"But suppose God is black? What if we go to Heaven and we, all our lives, have treated the Negro as an inferior, and God is there, and we look up and He is not white? What then is our response?" ~~RFK~~
The sad truth about that quote from Robert Kennedy, is that he is already assuming that god is white. And the thought of god being black is an afterthought thrown in to make a shocking point intended to drive home his hypothesis.
Tomorrow is Sunday, and I suspect that most of my white friends who will be in church pretty much share JFK's view of god.---that he is white . They will be worshiping with images of their very white god dancing (well maybe not dancing) in their heads. The truth of the matter is that if most of these people thought that there was even a remote chance that god could be black, they wouldn't be in church. "Yeah heaven might be a great place and all, but they can have it. After what I went through with them down here, I can't stand the thought of living with those people for an eternity. I think I will take my chances with the guy with the funny tail....so it's a little hot down there, hey, I have lived in Florida."
I don't know, personally, I have always kind of seen god as looking something like Bob Marley. That imagery just always kind of fit to me. The flowing dreads, the melancholy facial expressions, the outfits. I could even see Bob trying to make man in his own image. "Thou shalt always smoke the good St. Ann collie weed."
But I am not here to bash religion. In fact, when properly understood, religion can be a good thing. It can be all things to all people. All you have to do is believe. To George Bush for instance, heaven can be one thing. While to Osama Bin Laden, it can be quite another. (I am sure George doesn't expect to meet any virgins in heaven. Although I am sure he wouldn't mind)
To me, heaven is Aston "family man" Barrett, Al Anderson, Tyrone Downie, Carlton Barrett, and Peter Tosh; getting together with god to play the entire "Catch A Fire" album, over and over again.
21 comments:
What if God looks like Howard Thurman?
"During times of war, hatred becomes quite respectable, even though it has to masquerade often under the guise of patriotism.”
With quotes like that, I would be cool if god actually looked like FN Thurman :)
"I think I will take my chances with the guy with the funny tail....so it's a little hot down there, hey, I have lived in Florida."
A hole in your hypothesis--what if Satan was black too? With nowhere to go, the white people would freak out like in The Boondocks when Huey told them the truth.
"A hole in your hypothesis--what if Satan was black too? "
But they already think he is, so there would be no element of surprise. White people would just say; "see, I told you so" :)
If the first man on earth was black, and we are created in the imagine of God. What does that say to all those people who attend their segregated churches on Sunday and worhship a light haired blue eyed Jesus with the belief that the Father must also look the way the Roman's depicted the son.
AKA LYNN
Peace,
If whites assumed that God was black, this country would be filled with atheists. I imagine that there's nothing quite like washing down all that hypocrisy with Blue-eyed Jesus Juice.
Maybe that's why so many can't get with evolution. The thought that all of humanity came from Africa is just too much to bear.
When I was 8 or 9 years old I remember hearing my uncle say "I don't care what anybody says, my God is White." and my first thought was -- that's silly, God isn't a color.
But then in seventh grade I remember getting all offended when I saw a photo of a nativity picturing Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus and the shepherds as Chinese. The teacher said that people tend to imagine God as looking like themselves. When I noted that Jesus was not Chinese, a classmate pointed out that he wasn't White, either, and I didn't seem to have any problem with the White Jesus in the manger.
So it turns out that I DID think like my uncle--I just didn't express it so bluntly. Hello, Pot, This is Kettle...
I've grown to really hate the iconic figure of light-brown-haired, blue-eyed Jesus, earnestly gazing heavenward as he prays. I call him White Bread Jesus--bland, spongey, and with no nutritive value (spiritually speaking). The opposit of who Jesus really was.
FYI
Bishop Henry McNeal Turner (1834-1915) settled this and declared that "God is a Negro"
Phil
You really think Bobby believed God is white? I don't draw that conclusion. I think he was saying that the idea is ridiculous. It's certainly not a "truth" that he believed it. That much you know.
Actually, I don't believe God is white, since I don't believe in God. And of there were a God, God would have no properities, only attributes.
Nevertheless, indeed, may the heaven of The God(ess)(e)(s) Of Your Choice be the Barrett Brothers, et al. (I always thought them far superior to Shakespeare and Dunbar. Still do. But surely the Trojan-labelled Wailers of Small Axe beat Concrete Jungle, superlative and transcendant though CJ is? I love the concision...
"You really think Bobby believed God is white"? "Bob"; you do realize of course that Marley was a half breed.
"..Of Your Choice be the Barrett Brothers, et al. (I always thought them far superior to Shakespeare and Dunbar. Still do... "
You may enter into the kingdom of field Negro my son(daughter) :)
of course god looks like bob marley. and he's sitting up there right now singing to himself. "got to have kaya now..." ;-)
So why are we as black folks so mixed up about religion? We were "Christianized" by our slavemasters, just as we were "Islamized" by Muslims sweeping down from North Africa. yet we are among the most mindless adherents of both religions.
I did a book panel with John Amaechi, former NBA player who wrote the gay memoir. Many black folks treated this dude worst than a Klansman, and he was gracious even to the most ignorant fool. These preachers and churchfolk, like the ones in Ohio in 2004, suddenly vote Republican when it comes to sh*t like this. Lord--truly have mercy. On them...
Have you ever seen the film Dogma? In it, God sometimes takes on a human form in order to come to earth for some R&R. I'm enjoying the idea that for a time, God was incarnate in Bob Marley. And of course we will listen to the Wailers in heaven.
His hair and head were like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace...(Revelation 1:14-15)
Hair and head like wool;
Feet like bronze glowing in a furnace...
Sounds like Jesus was a BROTHA
to me. And also a FIELD NEGRO.
I'm also willing to bet that Bishop McNeal made his declaration that Jesus was a Negro based on Revelation 1:14-15, because it physically describes Him.
god is black,the devil is white.the devil rules the material world.last time i checked white people owned 98% of the worlds wealth.so the devils children have made out well in the material world.
For some strange reason, I always thought that the real form of God would be so horrifying to the human mind that seeing God would drive anyone insane.
there is no god
@maggie - or maybe the real form of god would be so beautiful that our minds wouldn't be able to stand it. Why would it have to be horrifying?
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