By. Dr. Kwame Nantambu
November 14, 2011
Since 8 January 1455, when Pope Nicholas V authorized the Portuguese “to subject to servitude all infidel peoples”, no Pope of the Roman Catholic Church has apologized for the European enslavement of Afrikan people.
In April 2006, the Church of England voted “to apologize to the descendants of victims of the slave trade” and in March 2007, considered paying reparations.
In late April 2006, Jamaica introduced a resolution in the United Nations General Assembly on behalf of the Caribbean and Afrika with co-sponsorship by most European nations “to acknowledge the legacy of slavery as being at the heart of situations of profound social and economic inequality, hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice which continue to affect people of Afrikan descent today.”
On 25 March 2007, bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade, then Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain publicly stated that slavery was “a crime against humanity” and offered “deep sorrow” for British involvement but no apology.
In May 2007, Pope Benedict XV1 condemned “the genocide of the Jews” during the Jewish Holocaust when six to eight million Jews were killed by a European named Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. However, as of this writing, Pope Benedict XV1 has not condemned the genocide of the Afrikans during the Afrikan Holocaust when one hundred to one hundred and fifty million Afrikans were killed by disparate Europeans between 1517 and 1834.
In August 2007, the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, apologized for his city’s role in the Trans Atlantic slave trade. He acknowledged that London was “tainted” by it.
On 29 July 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives issued “an unprecedented apology to Black Americans for the institution of slavery and the subsequent Jim Crow laws that for years discriminated against Blacks as second-class citizens in American society.”
And on 18 June 2009, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution apologizing for “slavery and segregation of Afrikan-Americans.”
In the case of reparations, one finds that the European slave traders have received reparations while their employees (slaves) have received no reparations, to date.
Indeed, in the 1825 “agreement”, the French government forced Haiti to pay France 90 million francs or US$21.7b in exchange for “liberty”. This was, in fact, reparations/compensation “payable to mainly French planters who had lost their property in the revolution” (slave revolt) of 1st January 1804.
And when the British government abolished slavery on 1st August 1834, the Abolition Act provided “a free gift” not a loan of 20 million pounds or US$91.2m “to compensate the slave-owners for the loss of their slaves.”
Truth Be Told: The total amount of compensation/reparations, that is, unpaid wages, that are owed to Afrikans who worked on European plantations in this slavery/capitalist business have been estimated to be US$770 trillion plus interest.
During this European slavery/capitalist business, Nigeria supplied twenty-four per cent of the workers (slaves), Angola supplied twenty-four per cent, Ghana sixteen per cent, Senegal/Gambia thirteen per cent, Guinea eleven per cent and Sierra Leone six per cent. Ergo, the people of these countries (not the government) deserve their percentage of the US$770 trillion.
In addition, forty per cent of the workers (slaves) who were brought violently and involuntarily from Afrika went to the plantations in the Caribbean, forty per cent worked on plantations in South America, mainly Brazil, while fifteen per cent worked on plantations in the American North and South. Ergo, the descendants of these workers (slaves) also deserve their percentage share of the US$770 trillion.
However, the sad geo-political reality is that as a result of the successful European global policy of Divide and Rule, the descendants of these unpaid Afrikan workers (slaves) will never receive compensation/reparations because there are neo-colonial governments in Afrika and the Caribbean who are against the payment of reparations.
Shem Hotep (” I go in peace”).
Dr. Kwame Nantambu is a part-time lecturer at Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies.
I cannot understand how adult Africans can belong to any Christian religion. The whole European world powes all Africans an apology and reparations for their role inthe African holocaust and enslavement.
Wilsibo, I cannot understand how you can in one sentence infer condemnation of Christianity for this, in fact slavery and its wrongs are diametrically opposed to Christianity.Remember also that if one condemns Christianity because of the actions of so called Christians one must also condemn Islam and indeed some traditional West African religions, they all had members who participated in this greatest of injustices. In condemning Christianity are you also including the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Coptic Church, two of the most ancient Christian Churches in the world? Just asking.
Now Dr Nantambu, thank you for a very informative article and I agree with your postulations although I am not sure how the figure of $770 trillion was arrived at. To me apologies are are good but reparations are better but on a matter of practicality, where is that money to come from. In today’s world isn’t it not better for us to transfer wealth to ourselves by our own enterprise. Isn’t it not time for African peoples of the world to understand where we live,the systems which lead to success, organize our thoughts and communities and become as competitive as the ancient Egyptians, Nubians, Ethiopians and others.
Slavery was a misstep which our ancestors unwittingly allowed, an anomaly in a long history of stability and achievement by a people to o talented to be dominated other than by our own ineptitude to the prevailing environments governing the space in which we exists. We must wake up, become impatient with our place in the world and stop waiting for those reparations. Instead we must create the mechanisms by which we can transfer wealth to ourselves. China is doing it, India is on a path to achieve it and Brazil is making great strides but what of the African diaspora, are we the Afri or the AFRAID? Is this the fruit of our ancestors sacrifice and labour,a people frozen in time waiting for reparations to be given instead of reaching out and taking what we want from this world. Hannibal and Toussaint are probably trying to bust out from their graves.
