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African traditional religion versus Christianity

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LAST week I saw a post from a young Zimbabwean male on social media, which read: “Kuziva mbuya huudzwa, ndiri murima macomrades.
“VaChivaura varimowo here mumusha vatibatsirewo kwakatangira chitendero chemuBhaibhheri uye kwakabva neBhaibheri nekuti matambudziko atiinawo nhasi tikaateedza ane hochekoche neBhaibheri iro Bhaibheri richinzi rinouyisa rugare…ndinoenda hangu kuchechi asi zvinondinetsa sandi nzira yemuuyi here iyi?
“Hakusi kubatsira vamwe tichivanamatira here?
“Kuchechi ndinoenda asi ndiri katsi yakatakurirwa musaga.”
It prompted me to write this article and to implore my beliefs as a pan-African who has seen it all: Christianity and African traditional religion.
Once upon a time I was a Christian, born to Christian practising parents.
In 1976 I was baptised in the Methodist Church (John Wesley) so that I would get a place to commence primary school education at a Methodist run school in then Sabi North Tribal Trust Land (TTL).
In those days, most education for Africans in Zimbabwe was offered by Churches hence we had to belong to one denomination or another in order to access education.
On the day of my baptism I was given a new name, Elizabeth, and Sarudzayi (which I had been called since birth) became obsolete as it was considered a pagan name.
For many years that followed I despised my true name in favour of a British Queen’s name.
However, after living in the UK (and experiencing racism), I realised how colonialism had affected my mentality, and to emancipate myself from mental slavery, I picked up my African name from the dustbin, dusted it and embraced it again.
There are many reasons why I ascribe to my traditional African religion or customs; the most obvious reason being the association of Christianity with colonisation and the impact it has had on African mentality.
Christianity in Africa and in most parts of Africa (even in India) was a precursor of colonisation.
The Bible was used as a tool to pacify Africans and to make them docile.
While Christianity (Catholic) in Zimbabwe was first introduced by the Portuguese, in particular Goncalo da Silveira in the 16th century to the Munhumutapa Empire, it was short-lived and Goncalo da Silveira was later strangled to death in 1561.
The London Missionary Society, through Robert and Mary Moffat and their son-in-law David Livingstone were successful in bringing protestant faith to Zimbabwe, which was immediately followed by colonisation.
Other denominations (Methodists, Salvation Army, Seventh Day Adventist etc) later came and occupied different parts of the country.
For this reason I believe that if Zimbabwe had been colonised by the Chinese or Indians, we would probably be practising Buddhism, Sikh, or Hindu etc, and not Christianity.
And I don’t know why an experienced writer like myself finds Christianity as the only English word (or is it English?) that I struggle to write without using auto-correct.
Christianity has been abused by many white people, for example, the first British slave ship that carried slaves ( black people) from Sierra Leone to the Americas in the 1560s, was called SS Jesus ( Steam Ship Jesus), — or the Good Ship Jesus; named after Jesus Christ.
The ship’s captain, Sir John Hawkins, is said to have been a firm Christian who encouraged his crew to ‘serve God daily’ and to ‘love one another’.
As the crew read the Bible and prayed, in the ship’s deck, thousands of black people were chained to each other, starved and beaten while women and young girls were raped.
Christianity was, and is used to oppress and exploit black people by those who base African enslavements on Genesis Chapter 9: 20-27.
They believe that black people are the descendants of Ham (Canaan’s father), who, after seeing his father (Noah) naked, did nothing to cover him.
Ham’s brothers Shem and Japheth took a garment and covered their naked father.
Noah then cursed Ham, saying: “Cursed be Canaan; A slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers.
“Blessed by the Lord my God be Shem; and let Canaan be his slave.
“God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his slave.”
Sadly though a lot of my Christian friends believe in this curse!
One day as I walked in Coventry Town I came across a Pentecostal woman distributing pamphlets about a deliverance ceremony at her church.
When I refused to take the pamphlet she rebuked me and asked her living God to strike me down because I was an angel of darkness.
But she never gave those pamphlets to white people: only blacks passing near her.
“Sister woooooooo!” she shouted.
“In the name of Jesus and my living God of Abraham, I pray for the day you will come beg me woooooo to pray for you…!”
At least she acknowledged that she was praying to the God of Abraham (Jews) and not hers.
While in Zimbabwe in May this year, I engaged in a discussion about the effects of Christianity and colonialism on the country, only to be told by a close friend that Christianity and colonisation were God’s way of linking Africa (technology) with the rest of the world because without it, my friend reasoned, Africans would be hiding in caves each time aeroplanes (from Europe) passed over us as they would not understand what would be happening.
Christianity and colonisation were inevitable, my friend suggested.
If God created men and women in his own image, I am persuaded to believe that there is no way I would share the same God with white people because I am black.
In addition most churches, if not all, have a tendency to hang portraits of a white Jesus Christ (blue eyed and straight nose) and a white Mary (his mother). They associate holiness with white and evil with black, and sadly though, we follow the same.
I don’t blame them because they will be visualising a white God who created them in his own white image.
I am yet to see mupositori akapfeka a black gown.
And the tendency of Africans to use colonial languages as a medium of communication with God makes me wonder if indeed they will be praying to their rightful God.
My friend, an ardent feminist, says she is comfortable with African traditional religion because it does not assign a gender to God.
“We say the Almighty Creator, who is neither male nor female,” she said.

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