Pan Africanism : christian worship vs. ancestral worship...

my two cents....

1. christianity is missionary in nature. it goes out to acquire while one is born into an african religion. three of christianity's major acquisition strategies in africa are 1) the propaganda that the african religions and gods are not true 2) that believing in an african god is like believing in the devil 3) (in the olden days) only christians deserved to go to school and hospitals. one could only go to school or be treated in an hospital if one was catholic or anglican which forced many into christianity.

2. with 1) above, europeans were able to dilute the african culture in search away as to pave way for its total extinction.

now, there is nothing fundamentally wrong in an african religion. in fact our religions are very rich in culture. christianity on the other hand teaches that you must believe in god "who will deliver you from the devil and evil". the truth is that you are also being told, by this sentence implied, to believe in the duality of god, that is both god and devil. the reason being that if your belief in god is dependant upon his act of delivering you from the devil, you must therefore believe in the devil and his evil before you believe on god to save you. that we call devil worshiping.

so while christians worship the devil. africans do not for africans though believe in the existence of evil spirits but do not see these as some kind of anti-god.

your fears therefore stem from years of indroctination by the christian missionary forces.

go back to the roots.
 
Christianity or ancestor worshipping

undefined The matters on hand in this string are common to any people being exposed to ideas of the divine reality that are at variance to their own. In this environment traditional African religiosity is hinged with the tenants of Christianity, with the range of comments on what's come of this interaction indicated in the various participants comments. You can take the same topic to the Hinduu, the Moslem, in fact, any system of faith people embrace who've been challenged by another system of conceptualization where God is concerned. In essence, the issue is our tendencies to cling to our traditions in light of a notion that discounts what we've come to know and be convinced.

I am Christian. I am a thinking man nor do I perceive Christianity necessitates one submit to a range of thought that falls short in comprehending and addressing others perceptions and concerns. I' ve noted some posts in this string making comment about Christian doctrine. The writers' intent may have been to convey practical reason, however it's obvious they haven't a good grasp on what they seek to speak. In that regard would be a long drawn out debate that would probably yield no meaningful result. It seems all mankind is locked into the unforgiving embrace of traditions and truth is subject to much conjecture.

As far as ancestor worship is concerned, being African American I cannot relate to the passion of the practice in context of my own cultural experience. I realize however, as a tradition, the practice is vested. It's been in place for so long there are no questions raised as to the efficacy of its claims. I realize, the same is true for a lot of what you see in conventional forms of Christianity. There's much to criticizze of what's been made of what was revealed in Christ, so, as far as casting stones I will not engage in that method of attempting to get my point across. I will merely say, without intending to take this discussion into a round of recrimminations, that there are aspects to the revelation of Jesus Christ that are hidden to those who are blinded by what men have done with the faith.

Any institution that men have a part in adminisrating will have failings. The embarrassing aspects of Christianity are not of the tenants of Christ and other biblical doctrine, but of men's handling what they've received. So often I've noted critics attempt to wear and tear at Christianity as a woeful belief system when, in fact, it offers profound insights into a number of areas. I can offer no support for ancestor worship. I do believe we should honor our family's name and remember those who've charted a course prior to our being manifest in the world. To worship one's ancestors, if that is a component of ancestor acknowledging is a very big problem in my thinking. Our ancestors are no more than predecessors of ourselves. I would not have my great grandchildren and those proceeding generations to make more of me than I actually am. Every one who has ever lived have endured the hard knocks of life and made some kind of way in its respective realms of experience. I have relatives who've passed on whose memories I cherish. There are a cast of characters in that lot representing a variety of aspects of life, not all are honorable, nevertheless I cherish their memories. As to their standing in the realm in which they find themselves presently I do not sense they have any precedence as we don't in living. We are all subject to a determinate power, mankind has no say in what temperature the sun will impose on any given day nor what amount of snow will fall. Those loved ones who've transitioned into the astral dimension, or whatever you choose to call it, are sojourners as we are on earth. They are still subject to authorities and are submitting to the laws that govern the realm in which they find themselves. They have no gained any stature before God prior to their transitioning into the realm of the spirit. Therefore, worshipping and making an ado of our ancestors as arbiters of our needs in their present state is unproductive in my thought. Nevertheless, this system of tradition is well inculcated among African peoples as worshipping cattle is to the Hinduu oriented mind. I would consider it no more than a tradition however, I do not perceive there'd be any loss to abandoning the practice in anyone's living. At the same time, put into a perspective I perceive to be realistic, acknowledging our departed loved ones would be fine. As an extension of the honor we should submit to our elders and other human beings, I do not have anything to detract from keeping our forefather's names in good standing in our hearts and minds.