Nuff Said.
Slavery was promoted by the Africans themselves as they capture members of opposing tribes and brought them to the slave ships. If you treat you own that way, what do you expect from others!!! As for the $770,000,000,000,000.00. I think it is too little it should be $1,770,000,000,000 and a one way ticket back to Africa, where Africans belong. My suggestion all Africans in the west should be sent back immediately to Africa and then given this sum of money. The condition must be a return to the mother land.
Mamoo would yo like Afrikans to send you back where you belong? Stop making a fool of yourself and embrace that we are all one people, sooner or later the bigots and racists will die out.
183 years of slavery has come and gone. Descendants of slaves who feel the need to return to the motherland MUST be given such an opportunity as a genuine sign of an appology. What good is an appology if proper retribution is not made???? That is all I am saying.
Derick,
As a Christian clergyman, let me clarify your profoundly confused thinking, i.e. “in fact slavery and its wrongs are diametrically opposed to Christianity”.
You are imagining that “”Christianity” is what Jesus Christ promoted. But much of what has been called “Christianity” since the passing of Jesus has been “diametrically opposed” to what Jesus promoted.
As regards the issue of slavery in particular, see my http://JesusWouldBeFurious.Org/Church&slavery.html which supports as irrefutable, just about everything that Dr. Kwame Nantambu says in this excellent article..
Apostle Paul had to deal with slave situation when Onesimus ran away from his master. After running away he was converted. Paul wrote Philimon and told him I am sending him back to you, now treat him as a BROTHER for my sake. Recognising that we all have one master Jesus Christ. Paul told the slaves work as you are working for Christ NOT man. Knowing that he will reward you.
“However, the sad geo-political reality is that as a result of the successful European global policy of Divide and Rule, the descendants of these unpaid Afrikan workers (slaves) will never receive compensation/reparations because there are neo-colonial governments in Afrika and the Caribbean who are against the payment of reparations.” A well articulated , and poignant pice if I dare say Dr. Kwame Nantambu.
It is certainly a wonderful theme that one can wrap one’s hands around , to begin a journey toward to full empowerment of a people , that gave so much to humanity , and was never compensated. Just me , politicians do have a way of coming around to a true sense of reality , once they are force to see where their interest lies. Be optimistic.
Let us therefore begin thew task , and please a bit more optimism.
Here is the motto for the greedy power brokers , that are enjoying their wealth at global Afrikans expense, and likewise defending the rights of all from Jews, Japanese,Irish , Armenians, Cambodians, Koreans , ET,or everyone ,on Jupiter, and Saturn , who was ever done wrong, by another. Bro Randell Robinson took some baby steps some years ago, and his efforts contributed to bringdown the evil Eurocentric Apartheid empire?
http://transafrica.org/
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/4736
Not to be outdone,Caribbean brothers Stokley, CLR, George Padmore ,and Marcus, and murdered Walter Rodney, focus the light initially , on the problem.
Every year especially at emancipation I hear the same old story of how our ancestors were enslaved by the “wicked white man who took them from Africa to the west indies and worked them under the whip on the plantations.
It is my understanding that there was a slave trade going on where labour was needed on the plantations and european businessmen saw the opportunity to make profits by buying negroes from west africa and selling them at a profit to plantation owners in the west indies.
My point is that THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO SLAVE TRADE IF OUR AFRICAN ANCESTORE DID NOT THEMSELVES START IT BY ENSLAVING THEIR OWN PEOPLE AND SELLING THEM TO THE WHITE MAN.
I know that this requires enourmous courage to tell it like it is but this fact should not be covered up any more and the blame for enslavement of the african people should fall primarily on the shoulders of our african ancestors.
Anyway, from evil commeth good. We are all the product of slavery. We black people would not exist today if it wasn’t for slavery. Our parents and forefathers would not have met to produce us.
Peter Blankey
“THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO SLAVE TRADE IF OUR AFRICAN ANCESTORE DID NOT THEMSELVES START IT BY ENSLAVING THEIR OWN PEOPLE AND SELLING THEM TO THE WHITE MAN.We black people would not exist today if it wasn’t for slavery. Our parents and forefathers would not have met to produce us.” Peter Blancker
Let me get it,some 20 million or more people, were transplanted across the Atlantic, and forced to perform the most dehumanizing tasks , known to mankind, under the hands of barbarian savages ,called Europeans ,but Cuz Peter Blankey- whose rapist great grand father ,can be traced all de way back to Ireland, or Liverpool- thinks that desperate Afrikans, still remaining on the continent today ,should somehow, bow their heads in utter shame , because their forefathers, initially, allowed a few hundreds rebellious,defeated, rivaling Monarchical folks,to barter their freedom?
Tell me folks , what are they doing as far a s education,, if this is what we have degenerated, to as decent humans?
Perhaps,it’s time for me to get off this site , ‘for real,’ as they say on the streets, since I have no desire,for any folks within the more civilized global ranks, reading this commentary, to associate me with Peter,and his seeming stupidity.
Luv Humanity!
