ARE WE FORCED TO SERVE?

[LIFE AND DEATH]

I CAME ACROSS THIS TODAY ON BLACK PLANET. THE BROTHER MAKES STRONG POINTS. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT HE HAS TO SAY.


shi_13:
I'm curious, if most of us know that, (1)prior to the colonization of africa, we were not christians. and that (2)christianity was used to pacify and subdue native africans. and that (3)christianity played a major part in the justification of slavery. or that (4)the christian doctrine has been repetively used to disenfrancise black people over the ensuing decades since slavery. WHY ARE SO MANY OF US STILL CHRISTIAN? i'm sure many will come up with the argument that the message of christianity is what compels them to believe. to that i say, have you ever truly looked (without prejudice) at other religions. buddism offers the same message of peace, islam offers the same level of devotion, hebrew israelites (not to be confused with judaism) offer the same, if not a greater, sense of identity as a member of god's family, and many TAR's (traditional african religions) offer the same uplifting sense of spirituality. so why remain a part of a religion that has been used to afflict our people? christ himself never said that a "religion" was what man needed, in fact he seemed to be adamantly opposed to any priest/rabbi/preacher being a mediator between God and a soul. and by the way, no one mentioned in the bible was a christian...they were all hebrews (later renamed jews) who believed christ was the messiah, true. but they were hebrews none the less. honestly, i think that the true reason is simply that: most of us have been conditioned to believe that to even look into another religion is blasphemy. it is not. what is blasphemous is to take what someone gives you without examining it, challenging it, understanding it, and then seeing if if fits. how many of us have done that? and in contrast: how many people reading this consider themselves part of a religion simply because that's what they were born. i'm just curious...and i like to stir things up from time to time ( i must admit). one love "spirituality is a man's PERSONAL relationship with GOD.

[ladomini]

Hmmmm, well, first thing first, this is indeed very interesting. I took a humanities class, and i got a chance to talk to many different people from many different cultures and many different religions, and i have this to say about christianity. Man, why you have to make me think.... ok, these are my feelings. I was born into Christianity, I didn't truly understand it, and never really wanted to.... in fact, until a couple months ago is when i can truly say i became a christian. Now, the word Christian is not used in the bible, you are right...but btw, the hebrews (JEWS) don't think that Jesus is their messiah, they are still waiting for him, in fact, if memory serves me right, they were the ones who gave Jesus up to the Romans, John 18: 24-40... Judaism was only for the hebrews.... they were the cen people of God, now, this is back in the day. They believed in keeping their identity so they never expressed their beliefs to other people, these ppl didn't like evangelizing and they don't believe in christ or the trinity.... Buddhism is very interesting in itself. It is built on the philosophy of attachment to material things leads to sickness, old age, and death. The solution to these problems was to disattatch oneself from the world and it's things.... in other words, desires led to sickness, old age, and death. I don't know about you but.... old age is going to come regardless and we are all going to die someday. I don't believe in reincarnation.... or in nirvana.... i do believe that love for the material world is dangerous and disgusting, but not to the extent that love for the world is the reason why children in Africa are starving and getting sick..... Hinduism is even more interesting.... it states that we are all a part of Brahman, the ultimate spirit, and that everything is Brahman.... Samsara, reincarnation, is not wanted, one becomes one with Brahman to escape being reincarnated. Nirvana releases you from Samsara. It is reached by meditation and a long list of things. But, Brahman too gets reincarnated, he has many reincarnations of itself, so things get a little tricky. However, the main reason why I don't like this religion is because Hinduism and Bhuddism is based on denying your self from things... so bye bye gold chains, te new airforce ones, te heels you saw at the mall.... you can still get them of course, but you are still battling the beliefs of these two religions. Islam.... they believe in the last prophet, Muhammad. Islam, Judaism, and Christianity are in a sense, brothers, for they all derive from Abraham. But, Christians believe in Christ, and Islamic people believe in Muhammad, they don't think Muhammad is part of God, just a messenger, and that his miracle was what he recited which is now the Qu'ran. Now, despite their similarities, the main reason why i refute this religion is because Jesus Christ wasn't a prophet, his miracles are more than just a piece of literature, he can walk on water, he can calm the storms, the winds and waters obey him..... that seems more powerful than a piece of literature, now, the Qu'ran is very very long and it is extremely inspirational, it has lots of good advice on how to live your life, but I don't believe that God truly meant for it to become it's own religion in itself. My other problem with Islam is this.... it enforces you to pray five times a day facing Mecca.... i believe that prayer is good, and five times a day, is also good, however, i believe that having a personal relationship with whomever you worship is better than prostrating yourself on the floor at the times regulated by who knows who, facing Mecca. You don't see christians doing that, it doesn't matter where you are facing, God still hears you the same no matter where you are. I do like the idea of prostrating yourself, because it shows submission, but i strongly believe that communal prayers five times a day is a little to extreme. Now... you guys should know by now that i am indeed a christian, i have no problem with other religions, but they just don't fit me.

