African countries. The same countries who were the main victims of European Imperialism and in turn, The Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. Prior to Christianity in Western Africa, Yoruba was the region's mainstay religion. While many Yoruba are Christian or Muslim in the present day, the traditional religion has a founding God and over 400 lesser deities. Today Yoruba exists mainly in Nigeria, lying as the third largest ethnic group in the country. Though it seems some of the roots have been diluted by more influential faiths, it’s nice to know it still exists in its country of origin. Sadly, due to centuries of slavery in the Americas and Caribbean some of those ties were lost over the years along with other faiths. However, with a change of location there were a plethora of religions that were developed during slavery that had bits and pieces from old African faiths.
Haitian Voodoo and Cuban Santeria are just a few religions that were born out of slavery and are fundamentally tied to liberation. Santeria has a particularly interesting origin. Developed in Cuba in the 17th century, Santeria also known as Regla de Ocha was founded quite quickly by West African slaves of the Yoruba and Lucumi faith. Slave owners banned them from worshiping their Gods, so they disguised their Gods as Catholic figures. Forced to be a secretive religion for years, Santeria survived through word of mouth rather than being celebrated outwardly. Similarly Voodoo was founded quickly by slaves, however, its development and maturation was considerably different from Santeria. Founded around the sametime in the 17th century, Voodoo was founded in the French ruled Haiti by enslaved Africans who found common ground from their varying religions. They had similar beliefs around ancestors, spirits, and worshiping traditions. With these commonalities they created Voodoo in turn empowering them to form a community beyond their bondage. Professor Anthony Bogues of Brown University describes the faith as not only a religion, but a system of thought. Voodoo shaped political and cultural standings and served as a pro-independence symbol to those who followed. Naturally both faiths were demonized and suppressed by white slave owners in an attempt to delegitimize the religion. Their anti-liberation narrative has bled into the current day and the portrayal of Voodoo and Santeria have at best been bastardized versions of reality. We often see them portrayed as scary and barbaric religions that practice magical nonsense that’s meant to curse the innocent. According to an article titled “Haiti and the Distortion of the Vodou” written by Millery Polyne, the demonization of Voodooism revamped in the 20th century. In 1898 the U.S. occupied Haiti in an attempt to exploit the population for labor and industrial advancement. A key element to reach this goal was demonizing Voodoo. The article points out how followers of Voodoo were painted as cannibals and devil worshipers. Thus, depicting Voodoo as a religion of primal Godless people who have a foundational dedication to carnage. Even the U.S. Lt. Faustin Wirkus wrote a memoir titled “The White King Of La Gonave” named after the island he occupied. He’s quoted saying “We had orders from headquarters… to make a report leading to criminal punitive action against all priests and priestesses of Vodou.” and “The cult of Vodou was the medium of black magic, blasphemy and treason.” The background of these faiths aren’t just important because they’re relevant to the theme. Voodoo and Santeria are examples of resilience and serve as mediums to humanize yourself in a world that forcibly makes you property. This unification constructed purpose and ultimately the ability to revolt. Revolution, perhaps the most important element to the mention of Voodoo and Santeria. Both religions had their own liberation efforts and successes in their respective countries.
By 1791 the Black population of Haiti was around 1.3 million while the white population was in the ballpark of 100,000. Zeroing in on Vodou, with a century of practice in the books, Vodou was well established amongst slaves in Haiti. So much so that French missionaries came to Haiti to study the religion. Rebel groups formed over the years and talks of revolution began to circulate. Funnily enough the French Revolution which started in 1789 was in full swing in Europe, and rumors of the revolution overseas emboldened the Black population of Haiti to revolt against their French oppressors. The revolution started with the sacrifice of a black pig during a ceremony headed by Dutty Boukman, known as the reincarnation of the first priest of Vodou, Francois Makandal. The revolution led to the destruction of 1,800 plantations and the deaths of over 1,000 slave owners on the island. After a 13 year revolution the Black population of Haiti gained their freedom and became the first Black republic in the new world. Cuba on the other hand didn’t abolish slavery until 1886. In part because of the Catholic rule that persisted in Cuba at that time. As a result Santeria was still illegal and directly tied to the black population. Similar to American slaves, Cuban slaves were liberated into oppression right after slavery. It took until 1959 for the Black population of Cuba to enjoy the same rights as their white counterparts. One would think Santeria would see the light of day given the shift in power right? Wrong, The new Cuban government banned both Catholicism and Santeria. According to an article by The University of Oslo, this occurred because of Catholicism’s totalizing power over the island politically and socially. Santeria on the other hand was seen as primitive and incompatible to new age revolutionary ideas. The 1990s was the first time Santeria was allowed to be practiced and embraced publicly. Today Santeria is an interval part of Cuban society and people from all social classes proudly claim the title. The history of Voodoo and Santeria are paramount to the theme of Bestemmia because they paint a picture of how religion has actually been in favor of the unification of black people in their liberation efforts. The question is can the same be said for Blacks who subscribe to Christianity?
