The Irony of the African-American Christian

By Jazzybelle ~

This was brought on when I confessed my de-conversion to my parents about two days ago. My mom said that she was a little upset and felt awkward, but as long as I can back it up, she won't ever stop loving me.

My dad was and still is pretty mad and disappointed by it. He even went so far as to say he doesn't touch atheists when I wished them good night and I went for a good night hug (he and my mom got into an argument about it later and my mom let me stay up a little later because of the issue).

Still, something he said bugged me. He had said,

"But she's black? How could she be a-a-"

Everyone knows that stereotype, right? That if you're black, you believe "Jesus is a brotha"? Keep this in mind as I explain what I found in a brief research session.

I first heard this in my English class when we did a daily quote on the board. It was on Thomas Jefferson's famous quote, "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness" and how it differed from the original "life, liberty, and pursuit of property".

Some of us didn't get it so our teacher explained that Jefferson was trying to make it so slaveowners couldn't use the constitution as something to justify their right to own slaves.

Then, he went a step further.

Our teacher had actually taken this verse from a version of the bible and broke it down in front of all of us. I was rather shocked that no one in my class said anything against God when this was told.

Most likely, it was a version of the bible that was put down as obsolete after either the Civil War ended, the Civil Rights Movement or somewhere in between because this is what my teacher had actually written on the board:

Adam-Eve-Cain murders Abel

In the Bible, Cain is called a subhuman because he murdered his brother and he and his descendants are now to wander/work the hot desert and would be marked by their skin.

When the Christian white men came to Africa, they believed that the Africans were the descendants of Cain and since they were labeled as "subhuman", it was their job to help them become "human" by "taking them under their wing".

In the Syriac Christian Bible, it states that Cain's skin color underwent a change. Gen. 4:5

In the Eastern Christian (Armenian) Adam-book (5th or 6th century) it is written: 鄭nd the Lord was wroth with Cain. . . He beat Cain痴 face with hail, which blackened like coal, and thus he remained with a black face"

"But she's black? How could she be a-a-"This all points to the already stated "mark", so to speak. In the average Bible today, it is written that the earth shall grown no crops if Cain is the one who tends to it. Both that and "hot desert" can refer to the Saharan Desert.

There are also several scriptures in the average day bible that talk about slaves:

Ephesians 6:4-6: Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.

Ephesians 6:5:Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.

Ephesians 6:9:And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

...just to name a few.

Now, I know slavery is pretty much nothing new when it comes to the Bible (or in Africa really), but for my dad to actually say that (considering that a large number of Christians are black), threw me off the edge.

If you wanted me to tell you the biggest reason I refuse to be a Christian, I would easily say "Because I cannot and refuse to believe in a God that had a hand in condemning a large number of people in Africa, including my ancestors to the life known as slavery."

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