Holy Wounds: Exposing America’s Christian Failures

You may or may not have heard the argument that some have had about Christianity being a “White Man’s Religion”. Some may dismiss this argument completely. However, this statement is rooted in the history of what has happened in this country and throughout the colonialized world.

In a previous post, I wrote about the Luke 4 passage that Jesus read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Read it one more time before reading the passage below from the “Jamestown Laws of Slavery”. The following can be found here: http://www.virtualjamestown.org/laws1.html.

“September 1667-ACT III. An act declaring that baptisme of slaves doth not exempt them from bondage.

[The passage of this statute indicates that Christianity was important to the concept of English identity. Legislators decided that slaves born in Virginia could not become free if they were baptized, but masters were encouraged to Christianize their enslaved laborers.]

WHEREAS some doubts have risen whether children that are slaves by birth, and by the charity and piety of their owners made pertakers of the blessed sacrament of baptisme, should by vertue of their baptisme be made ffree; It is enacted and declared by this grand assembly, and the authority thereof, that the conferring of baptisme doth not alter the condition of the person as to his bondage or ffreedome; that diverse masters, ffreed from this doubt, may more carefully endeavour the propagation of christianity by permitting children, though slaves, or those of greater growth if capable to be admitted to that sacrament.

Source: Hening, ed., The Statutes at Large, vol. 2, p. 260.”

“The Maryland General Assembly passed a law in 1671 that stated, in part, that any enslaved persons who were or would be baptized as Christian before or after their importation into the province would not be granted manumission. Essentially, slavery was presumed to be a natural state for Africans.”

Source: https://earlywashingtondc.org/

So, being baptized or “becoming a Christian” could save the soul in a future state but not the body in the current state. Could this be why American History and American Christianity do not freely tell the stories of Nat Turner and Denmark Vesey? Maybe their form of Christianity (that grew out of oppression) would be considered to be WOKE Christianity in our current society?

History tells us that in the 1820s, Denmark Vesey (co-founder of Mother Emanuel AME Church) was gathering enslaved people for an uprising. The history of this event has been debated as to whether or not this was a gathering of just venting concerns or a real revolt. Nevertheless, he was convicted and sentenced to death. It is interesting that enslavers had an issue with a plot that may have killed them but those same people executed the ones who were allegedly plotting against them.

Dr. Lacy K. Ford says, “In August 1822 Charleston’s mayor, James Hamilton, a hero in the minds of the city’s white population because of his success in quashing the revolt before it began, blamed the supposed plot on lenient treatment of slaves by indulgent masters. Hamilton traced the leniency to paternalistic attitudes among Christian masters. Even more pointedly, Hamilton blamed evangelical interest in teaching slaves to read and write for heightened unrest among Low Country slaves.”

Source: https://archive.oah.org/special-issues/teaching/2008_06/ex5.html

Before finishing my thoughts on Ford’s commentary, read the following excerpt:

“White enslavers feared that religion, which was often used to quell slave resistance, could incite the exact opposite if practiced without observance. They wrote laws that restricted worship and large gatherings, such as that in the 1848 Georgia Slave Code:

No person of color . . . shall be allowed to preach, to exhort, or join in any religious exercise with any persons of color, either free or slave, there being more than seven persons of color present.”

Source: https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-watch-night

Now, look at what Ford suggested in his previous passage. Hamilton was a savior because he “protected” his sympathizers. He spun the alleged plot to be the result of “Christian” enslavers being too nice. He also had an issue with “Christians” teaching enslaved people to read and write. Does this not sound familiar in 2024 with some of the rhetoric of Project 2025? The first paragraph on page 286 of the “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise” says something that is concerning. 

Source: https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf

With what history shows us, some parents and “American ideals” are not necessarily the best sources of authority in education. History teaches us that during Jim Crow, some parents and American ideals were not good sources of authority in education. While I do believe that certain subjects should stay age appropriate, I have some concerns about other things written in this paragraph. In this “Mandate for Leadership” document, the writers of this section suggest that America ideals are not systemically racist. Even if one believes that it is not, we have to be honest that the approved American way of doing things is not very diverse culturally or economically. Being that I grew up in the South, I know the Conservative way of doing things does not leave a lot of leeway to anything that does not follow the rules and the agreed upon textbook definition. The last thing I will touch on is the bastardization of the teachings of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This Project 2025 document suggests that Dr. King had a “colorblind” perspective of American Society. I hate the dishonesty of how White Evangelical Christianity has co-opted his struggles as a young Black Intellectual in this country. The system that now claims to love him is the same system that preached sermons about him and tried to convince their followers that he was a criminal because of his civil disobedience. This is the same system that told people that he was a Communist. This is the same system that said that did not want him to speak of the evils of this country. This is the same system that ignored his call for the White Moderate to care about justice as much as they did order. This is the same system where the White Moderate told him that equal rights would come to Black Americans eventually instead of at that moment.  This is the same system did not want him to be recognized as a part of American History. With MLK Day. This is the same system that was so segregated that he had to make the comment that one day America would be more focused on the content of a person’s heart instead of the color of their skin. It is a Kingdom minded principle. But American ideals have warped those principles and put race, gender, and class at the forefront of many of its battles. While Dr. Kings legacy comes with some complexity, I will not sit idly by and allow someone to distort his teachings to try to teach me to be a subservient follower instead of a prophetic leader.

While groups who do not fully understand the history of Christianity may think it is a Eurocentric concoction, there are those of us who know that it was a movement that started on the banks of Ancient North East Africa (before it was known as the Middle East) and then made its way to Europe. Unfortunately, it has been used for centuries as a weapon that has benefited Eurocentric minded groups to oppress. terrorize, and financially exploit any individual or group who does not adhere to its thought process.

In the case of Denmark Vesey, Nat Turner and many others, American Ideals/Christian Values killed them in the name of Jesus. American Ideals/Christian Values believed that owning other humans like livestock was ordained by the Creator of the Universe. American Ideals/Christian Values believed that it was Kingdom work to remove people from their native ancestral land to ethically cleanse the land that it wanted. American Ideals/Christian Values believed (and still does) that men have complete control over women’s rights. American Ideals/Christian Values believed that it was okay to mistreat its own citizens and put them in internment camps because of the actions of another country. American Ideals/Christian Values believed that Jim Crow was protected by the Angels of Heaven instead of the Demons of Hell. American Ideals/Christian Values believe that it is okay to attempt to coerce everyone to agree with it and expect what a few deem to be the norm as if the Creator of the Universe has relinquished all authority unto them. American Ideals/Christian Values believes that it has a monopoly on understanding dictating the complexity and vastness of the Creator of the Universe. American Ideals/Christian Values teach individualism, self indulgence, and self righteousness.

Don’t fall for a gospel that seeks to convince you that God is pleased with you not being concerned about “the least of these.” What good is that gospel if it does not seek to fulfill the words of Jesus in Luke 4?