Wow, like most of the threads here having to do with religion, this one has sure turned out some gems. I've been away for a while, but this is one thread that I've continued reading, even though I haven't been posting, so I'll thank you, Stronzo, for giving us some food for thought.
The thing that's great about coming in late is that I can now just tell you all how much I appreciate your insights and passions. Freddie, as always you have been a reliable source of information on what Christianity could and should be, while some newer members like losangelastim and Mkymkus just cut to the heart of the matter, at least for me. "Religion" in it's current form is an abomination, and here I am referring to those who practise faith in a concept they don't bother to fully understand, regardless of what religion they are preaching- clearly this points to MOST of the "faithful".
As to the actual topic of why Africans absorbed Christianity rather than rejecting it, I think it's mainly exposure. While I am not fully aware of what faith they would have practised prior to being brought here, it is not so surprising that they would have blended the faith they brought with them in with the faith of the land. Historically, any dominant power imposes it's faith upon it's subjects, the thing unique here is that Americans didn't take over their country, they brought them here. The Aztecs took over the faith of the Mayans, renaming their gods and reshaping their stories, the Romans did it, and yes, the bloody fucking Americans. Despot rulers claiming power from God Almighty are a fearsome lot, and the weaker amoung the cultural setting have little choice but to conform or die. Most will conform.
As blacks gain social standing (it takes a fuck of a long time, doesn't it?), we are seeing a larger section of black people practising Islam, perhaps as a rejection of White Man's Christianity, I don't know. America is still an experiment, I'm not aware of many cultures in the past who made much realistic attempt to allow it's citizens to practise multiple faiths and preserve multiple cultural beliefs and rituals. For all our fucked up failures, you have to give us that.
We aren't where we ought to be, not by a long shot. You'd think with all the blessings of natural resources we have, and all the brilliant minds that went into planning this country, we'd be a lot further along. Religion hinders rationality, I don't care who disagrees with me on that. We have thousands of years of seeing it's effects in multiple cultures not to acknowledge that.
Religion compels men to believe in things that are nonsense, therefore paving the way for them to believe in nonsense in general. If this aspect of life was to be eliminated altogether though, the average man couldn't take the pressure of dealing with reality on it's own terms.
Human beings are still basically in our infancy stage, we are n00bs on the planet in evolutionary terms. We're still afraid of the dark. We don't like things that go "bump" in the night. Religion fills in the blanks for us where science has not yet given us satisfying answers. We can't just live with the concept of "I don't know, nor do I personally have the capacity to know". We can't accept our own irrelevance, so we give ourselves power by claiming a connection to the Master of the Universe, not realising how completely stupid we are for doing so.
Of course we are connected to our creator, how could that not be so? Whomever or whatever caused our world to be, we are a part of that. Our right to be here is justifued by the fact that we are. Finding relevance in our lives is the responsibility of each of us as INDIVIDUALS until such time as a more effective grasp of our reality is discovered, but it won't be coming from one special group's writings or beliefs that exclude everyone else, that's just stupid. Wherever we came from, we ALL have the same origin, we are ALL brethren. To believe that some are better in the "eyes of God" is nothing more than your ego talking and your insecurity is written all over your brow.
For myself, I would love to live in a society that was based on rationality rather than any religion. Sadly, such a place does not exist. The thread that ties all human cultures together is that we ALL create stories to explain whatever it is we wish to know, and we ALL follow leaders who claim to know, whether or not they are good.
