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After the Beginning
It is a well-known fact that black people are very spiritual. From dancing in churches, to dancing to Voodoo in Haiti. It is evident that these people are very passionate and spiritual based on my experience. I grew up in the church and still attend to this day. I visited many different churches; however I noticed predominantly black people and black congregations (churches) dancing around in the spirit or just dancing for the joy that God gave them. I often asked myself why is it that mostly black people that do this? It seems that no one can express themselves in churches any better than them! At the same time I noticed that any religion that we take up we are so dedicated and zealous about them, which makes me think about the origins of spirituality of African (black) people. Please note, at times throughout this article I will mention the word 'African'. I simply mean black people, nothing else to it! I will start from religion in Africa Before Christ, up to this present day.
Many gods
On a whole there were several gods that Africans worshipped until a drastic change when a pharaoh called Amenhotep IV famously known as Akhenaton came to power. Amenhotep IV was a black man who became the 10th Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty in Egypt. He was son of 'Amenhotep III' and 'Queen Tye' pictured above. At the start of his rule he changed his name to Akhenaton, which means 'Well with the sun' due to the name of his one god 'Aton'. His famous beautiful wife Queen Nefertiti is also well documented in history. Akhenaton was a heretic who believed in one God above all'. He consequently changed the multi gods system to a one-god system in Egypt. His legacy lives on today as many religions including Christianity and Islam still uses this philosophy. He destroyed almost all the images of the gods that existed before his reign including his dad's works of art. He now became a fanatic and started to write hymns and poems about his 'one God' worshipping his 'God of Creation', 'God of the universe', 'God of justice and peace' etc. His hymns and poems are similar to those of proverbs in the King James Bible however Akhenaton wrote his poems thousands of years before the King James Bible were written. This one god 'Aton' became a jealous god, tolerating no other gods before him. Hence Akhenaton's sudden destruction of the images of other gods before his reign. He was not in tune with the people of Egypt at the time, as he abruptly changed a system of multi gods then insisted that everyone praise his God 'Aton' as well as Akhenaton himself! During this time the mass of people was upset at this new 'crazy' king, whose aim was to destroy and erase thousands of years' worth of Egyptian art, more importantly annihilating a whole belief system, disregarding the previous gods they grew to love and worship over the centuries. The priests were the ones most upset at this occurrence, as they made their living from the multi god system, as the mass would pay them to interpret dreams among other things.
After Akhenaton died, his son Tutankhamen (King Tut) became pharaoh at only 8-9 years old (died aged only 18 or so). This new black king destroyed his father's artefacts of Akhenaton's one God 'Aton' and reinstated the multi god system. Only a few years after Akhenaton died, Moses was preaching this same one god concept that he was taught and was now being sought by the Egyptians. As a result he fled, leading a group of heretics out of Egypt. This same one God principle that Akhenaton started was now established in Palestine, which is where the heretics led by Moses fled to. Moses' teachings of the One God system in Egypt was reflected in the 10 commandments, which is merely part of 'The 42 Declarations of Maat' (or 42 Commandments if you like). However despite Egypt being conquered by several nations, this one God system remained despite these nations imposing their own gods on Egypt. Subsequently the one God concept was so strong that it was brought back to the invading countries by the invaders. Rome conquered Greece, then Cleopatra queen of Egypt and Julius Caesar of Rome became lovers. Rome had an impact on Egypt at the time. However the most influence that religion had on Africa up until the 15th century or so was the Arabs who conquered Egypt bringing with them Islam, crusading all the way down to Ghana. (For this reason Egypt is officially called the 'Arab Republic of Egypt'). During these crusades many Africans died as they opposed this new dogma but many were forced to accept. This wasn't the last form of imposition of religion on the Africans (the ones that started the whole thing in the first place).
Enslavement of the Africans
As the Greeks learnt from the Egyptians and the Romans learnt from the Greeks, the one-god concept that started in Africa was spread all over Europe long before slavery in the Americas started in the 15th century. This was after Christopher Columbus become lost, reaching the Americas instead of India, where he intended to reach. It is interesting to note that the first slave ship to transport slaves from West Africa to the America's was called 'Jesus Christ of Lubec' captained by a Christian Priest. The African slaves now in America could no longer practice their spirituality such as Islam, ancestor worship and other practises as this was discouraged with severe punishment. The slave masters gradually taught the slaves Christianity (the one god concept) the European way, the way they knew it. Seeing Africans as servants and slaves and tried to authenticate slavery via the bible. This was done for several reasons but mostly to make it seem that enslaving Africans was right as well as demonising the once great people who ruled; All of Egypt, Sudan, and further (All of Africa and even outside the continent). Ethiopia was like the United States of today but far greater. Christianity, the European way was now the slaves' new religion and not long after; the Portuguese, Spanish, British, French, Belgians among others divided African land amongst themselves colonising it and spreading 'their' religion on the people that started it.
My Take on the whole thing
Blacks and religion today (Post slavery)
Today is the result of all that transpired over the thousands of years since the belief system started. It seems every thing has changed but at the same time it appears as if everything remained the same where religion is concerned. Monotheism (including Christianity) is the most popular way to express your faith today. The differences are; the blacks are practising monotheism the way they were taught over the years when they were invaded and/or captured. I believe most Africans forget and are even oblivious that what they are doing is nothing new under the sun. Today's Churches and Mosques are the results of Akhenaton's 'One God' concept.
References
Anthony T Browder: Nile Valley (Contributions to ) Civilisation
William Chandler: Ancient Future
Chancellor Williams: Destruction of Black Civilisation
Wilkinson R.H. Reading Egyptian Art
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