American Christianity

This morning I logged on to YouTube as I normally do to see if my favorite subscription, The Young Turks, had updated their channel. They had uploaded a new video about Carrie Prejean and her newly found sex tape. After hearing this, my initial reaction was, "HA!" Because this woman is the epitome of what I've been saying about American Christianity all along.

One of the most irritating phrases that I hear is that "America Is a Christian Nation." There never has been anything Christ-like about America. Christianity has just been used in America to create solidarity among whites, to suppress other races, and to keep other races/people out. American Christianity is not about following the precepts of God. It's not about living a holy life. Furthermore, American Christianity was never concerned with walking the Christian walk. This is why it annoys me when pastors and other Christian leaders get in a panic because America is now just turning away from God. "Americans are aborting millions of babies and are going to bring the judgment of God!" they proclaim, as America has just started on a crime spree. Well before that, America was slaying indigenous people and Africans. That's not really a change in its behavior; however, no one likes to bring up things like that. America is not turning away from God, because it was never turned to God in the first place.

But now, I'm being drawn away from my original point. American Christianity is a construct to keep certain groups down or out in order to maintain the supremacy of white values. This is why I must roll my eyes when I hear someone bashing Muslims and using the ever favorite "America is a Christian Nation" line to justify not treating them with the same respect they would give to a European American. I would think that Americans would welcome Muslim immigrants as most of the time they act more holy than they ever could. They could learn something from them. In fact, I remember hearing NPR report a few years ago on a story where Muslim immigrants were absolutely shocked at the wickedness and indecency of the "Christians." Muslims aren't going to destroy these alleged Christian values as the Conservatives fear. But they aren't battling over Christian values. They're afraid of the Muslims coming because they don't want those brown people from the Middle East invading their land. Prejean illustrated this point further. If she was so afraid of her precious Christian values being degraded in America, she wouldn't have posed nude or made sex tapes. American Christianity is all about keeping groups out, suppressed, and maintaining "white culture."

(What's even more ironic about this is that even the most white Americans are "Christians," a recent study by the found that Blacks are the most religious group in America and are more likely to believe biblical principles than we did 15 years ago.)

4 comments:

BlackWomenBlowTheTrumpet said...

Hi there!

As a minister, I can assure you that I remind church folks ALLLL the time that the U.S. is not a Christian nation. It was never a Christian nation. The Constitution was not written by men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. It was written by those who had white dominance in their hearts.

With that said, I will also say that Christianity is HARDLY a "White man's religion" as the black Muslims looove to tell me. Clearly, they haven't read the Holy Bible or they would know that a black man helped Jesus carry the cross through an unruly, hateful mob.

A black man. Did Jesus not see that a black man was helping Him carry the load? Of course He did.

The black Muslims also don't know that it is recorded in the Holy Bible that an African read the scriptures in the chariot and even asked questions. So the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was known to Africans looooong before white people decided to go Africa to enslave them. The hogwash that the white slave master "introduced" Christianity to the African slave is continually repeated by our people.

Since we are aware that the African was reading scriptures in the chariot then clearly Africans were NOT first exposed to the sacred text upon their arrival in America by white slave owners.

But anyway...

I wanted to make a point about your view of American Christianity.

Number one - you know and I know that blanket statements CAN NOT be made about every single person who professes Christ.

Number two - Christianity is not a religion. It is a faith. This is news for many black folks who I have encountered in the church however...they were "taught" that Christianity is a religion. I ask them, "so you believe that Jesus came to establish a new religion? Really?" They have to admit that no, Jesus did not come for that purpose.

So then, I ask them ...."why are you practicing religion and placing the label of Christianity on it?" They don't know how to answer that question. If they were "taught" that Christianity is a religion then they don't know how to conceptualize it outside of that framework.

Therein lies my challenge as a teacher of God's word.

Number four - I have no idea what the story is with that white lady who is some pageant queen but I do know this. We know in the Bible that God used a murderer and an adulterer and a traitor and a thief and a pimp and many others in the Bible.

If I meet a Christian on Friday who is declaring complete devotion to Jesus Christ and I find out that a month prior that person was a prostitute on crack, THAT doesn't mean that the person is a hypocrite.

If that person is declaring complete devotion to Jesus Christ on Friday and by Sunday is relapsed and back on drugs, THAT doesn't mean that the person is a hypocrite either.

Oh how the church folks looove to declare that someone is a hypocrite the second that person reveals that they have a soiled character. Since when did Jesus say that ONLY those who do not have soiled characters are the "real" Christians? If that were true, NO ONE would be able to say they were "real" Christians.

But as I have said... I don't know this woman's story.

~ End of Part One ~

BlackWomenBlowTheTrumpet said...

~ Part Two of Two ~

You have said:
"Christianity has just been used in America to create solidarity among whites, to suppress other races, and to keep other races/people out."

I can't say that I would agree with that statement. You see, Christianity is not at fault for anything. People decide to toss the Christian banner on their actions to attempt to legitimize them.

So there is the crucial difference. If a person kills an abortion doctor and then claims on the news "I did it in the name of Jesus" THAT doesn't mean that Christianity is to blame. It means that a murder decided to toss up Christianity to give credence to his action! After all, those of us who read the Bible are aware that even Jesus warned, "many will say that they have done things in my name and I will say 'depart from Me! I never knew you!"

I hope I have said something here that makes sense. If not, my email address is displayed on my blog.

Peace, blessings and DUNAMIS!
Lisa

The Black Bot said...

Thanks for commenting Lisa,

As for part two of your post, you rephrased what I meant. I wasn't saying anything was wrong with Christianity itself. That's why I said it was used.

I know that everyone falls. However, Prejean is running around the country waving the banner for conservative values by condemning gay marriage, while she posing nude and making sex tapes. I can't take this girl seriously. This is just an example of how American's are Christians only under certain circumstances. The majority of American "Christians" talk one way and live another, and I won't believe that any of them are Christians until I see them live in a Christlike manner.

I do not think that Christianity is a white man's religion, as well. Off topic, I know some Blacks leave Christianity because they believe that the whites forced it on us, but I never understood why they turn to Islam because the Arabs forced Islam on us as well. In addition, Blacks received treatment that was just as bad, if not worse, from the Arabs as from the whites, and the Arabs still have Blacks in slavery, so why people advocate Islam over Christianity just because of race--I'll never know.

BlackWomenBlowTheTrumpet said...

Hi there,

My apologies for "rephrasing" your statement. I can't stand when people do that to me at my blog (or elsewhere) and I try to make SURE I am not doing it!

I guess I would need to know WHEN the nude photos and the sex tapes were done... was it years before she made a decision to commit to Jesus Christ? If she was doing those things BEFORE she came out as a serious Christian then I don't see the hypocrisy at all. I don't think it means she was Christian only under certain circumstances.

For me the key detail is the TIMING of when she was engaged in this other behavior.
I don't know her story though.

I tell Christians all the time... do NOT confuse Christ with Christians... Christ is perfect and has NEVER been flawed or sinful...Christians will always be flawed beings(as long as they are skin and bones). Christians are constantly in a state of character evolution...Christ is perfection. Do not base your view of Christianity on Christians...base your view of Christianity on Christ. Too many disgruntled and disillusioned Christians define Christianity based on what they see in mortal beings...the flawed humans...and that's an enormous mistake. People should NOT be the example for Christians to look to in order to understand Christianity...

Peace, blessings and DUNAMIS!
Lisa

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