PAGANS

My dear friend Dr. X is one my favorite african scholars. He finds my being a fervent follower of Christ while also strong panafricanist contradictory. I once made the mistake of calling him pagan, I said it very casually, did not mean to offend. But he couldn’t believe that I, a fellow African, would demean him for refusing to follow a religion imposed by colonial masters. He said I lacked cultural sensitivity, I heavily protested but after reflecting on the matter, I am afraid he was right.

He reminded me how Europeans used derogatory terms like Pagan, fetish, witchcraft, sacrifices, animalistic to demain Africans’ spirituality. “They did not understand our way of life so they insulted it”, he said with a shaking voice. I fully concurred and promised to ban the word from my vocabulary.

STILL my spirit remains deeply troubled because both things are true! Men DID pervert christianity via crusades, colonization, slavery etc. (Though Dr. K contends they did not need to pervert it, the religion was unfair ab initio, case in point women being created as a bit of an afterthought.) I had never heard that perspective before so I chuckled but ultimately I disagreed with the unfairness argument quoting “Justice is the foundation of God’s throne.” Quickly caught myself because I cannot use the Bible to prove the Bible… All I know is this, when I descended into a dark bottomless abyss, it was not man that restored me.

Praying that in due time, the Creator of Heavens and Earth will reveal himself to all those seeking truth.

May God help us all. Amen!