I've had nothing of substance to share of Christianity in my comment. I would merely say in its regard that the report of Jesus' resurrection is a notion not to be casually disregarded. Did the event really occur? There are many aspects to draw upon that endorse the claim that there was something very unsual about this man who's commonly referred to as the Christ. I perceive he was who scripture claims, which is in no small measure something each man has to come to terms with according to his own light. Nevertheless, in this forum I take no restraint in recommending all men take care in how they consider this subject. There may be far more involved than our biases will allow us to consider. Sometimes, due to tradition or what has transpired in history men will form resentments. In turn these are heaped upon what may well be true while we convince ourselves we are justified in rejecting. Be careful what you reject is my recommendation as I've been careful in attempting to render a balanced perspective on ancestor worshipping.

Astro.....
 
Ancestral worship in the Church?

Just for clarification, is not worshipping Jesus, ancestral worship? Let us be real my friend, paying homage and praying to Jesus is worshipping a human being that once walked this earth. So call eating of his blood and body, crying out his name, singing his praises to me is ancestral worship. YOu worship and baptize yourself with water, libation, for a man to invoke his great spirit so that that spirit may surround you with its blessings. Well that is exactly what AFrakan people with their great dieties.

Has anyone ever seen Jesus? Yet, song after song, sermon after sermon preaches that Jesus is my best friend, don't know what i would do without him. Ancestor worship to me! If he is the son of God and God is your father than he is you brother. YOu are calling on your brother for his blessings. Ancestal worship.

I do not see the difference. As matter of fact if you look at the Christian, Muslim, Hindu,Judism belief systems they all are derivatives from the Ancient Afrakan Spiritual systems. Libations, ressurection, washing before prayer, mother and son (Auset and Horus), psalms (Aknatons writings), prostration , wearing white, 10 commandments(42 confessions of Ma'at), getting the spirit and yes, ancestral worship all were created and practiced thousands of years before the birth of Jesus.

Why do we believe in anything hook, line and sinker without doing the research of where this belief system may have come from? If Black people were the first people on earth, wouldn't it make sense that civilization and spiritual systems originated in Afraka as well? Voodum, Yuroba, Santeria, are also derivitives of Ancient Kemet also. It's called continuity.

We get here in amerikkka, and we continue the practice of ancestral worship in our churches, we just don't know it. Nothing has really changed. Accept most of our people think of a white man when they think of Jesus, how sad) I do not have to go through the plethera of things we do in church that are AFrakan. Or do I?

I am not saying that you do not know all these things, however, I could not tell by what you said that you did. Forgive me if I am wrong.
 
to say that worshipping Jesus is ancestral worship would be suspect to say the least. especially when you can't place african intent on european practice. that was not their intent. besides ancestral worship includes:

possession by ancestral spirits
divination with ancestral spirits
providing sacrifice to ancestral spirits

none of which happens in christianity.

so no....jesus and ancestral worship are mutually exclusive.
 
As I said, all religions are derivatives of the first civilization known to man and that is the civilization that is recorded through words and pictures, of Ancient Kash (Kush) Nubia, Kemet. Though you may not think that that was the white man's intentions to worship ancestors, that is exactly what they did. But don't take my word for it, read "Stolen Legacy" by George James, Martin Bernal's "Black Athena" and Richard Poe "Black Spark White Fire" (last two are europeans) all who have extensive research on how europeans copied the spirtual/philisophical systems of our ancestors.
 

Donate

Support destee.com, the oldest, most respectful, online black community in the world - PayPal or CashApp

Latest profile posts

HODEE wrote on Etophil's profile.
Welcome to Destee
@Etophil
Destee wrote on SleezyBigSlim's profile.
Hi @SleezyBigSlim ... Welcome Welcome Welcome ... :flowers: ... please make yourself at home ... :swings:
Back
Top