Caro

Stop stirring up trouble, it's not nice.

[Israelite Resistance]

I agree somewhat with this brother or rather I see where he is coming from....

Since the days of our captivity and slavery we as a people have been given a "God" to look to. Our captors told us this creator’s name is Jesus, and Jehovah, he told us the creator looks like him and not us. He told us this very creator cursed us with our black skin. Our captors also named slave ships in honor of this god. With us having such a tragic history with the God of our captors, the God of Christianity, why do we as a people have such unconditional love for this religion?

Religions is a yoke for the spirit and a chain for the mind
The Most High deals not with religion for religion is a man made institution

Deception and Ignorance allows Christianity to exist
For most of my childhood I was apart of this great lie
HE pulled me out...I have studied every major religion and when I was about to fall for A-lie or allah the moongod
He PULLED me out of that and blessed me with the understanding of my past I now know that I am Hebrew..a hebrew israelite to be exact!

"Caucasian Jews are not the lineal descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nor do they constitute a separate race but rather a religious fraternity which adheres to the ethnic tradition of a people we origins are inextricably linked to Black Africa.

But if the original Hebrews were black where are their descendants in the world today? Are all black people Hebrews? The answer to the latter question is obviously no. The Israelites were only one of several black people existing in ancient the ancient world. Nevertheless, it is certain that the ancient Hebrews customs and practices who's legacy orginated in Africa, were adopted by that of white Jews in Europe. Very little is heard about the hundreds of thousands of Black Hebrews living in various parts of the world such as Africa, Asia, India, Arabia, the Caribbean islands, South America, and North America.

The history of Black Hebrews in North America is perhaps one of the most important chapters in US history which has yet to be fully written. The ancestors of African Americans came from West Africa during the era of slavery. That particular region of Africa was once home to a number of Black Hebrew tribes that migrated from North and East Africa over many centuries. In speaking of these migrations, Dr. Yoseph A. A. ben-Yochannan writes that: "In North Africa, just before the period of Christianity's legal entry into Rome - due to Constantine "the Great" conversion in the 4th century - there were many Hebrew (Jewish) 'tribes' that are of indigenous African (the so-called 'Negroes') origin.

These African Jews, as all other Romanized-African of this era, were caught in a rebellion in Cyrene (Cyrenaica) during 115 C.E. against Roman imperialism and colonialism. This rebellion also marked the beginning of a mass Jewish migration southward into Soudan (Sudan or West Africa) along the way of the city Aer (Air) and into the countries of Futa Jalon and Senegal (Sene-Gambia) which lie below the parabolic curve of the Niger River's most northern reaches, where the City of Tumbut (Timbuktu, Timbuctoo, etc.), Melle (Mali) presently stands." ("African Origins of the Major Western Religions," 1970, p. 76).

Dr. Ben goes on to relate that Black Israelite immigrants from northern and eastern Africa merged with indigenous groups in western Africa to become the Fulani of Futa Jalon, Bornu, Kamen, and Lake Chad. They also formed the parent-stock of groups such as the Ashanti, the Hausa, the B'nai Ephraim (mentioned in earlier posts), and the Bavumbu (Mavumbu or Ma-yomba). All of these groups suffered tremendous population decreases during the years the Atlantic slave trade was in operation, others were completely eliminated.

Thus, every so-called African American has Israelite ancestry in their family tree whether he or she knows it or not. Even in the very crucible of slavery the descendants of West African Hebrew captives in America struggled to keep their heritages from being obliterated by forced assimilation and acculturation. Their distinctive traditions became submerged in Christianity but always remained a part of the oral tradition via the so-called Negro Spirituals which praise the memory of ancestors and kinsmen like Moses, David, Joshua, and Daniel."

heathen doctrine and Pagan religions (they ALL are)
go against the word of the Father

"no one mentioned in the bible was a christian"

^That is SO true..moses was not the messiah was
not nor did the son of man come to start any "religion"

"spirituality is a man's PERSONAL relationship with GOD."

I disagree..there are wicked spirits as well...a persons
"spirituality" could very well be a relationship with Ha Shatan (Satan)