As a youngster church attendance was not optional, no. In fact even as
a young adult staying at home (here in the diaspora) with my parents it
remained a compulsory family ritual to the extent that I felt really bad if I
ever missed a Sunday service. One could say I was deeply religious at the time
and when people at school asked me what my beliefs were I would often respond,
‘Pentecostal Christian’ without any hesitation at all although my ‘lifestyle’
reflected no semblance of my professed faith. It was only when I got a little
older and started to develop my own understanding of life, holding what the
bible says against church practices, that I realised not only how hypocritical
I was but also how overwhelmingly hypocritical the majority of @Africanindiaspo
Christians and churches were. I realised then why Christianity did not appeal
to me and many of the @Africanindiaspos who were my age at the time.
You see children in Africa, just like African adults interact with
national politicians; do not ask any questions that challenge the status quo as
such insubordination can lead to serious disciplinary action. Consequentially,
African children (and in some instances adults) typically do not appear to have
minds of their own, that is how a grown man’s parents can influence him to
leave his spouse for another more suitable/subservient woman – a woman they
prefer really. Am I lying? Au contraire (on the contrary), western and
@Africanindiaspo children raised in the diaspora are taught to question
everything that they are taught by their parents, although they never seem to
question the evolutionary theories and propagandised fallacies drummed into
their heads from a young age. I personally feel a balance is critical but where
is Kermit when you need him?
Nonetheless this critical mind-set of @Africanindiaspo children is
something that many parents have not made adjustments to accommodate. Whilst
many of us who grew up as Christians in the Motherland found it easy to believe
that Jesus was born of a virgin mother, was the Son of God and that He resurrected
from the dead, these are facts that your typical @Africanindiaspo descendant
just cannot understand (How I could just
kill a man, lol). The lack of
empirical evidence combined with the fact that it just doesn’t sound plausible
makes the bible/anything written in it sound like folklore. I suppose faith is
difficult to possess when you have never needed to trust God for your next meal
or the healing of a loved one, only the national health system and evolutionary
theories (not facts) from a man just like you and I.
Whilst the factors mentioned above are worthy of consideration, I
believe hypocrisy is really the stroke that breaks the camel’s backs for most
children and for the purpose of this post I will stick to hypocrisy in the
home. I have found Christianity amongst @Africanindiaspos and even amongst our
brothers and sisters in the Motherland to be centred primarily on church and/or
bible study attendance and long prayers which are preferably made in incomprehensible
tongues. Insofar as these conditions are met one is considered a bona fide
believer worthy of much commendation in the church. Oh silly me I forgot to
mention that they must give their tithe faithfully, of course, lest they
attract a curse from God then they are a bona fide, hell-raising Christian. Of
course it does not matter how this believer conducts him/herself in their home and
this is when the stumbling block for children is mounted in my opinion.
My dear reader, if you have been around @Africanindiaspo families, have
you seen parents treating their children with the love, gentleness and kindness
(that the bible they believe teaches)? In my experience, I have not seen this;
instead I have seen parents relentlessly shaming their children and stripping
them of all dignity - even in front of people. This does not win souls, it
destroys and hardens hearts. According to the bible that I grew up being taught
to believe the family (children) is the second, most important institution for
mankind after marriage. Therefore, before @Africanindiaspos who believe in Jesus
tout their religion to their ‘lost’ Western friends, how about they take the
bible seriously and authenticate its message by actually living out what they
believe and raise children who are convinced of their fruit. How about they
teach their children the word and pray with them every day rather than leaving
that responsibility to the Sunday school teachers. I think that only after
doing that can any good news they have make sense to anyone else.
Hopefully in Part 2 of this post I will focus on the hypocrisy of the
church, which according to the bible is the 3rd most important
institution for mankind, and how the hypocrisy that exists in it contributes to
these ‘wayward’ children that many @Africanindiaspo parents are ashamed of.
Until then, let us share let us grow!
‘Children are the
mirrors of the homes, communities and societies they are nurtured or abandoned
in’ - @Africanindiaspo
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