What do you think about this?

Ok so here's how it all started. I'm browsing through some high end department store back when I was living in Texas. I'm looking through all the infinite varieties of fragrences when I hear this french voice ask me If I needed any help. It was this stunning lady about in her mid twenties. We started talking and I find out she's from Ghana, Africa...French was her first language and she begin learning English at the age of 13. Anyway, we started talking and I tell her that back at the University of Aizona I double majored in Psychology and Religious studies. She seemed very excited and she asked for my email so she could send me some research that she does. I thought, sure why not...she's probably just trying to persuade me to purchase this overpriced cologne, but it can't hurt. Keep in mind, this was in the beginning of June of 2004. Now months later, I get a few emails from her about this new religious movement that factors in political conspiracy and governmental injustice. Here is the email:


INTRODUCTION

Now is the time for spiritual, religious, and mental
liberation of African Americans, from the hegemony of
European (white) Christianity, and Arab white cultural
forms of Islam. As an African American Healer, in the
African tradition, it is my mission to reveal again to
my people their own African religious heritage, which
was given to them by God and their African Ancestors.

There is an ancestral call telling us to replace
Christianity, or Arab white Cultural Islam (instead of
African cultural Islam), in our churches, or temples,
with an African Traditional religion, (including
African cultural Islam). I have given the collective
African name, for all African traditional religions,
the name PtahRa. This article is therefore written to
assist in that process of taking back our PtahRa Gods
and Holy Temples. The most significant entity in the
Nyansa Tumi Sankofa

System (Social Galaxy Traditional System) for
individual and group Self-Definition, and power, is
Theology and Religion (Ashanti, 1996). The first laws
of human nature are: (1) Man know yourself, and (2)
physician heal yourself. It is religion that gives the
guidelines to know Yourself, to heal yourself, and for
societal power. Religion makes self-definition,
liberation, and freedom real and substantial in
people's lives.

Each race on the planet earth was created by God, and
each race expressed its view of the world, worship,
rituals, and rites in its own distinctive religion.
Religion therefore was custom tailored to empower that
race and to self-define it, and to have optimum life
(Myers, 1988) within its environment. That religion
must fit as a custom tailored suit, instead of one
that you had to be forcefully made to wear. If a group
or race of people is forced to abandon the religion of
their ancient heritage, or no longer have the
knowledge, and or, practice of their own religion,
they will become oppressed and weakened. They will be
dominated by the religions (Christianity or Arab
Islam) of those (European and Arab whites) that have
maintained their own religious traditions. The same
will be true for those (Africans) that syncretize or
inculturate the Gospel (Sarpong, 1996) for the good of
the people with the foreign religion ( Christian )
that is dominate. When these circumstances occur, then
religion becomes a psychological and spiritual
straight jacket which controls and limits them to
dependency on, and services to, those foreigners
(whites) in control of the economic and military
powers of the nation.



POWER ELEMENTS OF RELIGION

Religion is much more than spirituality; it is in a
word, POWER. A religion is always, originally,
created, organized, and practiced by a specific racial
or ethnic group for its own needs and desires. It is a
complete system of faith, and rituals of worship,
which is institutionalized within a society. It
encompasses styles of expression of sacred beliefs,
observances, and social practices found within a given
racial and cultural context. Religion therefore
determines 10 power elements, that is, the form,
content, and relationships of a people to it's :
economy, education, government, military, culture,
spirituality, art and music, architecture, funerals
and burials, and even relationships with other races
or ethnic groups. It is these substantive areas that
give a people POWER.

Spirituality, on the other hand, is one's perceived
relationship with the God of Creation, and or, any
other supernatural beings, or forces that are
expressions of the force of life and order, within the
universe. This spirituality is most often expressed,
in a formal cultural style, in established temples,
shrines, or churches of an organized religion.

Whenever races, or ethnic groups, of people are able
to impose their religions, by force or by coercion of
missionaries, on another race or ethnic group, they
become more powerful and superior, to the people they
have converted. This is because the converted people
are deceived by the spirituality of being "saved" or
"born again" by the foreign religion. They gradually
abandon their own social cultural practices and
replace them with those of the other race or ethnic
group.

