Black Spirituality Religion : Interreligious Dialogue in Black Africa Among Christianity, Islam and ATR's

Dual Karnayn said:
Sekhemu


Hmmm.....

This is a case of "Which comes first...the chicken or the egg?"


You are proposing that the Muslims/Christians stop seeing Africans who practice other religions as inferior and accept them as equals.

I agree with this, we are equals and shouldn't oppress one another.

BUT!

In reality, in order for Muslim/Christians, whites, Arabs, Chinese or anyone else to see you as an equal you have to be able to defend yourself and not be easily oppressed and taken advantage of.

You can't just say "I'm a man just like you...I'm equal...don't talk to me like that".

That's not enough to keep your woman from getting raped and your village burned down.

Chinese don't even profess to believe in God but both Christians AND Muslims hesitate to step to China.
Wonder why?


First you need to get the POWER...then you'll automatically get the RESPECT of being seen as an equal.

But few will automatically respect you on the strength.

First of all this is not about simply politics, this is about religion, and religious dialogue between religious leaders.

Your assessement of the article is a gross over-simplification of the problem.

and I repeat:

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In other words before Islam was able to establish roots in Africa this was a prevailing attitude among Muslims and Christians.

Before any Muslim or Christian conquest of African states there was the common belief that ATR's were backwards and superstitious.

Moreover, how do you account for the fact that the same attitudes were held by Christians and Muslims toward ATR's, irrespective of their political and socio-economical status?

Christians and Muslims were constantly sparring with each other over who possessed the higher moral ground. Indeed both religions were often pre-occupied with missionary work to further a religious/economical agenda.
 
omowalejabali said:
This is an interesting forum topic for many reasons. As I have come into a more complete knowledge of self I have developed an inclination to adopt the Philosophy of MAAT and many beliefs associated with the Akan. In doing so I am still influenced by a mixed Islamic/Catholic/Baptist upbringing trying to reconcile what at times I view as contradictory systems of belief, trying to find within myself the common ground.

"First you need to get the POWER.."

There is much Truth in this statement however I believe that this POWER must come from a Supreme Spiritual force, an Inner Strength and Spiritual Essence which has become lost amongst th process of colonialization and westernization.

I believe that this process can be directly traced to the invasions of ancient Khemet by the Hyksos, hebrews, greeks, persian, romans, et. al who "infiltrated" into our ancient religious and social orders and in the process this POWER was lost.

As a result, unless there is a mass movement among African people worldwide to relcaim and re-discover our past Belief systems, ATR's shall continue to be dismissed by large numbers of Black people in favor or Christianity, Islam, judaism, etc.

Witness the situation in Nubia (the Sudan) and the lack of outcry amongst African "leaders".


Precisely,

People should not confuse strength with power. Power is flexibility and the ability to adapt. This is particuliarly true as it relates to ATR's

ATR's have survived thru the centuries of colonialism and oppression by their intrinsic ability to adapt to changing religious and political landscapes, in Africa and the Diaspora.

Ase
 
Sekhemu said:
Precisely,

People should not confuse strength with power. Power is flexibility and the ability to adapt. This is particuliarly true as it relates to ATR's

ATR's have survived thru the centuries of colonialism and oppression by its intrinsic ability to adapt to changing religious and political landscapes, in Africa and the Diaspora.

Ase

brother Sekhemu,

This concerns me as I continually must ask myself why is it that ATR's seem to unable to withstand the spiritual ONSLAUGHT of other "faiths" and I must continually remind myself that when speaking of Earthly matters of the Flesh, this is the Physical realm in which we are speaking, for the most part, and we must not lose hope or faith in the Spiritual Essence of ATR's which CONNECT the faithful with our Celestial Spirits, that is to say, our Ancestors.

I must continually remind myself that my connection to my Ancestral Spirits is more POWERFUL than the Force of those who pray and have faith in false "gods" and "angels" and "saints" which are ALIEN to our True Essence.

For example, in conducting geneaological research, I have literally brought back to life ancestors who I had no knowledge of and as I include them in my daily prayers they have become the MAJOR part of my "covering".

mind you, a large part of my family is from New Orleans and Oklahoma, and in these ancestral lands our people had and continue to have some long standing practices and beliefs concerning honoring Ancestors, which has been falsely labeled "ancestor worship".
 
