"European Christianity is a dangerous thing. What do you think of a religion which holds a bottle of gin in one hand and a Common Prayer in another? Which carries a glass of rum as a vade-mecum to a ‘Holy’ book? A religion which points with one hand to the skies, bidding you 'lay up yourselves treasures in heaven,’ and while you are looking up grasps all your worldly goods with the other hand, seizes your ancestral lands, labels your forests, and places your patrimony under inexplicable legislations? A religion whihc indulges in swine’s flesh and yet cries 'Be ye holy, for I am holy.’ A religion which prays against 'those evils which the craft and subtlety of the devil or man worketh against us,’ and yet effects to deny incantation, charms or spells and satanism– a religion which arrogates to itself censorial functions on sexual morality, and yet promotes a dance, in which one man’s wife dances in close contact, questionable proximity and improper attitude with another women’s husband. O! Christianity, what enormities are committed in thy name."
— Mojola Agbebi, from his Inaugural Sermon in the “African Church” (1902)
No comments:
Post a Comment