While I’m with you on the Wickedness of Blankey’s Soul; and his name belies his intentions, I have to ask if you disagree with his observation that Africans were complicit in the infamous Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
We are vehement in our indictment of Western Civilization for our current predicament, but we often choose to discount those collaborative red flags made available to us in the pages of those same history books which speak of their atrocities; and it didn’t begin with the Trans-Atlantic Trade although that’s the most recent:
Ottobah Quobona Cugoano: Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species. “But I must own, to the shame…of my own countrymen, that I was first kidnapped and betrayed by some of my own complexion, who were the first cause of my exile and slavery…”
We want reparations, but is our vision of reparations a transfer of White/Northern affluence into the hands of the Blacks/Southern non-affluent? If it is, then the question we should be asking ourselves is how did that work out for the “Mighty Æthiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire?” DRUSILLA DUNJEE HOUSTON
“OLD ETHIOPIA–ITS PEOPLE. Because of the great lapse. of time, it seems almost impossible to locate the original seat of the old Ethiopian empire. Bochart thought it was “Happy Araby,” that from this central point the Cushite race spread eastward and westward. Some authorities like Gesenius thought it was Africa. The Greeks looked to old Ethiopia and called the Upper Nile the common cradle of mankind. Toward the rich luxurience of this region they looked for the “Garden of Eden.” From these people of the Upper Nile arose the oldest traditions and rites and from them sprang the first colonies and arts of antiquity. The Greeks also said that Egyptians derived their civilization and religion from Ethiopia. “Egyptian religion was not an
original conception, for three thousand years ago she had lost all true sense of its real meaning among even the priesthood.” (Budge, Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection–Preface.) Yet Egyptian forms of worship are understood and practiced among the Ethiopians of Nubia today. The common people of Egypt never truly understood their religion, this was why it so easily became debased. Ptolemaic writers said that Egypt was formed of the mud carried down, from Ethiopia, that Ethiopians were the first men that ever lived, the only truly autochthonous race and the first to institute the worship of the gods and the rites of sacrifice.”
The history books of the usurpers of “Providence” are littered with admiration and praise for the institutions of civilization our ancestors built, as far as we know, from scratch; But while we bask in the afterglow of their feigned admiration lets also imagine what it must have been like to be a Northerner in the age of Southern affluence. Maybe if we walked a mile in their shoes we’d begin to appreciate the appropriateness of the terms Prodigal and Niggard, when placed in proper context: Maybe next time we might not be as casual with the gifts of Providence. For indeed our birthplace was and is the primordial proffer of the Divine and those Provisions are still there to this day even as the inheritors of that providence have been scattered to the four winds and four corners.
Many, if not all, will be sacrificed as indeed this cycle comes to its inevitable and violent end; it’s the Nature of Change; and like us our Mother Earth, though immortal, is obliged to change; and unless the survivors of humanity develop a mechanism to pre-empt the all too human natures of desire and conceit, slavery and bondage will again be the destiny of generations of Black Souls.
Take for instance, the tale of Ethiopia’s King “Ergamenes, who reigned at the time of the second Ptolemy, and who WAS INSTRUCTED IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE; was the first who dared to throw off this ridiculous yoke. He went with his army to the place difficult to get to, or fortress, when was formally the temple of gold of the Ethiopians, and caused all the priests to be massacred, and instituted himself a new religion.”—Diodorus Siculus, Story of Ergamenes.
Clearly the Greeks didn’t get beyond Egypt without Africa’s help. Ergamenes was not the first, and he is definitely not unlike Africans of the Diaspora whose arrogance engenders feelings of superiority once exposed to the life choices of their continental brethren.
One could argue that most relocated and repatriated western educated Africans are presently performing the same role as those Pimps of Providence’s past. Humans are not deprived if they do not have a smart phone, colored T.V., satellite dish, or a computer, these aren’t necessities they are merely the new tools of a futile war between man and nature.
But long before the Asiatic, Greeks, Romans and rest of sundry Europe were occupiers in the land of Uthlanga (G.H. Massey, the Sons of Providence were first to sow the seeds of their own demise, for the Egyptian Ausar’s aspirations to Godhood should really be understood as humanity’s first recorded evidence of colonization; for although his stated motives might appear altruistic the underlying cause is Man’s inability to submit to the will of Creation and by extension the Creator, thus Pride goeth before the Fall of the South. Now since Ausar was also the founder of Kemet; (at Khnum/Abu/Elephantine/1st Nome) he can also be credited with bringing the civilization of the Cushitic South within accessibility of the North; Thebes then, as reported, “Hateful to me are my gifts, and I hold him at a straw’s worth. Not even if he gave me ten times, yea twenty, all that now is his, and all that may come to him otherwhence, even all the revenue of Orchomenos or EGYPTIAN THEBES, where the treasure-houses are stored fullest – THEBES of the hundred gates, whence sally forth two hundred warriors through each with horses and chariots – nay, not gifts in number as sand or dust;” became the envy and the aspiration of the entire Mediterranean and Central Asia.; his efforts included leaving behind his disciples in those colonies to which he brought “civilization;” a further inducement to desire and resentment by the natives. Sounds Familiar?
