TRUE CONFESSIONS OF AN EX CHRISTIAN

True Confessions of an Ex-Christian
Min. Paul Scott

I became a better “Christian” when I stopped being
one.

While the obvious contradictory nature of this
statement may be overwhelming, the essence of this
pronouncement reaches deep into the Blackness of my
soul and brings forth a great spiritual awakening that
cannot be contained within the tiny religious box in
which the European has placed me. Unfortunately, many
of us remain trapped in the theological prison of
Eurocentric Christianity from the cradle to the grave.
We have suffered from the inability to break the
spiritual chains that were placed on us by our
oppressors and we have failed to define our
relationship to the Creator from our own experience.

I am not the first who has come to the crossroads
where European Christianity and Afrocentricity meet.
Unfortunately, many have refused to articulate this
feeling of alienation and have instead chosen to sit
quietly on the pew in the back of the church trying to
convince themselves that if they just sit through one
more sermon, the lottery ticket in their pocket will
hit and all their worries will be over….

The relationship between Black folks and Christianity
has been the subject of many essays, books and
lectures and most would agree that what is called
“Christianity” was a religious practice forced on our
ancestors. There is no denying the fact that
Christianity has been used by the European as a form
of nationalism and an agent of social control. The
fallacy of a blue eyed blond haired Jesus and the
factuality of the Blackness of the original Hebrew
Israelites has also been discussed at length by some
of our greatest minds.

But the question here is can one be both Afrocentric
and Christian or is the term a misnomer such as
Communist-Capitalist, Republican-Democrat,
African-American ?

Many Afrikan people see Christianity as something that
was forced upon our ancestors with whips and chains,
our parents by a giant propaganda machine and
ourselves with a belt if we did not get up in time for
Sunday school. Under these circumstances, we had no
choice but to become Christians. Since it was forced
upon us, we did not have a chance to make the
connection between the religion and our Afrikan
spirituality. So the thing that was supposed to make
us FREE became the tool of our continued oppression.

Sadly, many Black folks may never feel the need to
grow beyond the theological teachings of their
childhood. As long as they have FAITH in a God who
will show up when the bills are due, send them the
perfect spouse and forgive them for sneaking around
with a member of the usher board , they are willing to
go with the flow without once asking themselves; what
does it really mean to be a Christian and who makes
that decision?

But Christianity becomes problematic when one begins
to discover his “Blackness” and trades in his comic
books for books on African history and starts spending
less time in the clubs vibin’ to the latest Hip Hop
jam and more time attending lectures about the
struggle of Afrikan people. What happens when these
two worlds collide; the immovable object of
Eurocentric Christianity and the irresistible force of
Afrocentricity. Can Christianity with its strong
Euro-nationalistic overtones coexist with the quest
for Black self determination?

This conflict often leaves the Afrocentric Christian
isolated. Alienated from the church because he is
Afrocentric and alienated from the Afrocentrists
because he is a Christian. On one hand the church is
saying that he is going to hell for getting involved
in “that Black stuff” and on the other hand the
Afrocentrist hides behind the shield of Black Unity
and religious tolerance while all the while belittling
his religious FAITH. Does it make one less of a Child
of God because he refuses to let the white man define
his existence or his relationship with the Creator. Or
does it make one less valuable to the struggle of
Afrikan people because he follows the teachings of a
Black revolutionary born in Northeast Africa? Does
using the words of the original African Hebrew
Israelites (the Bible) make one less Afrocentric than
a Brother or Sister who has chosen another path to the
Creator?

The reason why the white supremacist system never
wanted us to dig below the surface of Christianity is
because they have always known that the religion that
they transported to Rome is African at its core. And
the revelation of this would signal the end of the
white control of the minds and spirits of Afrikan
people.

But the question remains can one still answer to a
Roman derogatory term and claim Afrocentricity ? And
if I am no longer a Christian how do I define my
religious convictions ?

The answer to this goes back to our power to define
who we are and our relationship with the Creator. My
personal conversion from an Afrocentric Christian to a
Messianic Afrikan along with the rejection of a blue
eyed Jesus Christ and the acceptance of Yeshua, the
Black Revolutionary Messiah was more than just an
exercise in semantics; it was the missing link between
my religious belief system and African spirituality.
And I did not have to give up the Bible nor my African
history books to do it. Instead, I found the
connection between the two. As far as trying to put a
name on my religion; If Yeshua taught that he is the
WAY, TRUTH and the LIFE, then my religion is the TRUTH
that is the WAY to a better LIFE for Afrikan people.
When it is all said and done, after all of our
prayers, chants and religious symbolism, isn’t that
what we are all striving towards.

Each day we strive to gain more KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM and
UNDERSTANDING of the Creator and we are all stumbling
in the darkness searching for the LIGHT but as they
say in the church’ “We will understand it better by
and by.”