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Christianity has been used as a tool against Black people. When the Africans were taken from their homeland and displaced into America, slaveholders used Christianity as a tool of deception.

Has Christianity railroaded Black people into believing it's okay to suffer on Earth because one day you will make it to heaven? pic.twitter.com/b3qnCvZLhs — The Black Detour (@theblackdetour) November 24, 2017

An example of this, is the story of Ham. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Biblical figure, Ham was the son of Noah and the father of Canaan. The Bible says that Noah was a drunk, often in need of supervision. One night, Ham’s father was drunk in his tent and had accidently walked in on him as he stripped naked. He relayed this message to his two brothers, who then took a blanket to Noah’s tent and covered him. When their father woke up the following morning, he found out that Ham had seen him naked and cursed him to a life of servitude. Ham was banished and forced into slave work.

White slave owners used that story to manipulate black people into thinking they were inferior and rightfully enslaved because of Ham’s innocent mistake. We were told that it was okay to be slaves because that is what God wanted. Christianity is still used today for the same goal. People are racists towards us today, and we forgive and don’t fight back because we are supposed to be ‘good, Christian people’. White people use this argument when they discriminate and act out acts of violence against us, such as physically assaulting minority people on trains. This is also seen in the way the Mary Mary singer voted for Trump, and justified her action by saying that she chose her faith. Voting for Trump is a form of complacency; you must be okay with the ill-treatment of black people if you voted for him. This shows that a lot of people will choose Christianity over equality. Doesn’t Christianity hold hope? Isn’t Christianity about love, faith, and treating everyone equally?

It’s not my intention to bash Christianity at all. Religion has always been used as a place of solace for black people. Sundays were the only days that slaves didn’t work, and the church was the only place they weren’t harmed, so they stayed there for hours. This is why black church sessions are so long today. This was often their safe haven, where no one questioned their whereabouts and they could learn to read in secret. They were devout in faith for the same reasons they sang Negro spirituals; it gave them hope and it kept them going each day. However, when is it enough?

I also want to address the misguided correlation between suffering and freedom found in the religion. Christianity has made us okay with living in pain and this concept has been difficult for me to understand. Just praying about it simply won’t do the trick. In the Bible, it says that faith without works is dead. You can pray and act at the same time. When people look for answers, all Christians have to say about it is, ‘Ask God. Pray about it’. Don’t get me wrong, prayer does work, and God does solve a lot of our issues when we pray. However, telling someone to pray doesn’t help their situation. You can’t pray that you get a job that you didn’t apply for.

This complacency bleeds into activism. We can’t just pray that cops stop killing us, we also have to influence legislation that restricts officer’s actions. Keep in mind that law enforcement is a bureaucracy, so cops do answer to people. Our struggles are always minimized, and we’ve been taught not to hate our hardships. The “too blessed to be stress” modem is annoying. We can be blessed and still have issues. That’s one of the biggest reasons for having faith; knowing that you’re going through a hard time, but that God is going to get you through it.

At the end of the day, Christianity is your own choice; you can believe in whatever you want. It is a great tool to help those struggling with a hardship. It also helps us understand that we are not alone, and that although we may suffer, God is going to protect us and help us up again. Christianity, however, should not be the reason why you’re okay with suffering. Don’t give up on Earth because of your salvation. Keep on fighting.

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