This alone would be enough to justify the actions of the Eurocentric; however, this is an attempt at a more wholes-tic view, and as such requires a distance of time not recorded by man; for this we must go to nature’s Scribe; human DNA, as in genetic inheritance and the recent revelations of the Neanderthal’s genetic trace/footprint/marks upon non-African humans. There are certain Universal Laws and one is that the law of TIME moves in one direction; for Time is the corruption of Man not the Creator; and then as now, we the inheritors of our fathers’ sins can only move forward, as it is futile to try to erase the Marks of Time.
We show our love for humanity by remembering our past and providing that knowledge of our past to our children for they are humanity’s future. Man is intrinsically evil because he forever wants and is forever wanting; a more apt description of reparations/compensation one will not find.
The problem with the notion of compensation and indeed ‘chosenism;’ as in (Divinely Sanctioned Compensation)is that the so-called chosen/choisi have forgotten; or indeed may have never understood that being chosen is a contingency of one’s choice/choix.
May we teach our children to make better choices.
Let me give you some knowledge and understanding from Scripture.
We the Negro slave descendants of the West are Hebrew Israelites. We did not sell each other into slavery. Rather we were kidnapped, enslaved and sold into slavery by (i) Hebrew Ishmaelites (Arabs); (ii) Hebrew Edomites; and (iii) indigenous Hamitic tribes.
The Arabs are known to have been involved in the slave trade involving our Yahoodee (Negro) people for a time long preceding the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and still continues today, or at least until very recent times.
The Hebrew Edomites are such tribes as the Idoma of Nigeria, and the Ashanti of today Ghana, and the Dahomey of today Benin.
The controllers of the trans-Atlantic slave trade were white Jews — white Hebrew Edomites or Sephardic Jews — such as Aaron Lopez, as documented in “The Secret Relationship between Blacks and Jews” (Nation of Islam Research Department).
The Ashanti (black Hebrew Edomites) have formally apologised for their role, and offered reparations in the form of free land in a place called Fihankra in Ghana, set aside for returning slave descendants.
Indigenous Hamitic tribes were less prominently involved. Our enemies were listed at Psalms 83:4-8: “4They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.”
The Hamites there listed — Philistines, Tyre, Assur — are mixed in with the Arabs who of course are predominantly Ishmaelites. I’m not sure which Hamitic tribes in Africa proper might have been involved.
My point?: it is untrue, and certainly misleading, to say that “our African ancestors enslaved their own”. That would be like saying the Americans committed genocide on their own native Americans, or that the Americans enslaved their own black Americans. No. In our case, Ishmaelites, Edomites, and some Hamites, enslaved our forefathers the Israelites.
Be that as it may, the entire slave trade occurred pursuant to prophecy. Yahweh let it or made it happen. See Deuteronomy 28:15-68, and in particular verse 68. This describes the slave ships and the chattel slavery that characterized the trans-Atlantic slave trade. (Separate point: all slavery is not chattel slavery. Biblical slavery was more like indentured servitude. It was limited to six years, the bond-servant had to be freed in the seventh year. And in any case the bond-servant could be redeemed out of it even sooner by his relatives.)
We suffered slavery among other curses because we disobeyed our God. However a time of redemption is also prophesied, and is coming very soon, as we are in the time of Apocalypse (Revelation) when all is being revealed. The truth that would make us free has been hidden a long time. The principal truth that we are to come to know is that we, the Negro slave descendants, are true Israelites of the Book.
Here is the central promise:
“And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither Yahweh thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto Yahweh thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then Yahweh thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither Yahweh thy God hath scattered thee.” (Deuteronomy 30:1-3).
Much else is promised besides. In the meantime, yes, we and our forefathers are to take responsibility for our enslavement. We are to confess and repent the sins, arising out of disobedience, both our own and those of our forefathers, that caused it, and we are to return to Yahweh.
“Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith Yahweh of hosts.” (Malachi 3:7).
And also: “Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.” (Malachi 4:4).
Shalom.
PS. Take a look at: http://hebrewismsofwestafrica.blogspot.com/
It speaks among others of the Yahoodee in Africa, and their enslavement, and where they came from.
karibkween:
You make such a fine point that its trajectory took it somewhere betweeen 1st slip and wicket-keeper; the barest of chances, I barely got my fingers to it. And perhaps I dropped it. This is a joke, so laugh. I don’t do that very often on this forum, although I can be a funny guy when I want to.
Be that as it may, I will address only your premise, not trusting that I was not defeated by your word play.
The concept of “chosenism” has always been hard to swallow, especially by those who are not chosen. The ones for whom it was the most bitter of pills are the closest near relations of the Israelites, namely the Edomites, and the Ishmaelites. Esau (Edom) was Jacob’s (Israel’s) brother. And Ishmael was Isaac’s older brother, Jacob’s uncle. Ishmael was pointedly passed over by Yahweh despite Abraham’s plea on his behalf. And Esau despised his birthright (as the first-born twin), and sold it to Jacob for a mess of red lentil pottage (from which came his name change to Edom, which means red). Later, enmity grew between the two brothers, as indeed was revealed would happen while they were still in the womb. (For they were warring from the womb.) Ishmael for his part was put away from Abraham’s camp with his mother, Hagar. So one can well imagine the resentment. In any case, we see later that the Edomites, and the Ishmaelites, the kith and kin of the Israelites, head the list of the enemies of the children of Israel:
Psalms 83:2-6. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
I did not mention the Moabites, who descend from Lot, Abraham’s nephew. So they, also, are near-relations. One’s greatest enemies are often some of those closest to us.