Even when their social cultural practices, (i.e.,
pouring of libations) are mixed within the foreign
religion, the results are the same. They become
dependent on their foreign oppressors, by the practice
of that foreign religion, which causes the destruction
of their economy, education, form of government,
military, culture, spirituality, art and architecture,
morals, and interpersonal relationships within their
own race, or ethnic group. Their stability and unity
become easily manipulated, by the foreign or domestic
powers, to destroy each other through internal
conflict or war. This becomes a kind of religious
circumcision, which chops off their own previous
power, by being exposed the power of the oppressor.

The only beneficiaries are the outside manipulators,
and their inside brainwashed trained puppet traitors .
In the case of religion, whom are these brainwashed
trained and educated traitors ? They are none other
than the bishops, preachers, ministers, imams,
missionaries, and royal leaders. They are the ones
that recruit, teach, and lead the masses to
spirituality, while excluding their people from the
other 9 power elements of religion. They are also the
ones who receive the most benefits for their deeds.
These benefits include money, positions of authority,
and opportunities for themselves, their relatives, and
friends.

In their sermons, preaching and addresses, they are
only permitted by the controlling powers to discuss or
talk about issues of spirituality. This spirituality
only relates to issues of life after death, and the
social relationships between the members of their own
society. They stay away from the true issues of the
other 9 elements of religion, such as: economic,
political, military, and educational oppression by the
other race or ethnic controlling group. Instead, the
black preachers blame the black believers for their
lack of power and causing their own oppression because
of their sinful behavior. These issues are only dealt
with through the illusion of religious spirituality.
By this I mean, the people are told to pray and live a
moral life, and God will fight the battles for the
other 9 power elements. They and the preachers
therefore do not have to take any risks. God becomes
the risk taker instead.

It is written : "God helps those who help themselves
"; " if you take one step, God will take three for you
"; and, " never serve a foreign God and religion ".
Without personal risk there is no power to defend, or
a quality life worth living. The Creator God always
raises up prophets among your own people, who looks
like you, to lead you back to your own African
Traditional Religion and spirituality. Take back your
African Gods and Holy Temples ( Sankofa ) .

In society, those who define, and describe God and
your religion, will always have the power to define
and to control you. No races or ethnic groups with
nuclear power, weapons, and wealth in the global
world, worships or observes the religions of
outsiders, or speaks the languages of other people, as
their first tongues. Those races and ethnic groups who
are militarily weak, powerless, and economically poor,
generally worship other powerful people's religions,
and speak their languages as their official languages
( English, French, German, Portuguese ). Moreover,
they even take on their names, cultures, and rituals (
Christmas, Easter, Mass, weddings, ect. ).

The NTAM KESE ( holocaust ) of African enslavement in
the Western European world, forced African Americans
to allow a diabolically clever weaker people to
brainwash them. Chains were first placed on their
bodies for forced labor, and later the religion of
Christianity placed spiritual chains on their minds
and souls. These chains choked off their own African
Tradition Religion.

It is well documented and known that Christianity
played a dominant role in maintaining enslavement of
African Americans. Christianity taught them to be
humble, to suffer abuse by turning the other cheek,
and to serve white slave masters. The chains were
forged imperceptibly, link by link, and Africans in
America submitted to survive. The brainwashing against
African religion and cultures, re-education in white
supremacy, and later mis-education, caused them to
feel, and in many cases, become inferior to white
peoples. It also caused health problems. These chains
of physical and psychological events transformed
African peoples into " Negroes ", and now
"minorities".

