War Zone: The Black Conscious vs. The Black Christian

Welcome Back…again

Well once again it has been a little while since you’ve heard anything from me on here. Of course, I’m referring to those who have been following ‘MisterMarmite’ since I went live with it back in November. To my new readers, welcome :). I assume you’re here because the title interested you in some way. I can only hope the content does the same.

I initially wanted to make this into a Vlog (and still might), but at the time of recording I felt I still needed to properly gather my thoughts on this issue. I really wanted to make this post as balanced as “possible” so I had to have a long think about how I was going to approach it.

The Great Awakening

It appears there is this running theme on Social Media (or at least just on mine) that has been ongoing for some time. Many people appear to have come into an awakening of ‘Black Consciousness’ (a few refer to it using the cringe-worthy term ‘Woke’ and have tried to categorise me as one of them, whereas I personally much prefer to refer to myself as a Free Thinker). Amongst those that have come into this ‘awakening’, I have found from my own experience that a great number of them were formerly Religious, with many being Ex-Christians (i.e. myself).

I won’t use this post as an opportunity to go into detail about my own experience of coming out of Religion into ‘Consciousness’, but I think it is worth touching on in light of the post. During my time as a Christian, I was very involved within the Church I attended. I volunteered on the media production team, spent a short time traveling internationally as I guess what would be the equivalent to a ‘Personal Assistant’ (so to speak) to the Church Bishop, hosted a Gospel Music Radio Show, and even put on an “evangelism” event where I mobilised a group of young Christians from different Churches to go out onto the streets of London and speak to people about Christianity in an attempt to convert them (gosh, it’s actually quite weird thinking about all of that now). Because of my involvement in the Church (and the fact that my Dad was also one of the Associate Pastors), everyone from the Church Bishop to Friends & Acquaintances earnestly believed I was poised to become a Christian ‘Minister’ (oh how times change eh). I believe myself to be a person of passion, and so when I stand for something, I do so wholeheartedly. And at that point in my life, one of those ‘things’ was Christianity. I say all that to say, as a Christian, I guess you could say I was rather zealous (almost ‘too’ zealous at times).

 

The Battle of The Zeals 

When I left Christianity (I might explain why in another post) I carried my zeal with me, and coming out of that and coming into ‘Consciousness’ I have realised just how dangerous that zeal can be if not applied with wisdom. Thus, we now move on to the ‘nitty gritty’ of this post to discuss this ongoing war between the Conscious Community and the Christianity Community, why it seems to be becoming so prominent, and how we might be able to resolve it.

Anti-Religion Social Media Post in a Conscious Forum

I remember speaking to a friend recently who believes herself to be both Conscious and Christian (Oxymoron? Again, another post…). Whilst of course we disagree on some fundamental things, we do respect each others views and regularly engage in what I feel is always healthy dialogue. She once mentioned something that made me ponder. She shared with me that she felt many of the Black Conscious Forums on Social Media are nothing but Christianity-bashers, as it relates to the majority of the things they post. Her argument then was, are they really about the unity of Afrikan People, or are they just trying to pretty much make fools out of Christians?! As I am subscribed to a number of these types of Facebook Pages & Forums, I couldn’t help but be understanding to her perspective. Since that conversation, I’ve had a long think about this issue and believe in my humble opinion, that I have uncovered some of the underlying issues here.

Religion (specifically Christianity and Islam) does tends to encourage its followers to be quite zealous, bold, and proud about what it is they believe (e.g. verses like Matthew 10:33 in the Bible, and 2:140 in the Quran). And so as a result of leaving a Religion that teaches you to be so very vocal about what it is you stand for, many that have left these institutions and have become ‘Conscious’ have taken that characteristic with them. The issue with that is, if you’re not careful you can end up basically going from one form of bashing (i.e. Bible-bashing) to another (bashing Religion). If the idea of Black Consciousness and Pan-Afrikanism is to advocate the advancement, culture, and unity of people of Afrikan descent, how are we going to achieve that by constantly taking shots at a belief system held so dearly by so many of our people? Think about it. Most of us didn’t leave Religion and come into Consciousness as a result of a Facebook post emphasising how “fake” Jesus is; we had a personal awakening of our own (well at least I did). So how can we expect that egoistically demonising a belief we once held ourselves is going to have any positive impact on the people we say we are trying to enlighten? If anything, posts like that are going to turn them off from the ‘message’, the same way Bible-bashing Christians turn people off from Christianity (yes Christians, I’m coming for you next).