But as it was back then, it still is today. Our enslavement as Israelites, was suffered at the hands of Ishmaelites (red and black), and Edomites (white and black). That is why I object whenever all Africans are lumped together without these biblical distinctions. We are fulfilling the Book. Whether you or me or anybody else likes it, or not. And unless we make distinctions made in the Book, we will have no understanding of what is unfolding, and has unfolded in our history going back 3500 years. (That too is why DNA testing is just another snare and delusion when used to seek to establish ancestral identity. It cannot; in the way needed for biblical understanding.)
The whole concept of the “catholic” church is to reject what you call “chosenism”. For Yahweh said of the children of Israel that we were to be a “kingdom of priests, and a holy nation”, through whom the other nations would come to know him. The definition of “holy” is not pious, or without sin; it means literally to be “set apart”. And for a purpose. We are part of God’s plan. The definition of “catholic” is the exact opposite. It means universal, applicable to everybody. Xtianity today still adheres to this catholic doctrine, in opposition to the plain words of Scripture. So they too oppose what you call “chosenism”.
But the *fact* is that the Book is being fulfilled. It is history written before it happens. Therefore, strictly speaking it cannot be an “-ism”. When it is fact, it is not an “-ism”. According to (Webster’s Collegiate), the suffix “-ism” denotes a “distinctive doctrine, cause or theory”. And the connotative meaning applies to creeds, beliefs, faiths, etc. as in the afore-mentioned “catholicism”.
When however it is the plain word of God, in the nature of prophecy unfolding as fact over the centuries, I would suggest that we think more like Bob Marley in this matter than the pope: “we’ve got to fulfill the Book”.
It is a matter of sitting humbly before Fact and Truth. Papal bulls and such (there was one giving license to enslave us) pronouncing on this or that doctrine of Faith, changing times and laws given us by God, you may put down as an “-ism”. But that Israel is chosen, is simple fact. It is no kind of “-ism”.
I make that point, not to be pedantic. (Trust me when I say I don’t have the time.) My concern is not with words per se, but with the meaning and thoughts behind the words. When one is not thinking straight, words used will reflect it. As it does here.
Chosenism is not a choice. We have no say in the matter. It is not a Faith that we can say, well that is to my liking, let me join myself to it. Or this is not to my liking it, let me depart from it. No. Fact is fact. The universe will not accommodate itself to your belief, faith, creed, or “-ism”.
Having said that, let me also add that the Book has correctly prophesied every single one of the 14 powers that were to arise during the 4th Kingdom spoken of by Daniel (7:23-25; 8:24-25). The power of the Beast is given to him by Yahweh (Job 9:24; Revelation 13:5). Therefore, equally as Israel is chosen, so is the Beast. Every single power that has arisen, from Babylon (1st kingdom), Persia (2nd kingdom), Greece (3rd kingdom), to a 4th kingdom in which would emerge 14 powers, has been CHOSEN. There is always a hegemonic power that rules, until its time is up. The time of the 4th kingdom is almost up. And the Book is being fulfilled. For the moment, America is the latest global hegemon, soon to be eclipsed (by China actually, and when it comes it will continue but a short space (Revelation 17:10)) and soon thereafter the Jewish Banking Monopoly behind the global hegemon will get its comeuppance. After that, Israel will rule. (Not the so-called “Jews” who are impostors, but a whole heap of so-called “Negroes”. Such as Sat will be in for a big surprise, but I digress.) The Book will be fulfilled. Like it or not.
Therefore, chosenism is no “-ism”. We have no choice in the matter. We have only blessings and curses, rights and obligations. As Israelites, we have an obligation to keep the Covenant. Our blessings and curses flow out of that.
If you think Yahweh is unjust, or unequal, or unrighteous, that is your right to think so, but here is what Yahweh says:
Isaiah 29:16: “Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?”
Here is the beef in this context:
Reparations SHALL be paid. Some of it will be in the form of the purse. But the larger part will ultimately be paid IN KIND: “He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” (Revelation 13:10).
Yahweh’s way is just and equal. Chosenism may appear fundamentally unjust, but it is not so. In any case, our lack of understanding of Reality can change it not. Yahweh warns us:
Isaiah 55:7-9. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto Yahweh, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Yahweh. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Shalom.
“The universe will not accommodate itself to your belief, faith, creed, or “-ism”.” Your words not mine, but one gets a sense that you aren’t too familiar with the Universal Law of Entropy.
