The Growing Religious Indifference In The African-American Community

INTRODUCTION

Africans, according to African Traditional Religion scholar, John Mbiti, are copiously and notoriously religious. According to him, when you scratch the skin of an African man or woman, you will find religion in his or her blood. Religion is part and parcel of African life. All African life, be it social or political is centered on religion and revolves around religion. Everything is interpreted from a religious perspective. Religion therefore is the sum and summary of African life and history. Before the European missionaries invaded Africa with their religion, Africans were already religious. They worship the Supreme Being whom they named differently according to their relationship with him. So with this prior knowledge of Africans, I believed that coming to work in an African-American community as a young priest from Nigeria will not be much different from what I used to experience back home. I know that the people I was coming to work with are African-Americans, meaning, they are Africans and also Americans. As such, I was expecting the Africanness in them to manifest in their attitude towards religion and God. I was not ignorant of the effect of secularism in American society. Before coming to America, I was not ignorant of the state of the Catholic Church in America. But I was not expecting to see the empty pews phenomenon in a Black community. I thought that being Americans with African decent and African vestige, it will be different. But I was wrong.

My church has a vibrant social ministry, but I see more people in the Soup-kitchen than in the church. The Soup-kitchen is always full with people, and most times some will wait for others to finish before they could come in. But the church on Sundays is pitiably empty. Different people show up in the Soup-kitchen, and different people shop up for Mass on Sundays and other church activities. In my amazement, I began to ask questions! Why is it that these people who troop into the Soup-kitchen daily do not bother to show up in the church at least occasionally? In this paper, I will be dealing with religious indifference in my pastoral locus- i.e. why the black folks where I work seem to be fed up with religion and God. To accomplish this, I will first and foremost give a brief description of my ministerial situation. I will present African-American concept of God. After that, I will present my discovery as to why black folks in my community in Memphis seem to be tired of God. I will offer a pastoral solution and thereafter conclude.

MINISTERIAL SITUATION

As a young priest from Nigeria, I was shocked to my bone marrow the first time I stepped into my Church in Memphis. I was shocked because my expectation did not match with reality- my beautiful little church was empty on a bright Sunday morning. I was not expecting the whole seats in the church to be taken over by people, but I was at least expecting to see a good number of people waiting to worship the Lord in the Catholic way. I was expecting the black community to show up for worship. My prior thinking was that black people are more religious than the whites. My first experience and subsequent experiences of empty pews phenomenon threw me into deep thinking of what could possibly be wrong.

My Church has a vibrant social ministry; and daily black flocks- young, old, men, women and children troop into the Soup kitchen waiting for their ration of either cooked food, or groceries, or clothes, or some cloths, or toiletries and first aid box medicines. As I said before, I have more people in the Soup-kitchen than I have in the church on Sunday. The people who show up in the Soup-Kitchen daily are not seen in my Church. At first, I was thinking that may be, they are not Catholics, and may be attached to any of the churches around especially Baptist Church since it has a strong footing in Memphis. It was not until I started working closely with my Soup-Kitchen brethren that I realized that a good number of them don’t even show up in any church. Few times I asked (usually on Mondays) “How many of you were in Church yesterday?” Like the failure of Abraham to find one single individual that fears God in Sodom and Gomorrah during his dialogue with God so that God could spare the city because of him or her; there was no single person in the crowd of two hundred and fifty people that went to church or that is interested in Church matters. I am not saying that they don’t fear God, but it appears God’s matter does not matter to them anymore.

As an associate pastor, part of my assignment is to work with the director of my church’s social ministry. The director is an excellent young man, an African-American who is also a member of my church and does a great work in the day to day running of the social ministry. Going by the way he runs the social ministry he does not really need me. But as a priest, I knew that feeding those people with material food alone is not enough. It is not enough to pay their house rent and other utility bills. So I introduced prayer before meals and the sharing of whatever we have to give them. I also introduced sharing the Word of God with them, and also encouraged them to care for their spiritual life as much as they care for their material needs. I made them my friends so as to be able to understand their problems. When I started, I was quickly discouraged because I realized that my people (Soup-kitchen folks) are not interested in the ‘my’ God. From the look on their faces, it was very obvious that they just want to grab their portion and leave the church. But from my discouragement I found encouragement to continue doing what I was doing. I was discouraged that they showed apathy to the spiritual aspect I introduced in the social ministry. But I was encouraged because their indifference tells me that they need help and care to step out from what I perceived as “disappointed with God attitude.”