 

“Do unto others…”

Whilst there is undeniable truth in many of the challenges and questions that we as the Conscious Community present to Christianity, it’s important to be mindful of our approach, as the wrong one is likely to do more harm than good (as it has been).

On the flip side, there is something for my dear Afrikan Christian Brothers and Sisters to learn here too. The same way you feel “attacked” by the Conscious Community’s demonisation of Christianity, is the exact same way many Non-Religious people feel attacked by you. Without

“Christian” Anti-Gay Protest

even realising it, many of you (Christians) have done the same thing to the LGBT Community, the Non-Religious Community (including people that follow alternative Religions), and pretty much any and everyone that doesn’t behave in accordance with the rules of your Holy Book (be it the Bible, Torah or the Quran). And you say you do this all not to be malicious, but in the name of ‘standing for what you believe in’, right? So in essence, what is actually happening here is many of you are getting a taste of your own medicine and find it difficult to handle it. Apologies, but you all aren’t the only ones who are permitted to stand for your beliefs and preach what you deem to be the ‘good news’. Everyone has their version of what that ‘good news’ is and are just as entitled to ‘preach’ it as you are. If Christians perhaps spent more time listening to some of the challenges raised by those with opposing viewpoints, and stop accusing them of being “lost in Sin”, you may actually become a lot more well-versed in your understanding of your own Faith. Because let’s be real, outside of the emotional and psychologically-based opinions, a lot of Christians haven’t a clue why they really do believe what they believe.

I’ve personally found out more about Christianity as an outsider in the space of 6 months than I did during my 20 years in Church, hearing, reading, and studying the Bible (from an apologetic standpoint at the time of course). So much to the point where I feel I could confidently debate with any Christian Scholar about the validity (or invalidity in my view) of the Bible, which is essentially the literary basis of the Christian Faith. I’ve watched countless lectures and read research upon research arguing both sides (even some recommended to me by Christians), and surprisingly not one Apologetic Scholar has presented an argument I haven’t been able to refute (and yes, I am still researching, as always). I am more than happy to be proven wrong on any of my views so invitations to debate this subject are very welcome (learning is growing).

 

Pain, Passion, Purpose, Pursuit

Understand Christians, in the view of the Conscious, Religion has been one of the most detrimental weapons used to suppress our People, and so sometimes when you see how passionate the Conscious Community are about their opposition of it, that is why. Most of the time, it is not personal, neither is it an intended attack. It is simply a passion driven by a realisation that for so long, millions of our People have been taught to believe what we believe to be a lie and something that has aided in our demise and was used to further the agenda of White Supremacy. Now of course, you do not view it that way, but understand for those that do, this is where that ‘zeal’ you so often see comes from. It is not unlike the same zeal you as Christians have to go out and evangelise to People about your Faith in an attempt to ‘save them’.

Going back to address the Conscious ones, in closing I’ll say this…let’s start to focus more on building rather than bashing. We didn’t leave one Religion to join another. One of my major concerns for the Conscious Community is that we become way too content too quickly with just information and knowledge. Information on it’s own carries no value, except when it is put into action. So whilst we can have knowledge of self, culture, and history, if we’re not using it to actively build towards advancing our people and leaving something behind for the next generation, our message means nothing. We may not agree with these Religions, but in their defence, at least they’re building something. It might not all be sufficient, but many of these Churches and Mosques have made positive societal impacts within their communities to back up their talk. We on the other hand, not so much in recent years. Hence why a lot of times we’re still having to pull on the work and efforts of the Black Leaders of the past to validate our cause. The same ‘Jesus money’ we used to put into the collection plate all those years, or those donations we gave to our local Mosque, is the same money we can now put towards building for the future of our people. Because unfortunately, an array of Books, Lectures, and Social Media Posts is not enough. If you’re looking for somewhere to start, checking out upcoming events like these may be useful. I’ll be there, so if you see me say hey :-).

 

Ma’at Hotep (Justice + Peace),

 

Let’s connect…