“Historically, the concept of entropy evolved in order to explain why some processes (permitted by conservation laws) occur spontaneously while their time reversals (also permitted by conservation laws) do not; systems tend to progress in the direction of increasing entropy. For isolated systems, entropy never decreases. This fact has several important consequences in science: first, it prohibits “perpetual motion” machines; and second, it implies the arrow of entropy has the same directionality as the arrow of time. Increases in entropy correspond to irreversible changes in a system, because some energy is expended as waste heat, limiting the amount of work a system can do.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy
In other words, the Universe does not allow for reparations; and if everyone of us adhered to the Wisdom teachings of our Ancient Ancestors instead of its misunderstood renderings contained in your book of Semitic Biographies we would already know that: “Everything that is made is corruptible.” That there is only generation, operation, destruction and regeneration.
Are you greater than the Sun?
“The Sun is the greatest of the Gods in heaven, to whom all the heavenly Gods give place, as to a King and potentate; and yet he being such a one, greater than the Earth or the Sea, is content to suffer infinite lesser stars to walk and move above himself; whom doth he fear the while, O Son?” The Divine Pymander
Actually, when I took the A Level exam in the Science Group several decades ago, I was already made familiar with the concept of entropy then. Subsequently I was trained as an engineer, and learnt a lot of thermodynamics, including the Second Law, most of which I have since happily forgotten.
Since embarking on my spiritual walk, it is true that I have learned to reject any principle which presumes to limit the Most High Strong One. I give more credence to the Creation Story than I do to an impossibility claim, whether based on the Second Law of Thermodynamics, or any other basis. Nothing is impossible to the Creator.
But note, I was not in my argument rejecting the Principle of Entropy or any of its corollaries. I was stating a truth with which Science is in agreement, namely that Reality simply *is*; it does not accommodate itself to theories, beliefs, or epistemologies. If I present you with a “perpetual motion” machine, or if I turned the clock back, Science is committed in principle to re-thinking the PoE.
Yahweh lets us know that he is not subject to the PoE, in any of its forms, to wit: he created Man from the dust of the earth. He also turned back the arrow of time:
“And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. And Isaiah the prophet cried unto Yahweh: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.” (2 Kings 20:9-11)
If you know anything of the science of theurgy, practical that is, you should need no further convincing. If you do, then you have not read the Book of Yahweh cover to cover, and with understanding. Or you come with an attitude such that understanding is not opened up to you. Yes. It’s a spiritual principle that if you seek Truth and Knowledge, you must do so with humility.
That statement would put you at odds with the Creator. Are you greater than he?
My sister: you need to clean out the Western cobwebs from your mind.
The PoE is actually founded on a logical fallacy. It is Hume’s “problem of induction”. Look it up yourself. It requires us to argue from the particular to the general. You cannot do so by deduction, which rather requires you to argue from the general to the particular. And if you appeal to a principle of induction to justify going from the particular to the general, then you are being circular. So the PoE is mere theory, albeit with a big name, falsifiable whenever God wishes, or indeed whenever any one of his children, such as you or me, is given the gift to “see” that which the Western Mind presumes to think cannot be seen.
Free your mind!
Or, at the very least, understand clearly the difference between ontology, and epistemology.
No my sister. You have been misled. First of all, there is also the eternal. God must be eternal, otherwise he is no God, and otherwise there is no unmoved Mover. If there is no unmoved Mover, your PoE would require that entropy increase, hence Creation could not “spontaneously” occur. (Whatever “spontaneous creation” means, other than creation — I’m alluding here to such as Prof. Hawking (“The Grand Design”)). So on your own stated premise, there can neither be generation, nor regeneration, only increasing entropy.
As to what you disparagingly call the “book of Semitic Biographies”, again you are misled. If you are a Negro slave descendant, then you are yourself Shemitic, notwithstanding what the fake Jew impostors would have you believe. So the wisdom teachings of your “Ancient Ancestors” would actually be those in the Book of Yahweh, not the Divine Pymander.
The book of Yahweh is not a collection of biographies, it is a collection of writings by servants of Yahweh, who were told what to write, and some of which the prophets themselves did not understand, for example Daniel:
“And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” (Daniel 12:8-10).
By all means study. Read widely. But if you genuinely seek Truth, I assure you as one who is older, wiser, been around the block and back a few times, and guided too, besides, that your search will inevitably bring you back to Our Story, which is recorded in the Book of Yahweh.
“Seek ye out of the book of Yahweh, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.” (Isaiah 34:16).
Be assured that this is the testimony of the Most High God, expressly for us, the children of Yahweh, who were written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world. It is our lifeline back to eternal life, if we will hearken. If we will not hearken, we will be esteemed as the potter’s clay, i.e. consigned to the scrap heap marked “defects”.
But bear in mind also:
Daniel 12:10
“… the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”
Shalom.
You misunderstand me. I have no quarrel with my Creator; how does a mere creature begin to have a quarrel with the ungenerated, unmanifested, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient?
What sticks in my craw are people who think they have the source of ALL on speed-dial. People unable to comprehend or appreciate the scope or the wonders of ALL creation, yet somehow have arrived at the position or mindset of being CHOSEN above ALL ELSE in CREATION by a CREATOR quite possibly eons removed from their ultimate generation.
Here’s an exercise I use whenever I feel “my neck begin to stiffen:” I imagine the bacteria in my gut having a good laugh at my hubris.
