Introduction: First I want to say formally "Hey" to all my brothers and sisters, friends, acquaintances, comrades, fellows, uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, cousins and general kin people here on Destee. It's cool to be back and in the good online company of Black folks. We may be counted as 12% of the population in the United States, but even with all our hangups, misalignments, faults and failures, we are 100% real and never allow anyone to say different.
With that said, in general Blackbird fashion, let me get to the meat of my thread.
Lately, religion hasn't factored much in my thoughts as my day to day has been centered on navigating the business and financial arenas of life. Let me clarify.... I am always grateful to my Creator, my ancestors and the spirits that walk with me and that will never change. I haven't focused so much or so intently on any one particular religion, as far as whether it's right or wrong.
As I told Bro. Clyde some time ago, the Bird has come full circle to live and let live. To each, his or her own is and has been my motto for some time.
Is there a place for religion?
Yes, as a source of strength and nourishment for that part of the human body that needs the support of a higher power. We all have those requirements as the naked animals we are. It is hard-wired into our genetic being.
What is a more valid religion for Black people?
It depends on the person, their needs and their perspective. One person may derive much benefit from being a Christian; whereas, another following an ATR route may be more appropriate. As a whole, there is no "valid" religion for Black people. I choose to follow an ATR tradition because of my own individual requirements and philosophy as a Black man in America. Yet, that makes it no more valid then the Muslim brother or Baptist sister.
Then what is religion?
Religion is simply a path a person takes to participate in and experience the Divine, whether within one's self or outside of themselves. It is the vehicle for accessing a power greater than themselves to overcome life's challenges or puzzles.
So what is the challenge?
The one single thing posing the greates challenge to Black people is the emotional response a belief in any religion is able to elicit within a person that can have a negative impact on those around them. The most devastating example of this emotional response would be terrorist acts perform in the name of "God" and religion.
For most Black people, this emotional response serves a hindrance to Black people uniting together to solve our most pressing problems facing us a people - poverty, undereducation, fraticide, lack of investment in communities, absence of volunteerism, weak political representation, so on and so forth.
In addition, there is the judgment piece that goes along with the disunity such as Christians are ignorant, miseducated Negroes, Muslims are brainwashed, Arab followers, Vodouisants are animal sacrificing wicked devil worshippers, etc.
As a people, we suffer from enough stereotypes that pigeonhole us and even work to condition how even we perceive own ourselves as well as influence our own behaviors. Then we add all the b/s we harbor about people of other religious faiths and even a recipe of utter confusion. So here we are.
What is our next move?
I know one thing I wasn't born any religious belief. I grew up in a rural Black Baptist church in north Louisiana. I was Baptist or a Christian, but I wasn't born Baptist or a Christian. I now practice Vodou, but I wasn't born a Vodouisant.
I don't know about you but I was born Black and will always be Black.
Let's ask the hypothetical question: What if all religious beliefs were detrimental to Black (African) collective survival, would you give up your religius belief in order for Black people to survive?
The Bird