I was keen to find out why the people I expected to be close to God, at least, for their social condition, seemed to be distant from him. I used to believe that poor people are easily drawn to religion and to God because God is seen as the only hope and friend of poor people. Poor people are easily drawn to God because they have so many reasons to go to him; but that does not mean that rich people do not see any need for God. But I believed that poor people seek God more to help them find a way of out their situation. But in this community, I have been proved wrong.

When I was not making serious impact, when I was not breaking ground as to motivate and inspire them to be aware of God’s love for them, I decided to ask the right questions. When I realized that they were not coming to my church and not going elsewhere (other churches) on Sundays, and not pleased with my introduction of spiritual reflection, I decided to find out why my brothers and sisters are indifferent to the One who alone is good. I know that the people I am dealing with are not Nigerians or Africans from the continent of Africa. They are Americans of African decent. As such I expected the Africanness in them to make them docile and receptive to the Christian message of the African priest.

From my discussions with them, they have been church-goers. So many of them had been involved in some Christian ministries before. They are not atheists. They have a sense of God but don’t feel drawn to him anymore. The question then is, “What really happened?” What has gone wrong? Has God failed them or have they found what they are looking for from God, so do not need him again? These questions bring us to the next discussion.

GOD AND THE REALITY OF SUFFERING IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY

The African-American concept of God is based on God’s deliverance of Israel from the oppression under the Egyptians. He is a God who revealed himself to the oppressed. He is the great Liberator and God of exodus. He is a God of revolution who breaks the chains of slavery.[1] It is generally believed that the same God, who liberated the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, will also liberate Black Americans from the shackles of white folks[2]. God therefore is not seen outside the world looking on with some sort of cold indifference (Deus Absconditus). He is at work in his universe.[3] Simply speaking, God is identified with and sustained black people in their struggle to be free. He is a Liberator and Mediator.

In their great suffering as result of White oppression, suppression and devaluation of their humanity, the black people continued to exercise great faith in God. Despite their suffering, the black Americans believed in God and longed for their liberation from racial oppression.

But with increase frustration and disillusionment, hopes of liberation began to wane and fade away. Some people began to question the existence of God. For them, slavery was clear evidence that either God does not exist or that God’s existence is irrelevant to black suffering.[4] The African-Americans were bewildered that the same people who went to church on Sundays were the same people perpetuating black oppression and dehumanization. Deeply affected by unspeakable suffering brought on them by the whites, many of the blacks rejected the Christian Church. The rejection of God or dechristianization of radicalism as Gayraud Wilmore called it worsened when blacks discovered not only that the dream of freedom was a nightmare, but that the church was generally indifferent to their plight[5]. It became faith in crisis and hope in shambles for them.

Black faith was rescued by Dr. King[6]. His involvement with the civil rights movement brought some respite and consolation to the people. Through his powerful sermons and speeches, Dr. King demonstrated that God is actively involved in blacks’ struggle for freedom. He called the black people “God’s children” meaning God’s active presence in their lives.[7]

The reality of excruciating suffering threatened the black faith in God. Ab initio, the God of Jesus Christ was seen as the Liberator of the oppressed from oppression, as such, he was also seen as the One to set “God’s children” free from slavery. But with time, the hope liberation began to wane due to Whites’ unspeakable inhumanity against the Blacks. This challenged the faith of “God’s children.”

FAITH IN SHAMBLE

Dr. King’s entrance into the stage of liberation struggle saved the faith of many black people in America. His involvement with the Civil Rights Movement brought some credibility to Christianity and brought some assurance that God is actively involved in the black people’s struggle for freedom. But from my first hand experience of my community in Memphis, there is still a great deal of indifference towards religion and God.

After failing to motivate my Soup-kitchen brothers and sisters to identify with either my church or any church of their choice, I decided to ask some questions. After failing woefully to move them to God, to at least pray in their houses, I asked questions. What is the reason why you don’t go to church on Sundays? Do you work on Sundays? Why is it that you don’t pray at home? Is there any problem for your religious indifference? The answer I got was thrilling! Why do I have to go to church? One asked rhetorically. “God does not care about me or about anybody” he concluded. Where was God when I was wrongly accused and had felony placed on me? Now no one can employ me. The answer I got from almost all of them was that of frustration and disappointment with God over their situation. They believed that God exists, but many think “God is in the heaven doing whatever he wants.” He does not really care about us. One of them narrated the story of slavery, which he believes so strongly is the reason for his condition. Racism and discrimination, according to him made him poor. Simply put, their question is “Where was God when all these untold hardship was befalling on us?”