I crossed that hurdle a long time ago. The matter is not one of hubris. Quite the opposite it is one of humility. For that is what the Creator says. We must sit humbly before Fact, always. Fact is bedrock, Belief is shifting sand. On which do you build?
“And Moses went up unto God, and Yahweh called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” (Exodus 19:3-6)
You should by all means consider the possibility that Moses was delusional, and made this up out of the imagination of his own heart. Of course I considered that possibility also. But when you read the Book of Yahweh, cover to cover, and with comprehension, that hypothesis will be quickly rejected. The plagues, the escape from Pharaoh, the parting of the Red Sea, manna falling from heaven, water gushing forth from a rock in the desert, etc. etc. These were all manifestations contrived by the Creator precisely to prove to a stiff-necked and rebellious people, such as yourself, precisely that he was, who he said he was.
He has Isaiah say as much:
“Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth. Ye are my witnesses, saith Yahweh, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.” (Isaiah 43:9-11)
The key words here are “witnesses”, and “know”. We the children of Israel were chosen to be his witnesses, i.e. we witnessed his great works and miracles, including his coming down on Mt. Horeb and scaring everybody. He does *not* require us to take anything on faith. Quite the contrary, he has no use for the credulous, and requires us to “prove all things” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). At the same time, once you are a witness to something, you no longer have the excuse of ignorance. Furthermore, that *knowledge* precludes descent into competing -isms and ideologies. Let the heathen so engage themselves; we the Israelites have no excuse, and have not that luxury.
Oh, and by the way, it was the children of Israel who asked Yahweh that he depart:
“According to all that thou desiredst of Yahweh thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Yahweh my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And Yahweh said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” (Deuteronomy 18:16-18).
The Book of Yahweh, far from being “Semitic Biographies” are the words of Yahweh communicated through all the prophets that followed Moses.
Now, here is the point that perhaps you are missing. We the children of Israel existed in spirit long before our incarnation into the flesh in this existence. Indeed, unless we persist in rebellion against God, our nature and future is to return to eternal life in his sight.
John the Revelator lets us know that:
“And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets …” (Revelation 22:8-9).
But the prophets are our brethren also (Deuteronomy 18:18). Therefore the angels likewise are our brethren. Therefore our true nature is eternal. Hence this temporal existence in the flesh is merely that, temporal. (Note: this is a sure and reliable inference, like 1+1=2).
Now, here is the point. If we are children of God, in fact, and eternal in our essential nature, why is it such a stretch that we, his children, should be Chosen?
In any case, as I have argued to you before, someone is ALWAYS chosen, in particular those whose task it has been given precisely, to chastise God’s chosen. Are you beginning to understand?
“And they shall be mine, saith Yahweh of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.” (Malachi 3:17-18).
See also my recent post in which I break down the etymological origin of the words “nigger” and Bantu. In these very words, now considered derogatory, are clues to our true nature as gods.
Shalom.
What do you know, I See my brothers are still at it,huh?
I learned some two and a half decades ago, from a former UWI , Sociology A ‘Level Professor,that “there are no truths ,only perspectives.”
In the words of the Buddha,here is a refreshing thought:- 1.”In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.”
Which translated means the following:- Any perspective we have on anything is only a relative truth. There are always both (or more) sides of any story. An objective perspective or an absolute truth is very hard or maybe impossible to see. But to be aware of this and to be interested to see another perspective from another person can be very mind-opening and valuable.
In addition, Lin Chi , a Zen Buddhist , even went as far to say the following , which even if a bit humorous , is quite loaded/ thought provoking:- “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.”
Here is the illuminating explanation:-
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=2903Itemid=247
In ending let me add, that I have came to recognize over time,that even somethings as innocent as education, narrow , uncompromising political ideologies,and distorted, neo tribal ,cultural exclusivism ,can eventually can evolve into a form of destructive religion, passionately adopted by adherents ,with major ,socially crippling ,consequences.
They should be expose at all angles,by us the more morally sound , and socially conscious , as the results , again , I must emphasize , can be dangerous, be it in USA, Europe ,Canada,Australia,Nigeria, China,Pakistan, Israel,India , the Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan,Saudi Arabia, Rwanda, Guyana, Sudan, Burundi,Sri Lanka,Iran, and heavens forbid , Sweet, Sweet, T&T,yes?
Be forewarned guys!
Luv Humanity!
Neal:
Did the Buddha prophesy the enslavement of your forefathers?
Yes? Then give us the link, I’d be very interested.
No? Then I submit he is irrelevant to your condition, and mine.
The same goes for any other -ism, or creation of man’s imagination.
The idea that Knowledge or Reality is just another Perspective, competing for mind-space on equal footing with any -ism that may flow out of man’s fertile imagination, is ludicrous.
Shalom.
Neal,
This paragraph alone is one of the best thoughts that I have seen expressed on these blogs. You are right on the money and Buddhism is a beautiful spiritual tradition that I have the utmost respect and reverence for, even though my forefathers came from a different tradition.