Omowale

There is much Truth in this statement however I believe that this POWER must come from a Supreme Spiritual force, an Inner Strength and Spiritual Essence which has become lost amongst th process of colonialization and westernization.

I believe that this process can be directly traced to the invasions of ancient Khemet by the Hyksos, hebrews, greeks, persian, romans, et. al who "infiltrated" into our ancient religious and social orders and in the process this POWER was lost.

As a result, unless there is a mass movement among African people worldwide to relcaim and re-discover our past Belief systems, ATR's shall continue to be dismissed by large numbers of Black people in favor or Christianity, Islam, judaism, etc.

Witness the situation in Nubia (the Sudan) and the lack of outcry amongst African "leaders".

One thing we must understand is that Ancestral religions and so-called "Earth" religions in which the elements are honored are not unique to Africa.

The Druids, Celts, Vikings and other Europeans practiced the same concepts as the Africans....before the Roman Empire swept through with Christianity and drove many of the practices underground.

This didn't happen in Africa on the scale it did in Europe becuase Africa was too vast of a continent and when people were getting oppressed they simply escaped further south.

That's how our ancestors ended up all over the continent in the first place.


So we must first understand that much of what we think is "African" is really not African at all but just old-world polytheistic beliefs practiced the world over.

Africans had one name for it, Europeans had another name, Native Americans had another. and Asians had a different name...but they all involved veneration of ancestors, divination, and shammans.


Monotheism swept through wiping a lot of it out.



Having said that...

If you can convince me that white people returning to their practices before Roman Christians invaded and forced them to accept Christianity would be better for them.

I will entertain the idea of going back to our ancient practices.






Sekemu

So you don't think "Traditionalists" attaining more power is the solution?

You think that Muslim and Christians in charge should just soften thier hearts and just accept all others on GP?


I'm trying to figure out what you believe the solution should be.
 
Dual Karnayn said:
Omowale



One thing we must understand is that Ancestral religions and so-called "Earth" religions in which the elements are honored are not unique to Africa.

The Druids, Celts, Vikings and other Europeans practiced the same concepts as the Africans....before the Roman Empire swept through with Christianity and drove many of the practices underground.

This didn't happen in Africa on the scale it did in Europe becuase Africa was too vast of a continent and when people were getting oppressed they simply escaped further south.

That's how our ancestors ended up all over the continent in the first place.


So we must first understand that much of what we think is "African" is really not African at all but just old-world polytheistic beliefs practiced the world over.

Africans had one name for it, Europeans had another name, Native Americans had another. and Asians had a different name...but they all involved veneration of ancestors, divination, and shammans.


Monotheism swept through wiping a lot of it out.



Having said that...

If you can convince me that white people returning to their practices before Roman Christians invaded and forced them to accept Christianity would be better for them.

I will entertain the idea of going back to our ancient practices.






Sekemu

So you don't think "Traditionalists" attaining more power is the solution?

You think that Muslim and Christians in charge should just soften thier hearts and just accept all others on GP?


I'm trying to figure out what you believe the solution should be.


Dual Karnayn,

I understant your point but don't necessarily agree that the Druids, Vikings, etc. had the "same" ancient beliefs but their beliefs were "similar".

For example, the Mayans, Aztecs Khemites and Nubians erected pyramids. However, Mayans and Aztecs used the pyramids for Temples, while the Nubians and Khemites used them for tombs and had seperate Temple complexes.

Some societies were matrilineal while others were patrilineal which also means that in some societies the fertility goddesses were of paramount importance, while others were based on the paramountcy of solar or lunar dieties.

It is not my intention to convince you or anyone else to return to ancient practices. The reason being as one studies more into the religious practices and beliefs of many europeans one finds that many of them already honor and worship "khemetic" "druid" "celtic" gods and goddesses and disguise this worship and their golden dawn, rosicrucian and theosophical societies are based upon ritual practices from ancient cultures.

This accounts for the increasing "Goth" movement among many white youth who embrace their "Wiccan" and "Druid" roots...
 

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