Earlier there was mention of numerous slave owners fearing that converting Blacks to Christianity would undermine the institution of slavery. They feared that the promise of a heaven would embolden slaves to die as martyrs in the cause for freedom. This racist fueled paranoia is foul, but they were absolutely correct. It’s beyond wild to earn a badge as a racist visionary but luckily their paranoia fell on deaf ears. The Black church has been one of the main figureheads in the fight for Black liberation in the United States. Since the 20th century, the Black church has been largely responsible for revolutionary advancements, having a hand in the Civil Rights Movement and serving as a safe house and meeting place for organizers. The Civil Rights Movement was rich with church leaders like Martin Luther King Jr, Fredrick Douglas, and Bayard Rustin. Prior to, church leaders like Nat Turner and Denmark Vesey lead slave rebellions out of their respective churches. Both men would ultimately fail and be hung as a consequence, but their efforts will forever be admired and honored by the Black community. The impact of the Black church has been felt internally and nationally for centuries. In fact without the Black Church the Civil Rights Act and The Voting Rights Act of 1965 might not have been passed. Martin Luther King Jr. stood next to Lyndon B. Johnson when he signed them into law. Furthermore, it was MLK and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference that organized the March on Washington where MLK gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech. Historically, a lot of credit can be given to the Black church for their ability to organize and persistence in their endeavors. However, none of those accomplishments came without hardships. It doesn't matter if you're a person of God or a God hating atheist, the hate and vitriol that racists have for the progression of Black people (and Black people in general) is insurmountable. We could discuss the Black Wall Street Massacre of Tulsa Oklahoma in 1921; or the introduction of The War On Drugs by Nixon in 1971; or the Prison Industrial Complex and how it started post-slavery for the south to legally re-enslave Black men. We could discuss these topics but the burning of Black Churches is far too important to ignore. The burning of Black churches is not a new game in the sport of anti-black bigotry. Remember Denmark Vesey? His church Emmanuel African Methodist Church was burnt down shortly after he was lynched, killing nine in the process. That horrendous event happened in 1822. The arrival of the 20th century didn't slow the habit. There are countless records of Black church burnings in the 20th century. Perhaps the most notable being the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The action was executed by four KKK members and took the lives of Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins, and Carol Robertson. Four children... please allow that to sink in. This incident isn't the only time Black children have fallen victim to the white power structure. It's the continuation of the reality that Black parents have faced since slave auctions. The God fearing people who introduced us to the church are the same people who burned down our churches because our brand of Christianity is illegitimate. It can't be understated just how much you have to hate someone to burn down a divine building that represents your own religion, just to spite Black people. It sends a message that the true allegiance is to hatred first, Sadism second, and God third. If you made the assumption that church burning stopped in the 1960s you'd be dead wrong. In 1996 alone there were 160 Black church burnings. In fact black church burnings in the 90s got so out of hand then U.S. President Bill Clinton had to form the National Church Arson Task Force (NCATF) to investigate crimes against churches. There was one church Bill Clinton gave a speech to after they were attack. The South Carolinian church Mount Zion had a failed arson attack in 1995 by two KKK members, but 20 years later the church was attacked again and successfully burned to the ground. Mount Zion was just one of six Black church that was targeted in a week's span. When the pastor of the church was interviewed he said that the congregation along with himself have already forgiven the arsonists.
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Therein lies the current issues with the Black church. The willingness to forgive your oppressor as they continue the tradition of Black brutality that's carried on for centuries simply cannot be overlooked. The Black church as a revolutionary institution has deflated to a place where hope is prayed for rather than fought for. This is due to the big bad wolf that kills your leaders generation after generation, subjects you to perpetual poverty, polices your community, over looks hate crimes, and burns your churches. Hope has become more abstract in the Black community when our history has shown us we can make hope a tangible thing through action. Leaving this article more confused than when I started wasn't the plan, but that's the beauty of curiosity and research. The irony isn't lost on me how the same tool that was used to control us was the same tool we used to propel us forward. Whether it's still a reliable vehicle for change is up to history.
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References
Padgett, Jeffery. "The Christianization of Slaves In the West Indies." University of Miami,
https://scholar.library.miami.edu/slaves/slave_trade/individual_essays/jeffrey.html
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"Faith Among Black Americans." Pew Research, 16, Feb. 2021,
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Buttersworth, Andrew. "African Christianity Thrived, Long Before The White Man Arrived." The Gospel Coalition, 16, Nov. 2022,
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Rae, Noel. "How Christian Slaveholders Used the Bible to Justify Slavery." Time, 23, Feb. 2018,
https://time.com/5171819/christianity-slavery-book-excerpt/
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Ealy, Steve. "The Slave Bible." Online Library of Liberty, 13, Sept. 2021,
https://oll.libertyfund.org/publications/reading-room/Ealy_Slave_Bible
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Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Yoruba". Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Jul. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yoruba. Accessed 26 September 2024.
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https://www.anywhere.com/cuba/travel-guide/santeria
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Polyné, Millery & McAlister Elizabeth. "Haiti and the distortion of it Vodou religion." CNN, 19, Apr. 2017,
https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/17/opinions/believer-haiti-vodou-polyne-mcalister/index.html
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https://www.statista.com/statistics/1069679/fertility-rate-mexico-1800-2020/
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Williams, Cecil. "Crisis of Faith." PBS, 2003,
https://www.pbs.org/thisfarbyfaith/journey_5/p_1.html
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"How Black Churches Saved America." The Harvard Gazette, 9, Mar. 2021,
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/03/the-history-and-importance-of-the-black-church/
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"Violent History: Attacks on Black Churches." The New York Times, 18, June. 2015,
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/06/18/us/19blackchurch.html
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlYI42GPxpw