On the matter of reparations, while they will be helpful, they will not be the answer for a people who spiritually and culturally disconnected. The mere fact that they refer to themselves as Africans is evidence of this disconnection. While out of necessity, the Diasporic descendants tried to band together (with varying degrees of success) in the face of cultural and physical annihilation (AIDS, Black-on-black crime etc.), the ultimate Truth is they were never really Africans, as Yoruba Israelite has conveyed on other threads. They come from Yoruba, Ashanti, Ibo and other of the various ethnic groups.
Reparations alone is merely a bandage on a group of people who have been knocked from pillar to post by the usual Eurocentric suspects and other bemused and condescending ethinc groups who secretly and openly mock the plight of a confused people.
I pray that Africans find themselves and worship in Spirit and in Truth, according to their unique cultural traditions, as the Eternal Creator has commanded that no culture be made to feel second class or inferior.
It was Abe Lincoln who once said , and I totally agree , “I do not care what my grandfather was , I am more concern as to what his grand son will be.”
Yarouba my brother ,for your information , I just like you grew up in the same pagan traditionS of a white blue eyed, sky god , turn de other cheek , then await salvation when,an all powerful , and encompassing , revengeful , papa God return to save us.
With time, I again like you ,recognized the folly of such, and eventually burned every King James Bible in my possession, in pursuit for real enlightenment.
You decided to follow you part,and I another. Unlike you however, I did not transfer my saintlike adherence to some heavenly object,to an earthly one.
Over the past 25 years , I found myself ,subscribing to many of the principles of Buddhism ,which to coin a common cliché, has essentially ‘become a way of life’ for me,but that’s where it ends.
The expression ‘Agnostic Buddhist,’ is what best describes me.Here are two principles you can bite into , that can save you and similar others much pain- and I paraphrase.
1.Nothing is permanent, and therefore changes are inevitable. 2.Constantly strive to end suffering.
3.Seek means to protect the lives of all sentient beings .
It is your right to spend the rest of your life trying to figure out why Afrikans were so stupid to allow themselves to become life time slaves,but again there is where I part company, as I see it as merely an idiotic exercise in futility. Much more can be derived by finding ways to ensure that Afrikans find a partway to power – starting right here in my own country. The reasons are simple, no society can excel, if part of it’s population are constantly stuck at the bottom , of the social quagmire. Likewise , this world we live it cannot claim to be great , if over a billion Afrikans are,perpetually suffering , economically, politically , morally, and psychologically, all the while constantly pointing fingers at ‘the other,’ as opposed to looking inward for flaws , with intent to change.
I am in the business of achievement, while refining the tools necessary for success, so that resent , and succeeding generations can live a better life.
If you are not looking for ways to find peace , and harmony ,with yourself, environment, and others that share you planet then you are simply wasting your time, and if willing to engage – mine as well.
I wish you well, but just remember , no one would treat you and your ideology with any respect , if you cannot do the same towards them.
For the record , any one on this board ,I’ve deliberately attacked, were those who failed to appreciate that basic principle.
I wish you well!
Luv Humanity.
Neal:
I repeat:
“Did the Buddha prophesy the enslavement of your forefathers?
Yes? Then give us the link, I’d be very interested.
No? Then I submit he is irrelevant to your condition, and mine.”
Shalom.
Neal:
Let me help you. Here is such a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RTzARDT3_8
(I looked at the whole thing three times before I fully understood it, the narrator is unclear in places. I suggest that similarly you take your time with it.)
But after you finish watching this prophecy that is part of the Buddhist tradition, you will conclude, if you know the Book of Yahweh, that that is where it comes from.
So again, if you are interested in Truth, you are led back to Our Story contained in the Book of Yahweh.
And when you read the Book of Yahweh, the first question that must concern you is, “Does this apply to me”? This is the test of relevance. If you don’t apply it, then you need to go back and learn the first thing about how to think critically.
The answer to that question is Deuteronomy 28:68. This is a prophecy DNA test. No other people on the planet provide a prophecy DNA match but we, the Negro slave descendants of the West. (In a sense which a statistician would appreciate, this prophecy DNA test has more discriminatory power than a physical DNA test. The latter will fail to distinguish Ishmaelite from Israelite, unless we have DNA samples from Ishmael and Israel respectively, which we don’t.)
Once this relevance question is established, consider any other wisdom tradition — Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, etc. — and apply the same test of relevance as before, specifically does it prophesy the enslavement of your ancestors. If relevant, check the source, as we have done here. If it leads back to the Book of Yahweh, you will know what to conclude.
Once you follow the chain of logic and reason back to the Book of Yahweh, now consider what *obligations* you are put under — for the whole Book ultimately is about the Holy Covenant, a binding contract to which we, the Israelites, are subject, and ideology and -isms have nothing to do with it –, and fulfill them. It is that simple. That is the Truth that will make you free.
All the -isms and ideologies may give fleeting satisfaction, as fruits of man’s fertile and wishful imagination, but will yield no fruit.
You may hear, or forebear.
Shalom.
Nehemiah 9:29: And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.
I believe all countries that traded slaves should apologize for it. People from Salvador, Brazil deserve an apology since Salvador holds the most African descendants from all countries. Monetary compensation is not realistic but an apology would mean a lot to the people.