My Soup-kitchen friends were sometimes fervent Christians. Some were Catholics before, while the majority of them were once Baptists or any of the Pentecostal churches. They got fed up with religion and God due to the fact that their material condition did not improve. The God of Jesus Christ they worshipped as Liberator and Savior disappointed them. Suffering and lack led them to a dechristianization of piety.

Racism, oppression, poverty, alienation, loneliness etc led them to frustration and disillusionment. According to Cone, the continued existence of black suffering offers a serious challenge to the biblical and black faith, but it does not negate it.[8] The faith of my brothers and sisters I work with is not dead yet. It is simply cold and not lived! When I say “God is good”, some of them still say, “All the time”. There is still some godliness in them, but their faith in God has grown cold due to human suffering. They are wrestling with the reality of suffering with the notion of a God who is all-powerful and good. They have not been able to reconcile with the fact of God being Omni-benevolent all the time with their present condition. A young mother among them asked one morning, “Preacher, can you explain to me why God is indifferent to my present condition?” She was about to be thrown out of her house by her landlord because she has not been able to pay her house bills. She is looking for a job but hasn’t secured anyone yet.

PASTORAL SOLUTION

At first I was wondering why all the people who visit my parish’s Soup-kitchen are all blacks. There is no single white person among them. The only white people that come around only come either to bring food for them or used clothes or to assist as a volunteer in the Soup-kitchen in giving out food or other items. At first I thought the black Americans were lazy. I was wondering why many of them are uneducated and jobless. But now I know why. For people whose fathers were so oppressed, suppressed and devalued and prevented from engaging in meaningful jobs, it takes the grace of God for their fathers to rise above poverty level and be able to leave some meaningful inheritance for children. As James Cone said “

White people did everything within their power to define black reality, to tell us who we were…they tried to make us believe that God created black people to be white people’s servants. We blacks, therefore, were expected to enjoy plowing their fields, cleaning their houses, mowing their lawns, and working in their sawmills. And when we showed signs of displeasure with our so-called elected and inferior status, they called us “uppity niggers” and quickly attempted to put us in our place.[9]

Pastorally, I will continue to pray and motivate them to take seriously their spiritual life. I will continue to appeal to them in a more passionate way that a rejection of God, his divine love and power, is a violation of black faith.[10] I will try to explore concrete ways of helping them come to terms that God still loves them. I will make effort to engage my church in the ministry of being Christ to the poor. I believe very strongly that every local church should be willing to give voice to the masses of the poor who have no effective social voice. Rather than legitimize unjust structure by keeping silence, the church must spend her social wealth and position by championing the cause of the poor. To do otherwise would be to fail in her mission of promoting and liberating human life, its development and fulfillment. When we say to the poor, “Do not be afraid”, it must be with the sense of assuring and reassuring them of God’s love for them and our ability to help them live a life worthy of its dignity.

The people need to hear that the food and other items they receive freely from the church is part of God’s benevolence. As such, God cannot be said to have forgotten them. With what I have learnt about the history of African-Americans, there is a sense of urgency to make an option for the poor and commit myself to justice. This option for the poor and oppressed should not be a personal asceticism, but a commitment that should engage the whole church (my parish and Memphis diocese) to engage their resources actively and courageously in the struggle to overcome the social injustices that affect the community. Every member of my parish would be motivated to do more for “God’s children”. It is not enough to speak to the poor, as church-people we must be willing to share existentially in their lives, joys, hopes, sorrows, pain and fears of the poor and the most abandoned.

CONCLUSION

By renewing my commitment to the poor, I am not ignorant of the fact that not all the needs of the poor will be taken care of. But in a loving and compassionate way, the poor should be told that possession of wealth and material goods is of no importance for eternal life. The Holy Father, Pope XIII reminds us that there is no disgrace in poverty, and that the true dignity and excellence in men and women reside in moral living, that is in virtue.[11]

[1] James H. Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation, (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2007), 58.

[2] James H. Cone, God of the Oppressed, (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2007), 169.

[3] Kelly Brown Douglas, The Black Christ, (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2004), 40.

[4] James Cone, God of the Oppressed, 170.

[5] Gayraud S. Wilmore, Black Religion and Black Radicalism: An Interpretation of the Religious History of African Americans, (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1998), 200.

[6] Ibid, 204

[7] Kelly Brown Douglas, The Black Christ, 39.

[8] James H. Cone, God of the Oppressed, 178

[9] James H. Cone, God of the Oppressed, 2.

[10] Ibid, 150.

[11] Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter: Rerum Novarum, no. 20