Where they once recognized Mawu, or Nyame, the
Creator, and Vodu or Abosom as their religion, now
Mawu (God) is thought of as the devil and the Vodu or
Abosom religion, as African witchcraft. This is the
power of brainwashing. Even the white conservative
leader of the Christian Coalition, Pat Robinson, said
on the October 27, 1997 edition of The 700 Club, " Why
would people in America want to embrace the religion
of slavers (Muslims), and the language of the slavers
( Muhammad, 1997 ). I say the same things, because the
same Christianity that the white Rev. Pat Robinson,
the blacks Rev. T. D. Jakes, and Rev. Creflo Dollar
serves, is the same one that enslaved my ancestors. I
do not embrace the religion or the language of my
enslavers either.

The African God and Gods were destroyed in African
American's minds, and a white God named Jesus ( white
skin, blue eyes, long keen nose, and long straight
hair ), was given to save their souls in heaven. The
African temples and shrines, were destroyed and
replaced by the Christian church. No longer were
African people allowed to give themselves or their
children African spiritual names; they had to use
Christian names, i.e., John, Mary, James, Josephine,
Smith, Williams and Jones.

The brainwashing and mis-education caused white
cultures and religion to be more acceptable and
desirable to Africans in America. These Africans then
became less and less resistant to white Definitions of
themselves, and they strove to become more like
Whites. Many became alienated to their own African
heritage and began to identify with other white ethnic
groups and races. For example, there is a large social
organization of African American women who identify
with American Indians, who call themselves "squaws",
their children "papooses", and their men "Braves".
These are all American Indian terms or labels. There
are also African American fraternities and sororities
that call themselves "Black Greeks" (black white
people). Most of these people are Christians,
hardworking, good citizens, educated in white
controlled colleges, under employed or work in
positions that do not empower their people, suffer
racial discrimination, stressed out, and are
spiritually unfulfilled. They attempt to do the right
things, be humanitarians to others, and racially and
socially integrate with white society. However, there
is still little economic, psychological and spiritual
freedom among them. They are deceived and do not even
know it.

There are positive trends and signs manifesting in
African American communities, however. The
African-centered movement (Asante, 1990), the cultural
holiday of Kwanzaa and the principles of Nguzo Saba
(Karenga, 1980), are calling attention again to
African spirituality and culture. In formal social
celebrations, the West African religious Kente cloths
are proudly worn by many, and Libations are poured to
the Ancestors. In Christian churches the preachers and
choir members are beginning to wear African robes.
These factors are beginning to raise questions,
consciously and unconsciously, in the minds of African
Americans. Soon, they will discover that they have
been bringing into the Christian churches African
religious symbols and rituals without realizing it.
This is by wearing Kente clothes , African robes, and
pouring Libations.


PTAHRA TRADITIONAL AFRICAN RELIGION

PtahRa African traditional religion encompasses those
beliefs and practices originating in Africa. Some of
the sub- names for PtahRa are: Vodu, Abosom, Orisha,
Chi, Imana, and Bwami. African Cultural Islam ( i.e.,
Nation of Islam ), and Hebrew, are also traditional
African religions. African religions are not derived
from European Christian, or European white Jewish,
East Asian Indian, or "Arabic cultural Islamic"
religions. All PtahRa African religions are actually
derived from the Classical Kemetic (Egypt) Medu
Netcher ( Gods ) religion of the African pharaonic
periods. In other words, African religion is the
oldest religion on the --planet. The beliefs and
practices are the indigenous practices that have
existed, in traditional Africa, since the beginning of
it's known history.

There are many different peoples, societies, cultures
and linguistic groups in Africa; however, they all
share quite a comcommonalty within their ontological
and cosmological perspectives. This commonalty reveals
itself in two ways: first within the form of the rites
and rituals practiced, and second -- but not always--
within the content of these same rituals and rites. It
is because such commonalties can be identified, that
traditional spiritual practices of Africa are often
referred to as one African Religion.

The basic forms or structures common within the
spectrum of African religious practices are as
follows:

1.A concept of one God-Almighty, the Creator of many
names, who is male and female in one. The Creator then
produced the lesser Gods and Spirits from her/his own
essencense.

2.Propitiation and communication with lesser Spirits
and Gods.

3. Reverence for (not worship) and communication with
the Ancestors.

4. Sacred rituals and symbols for lessor Gods.

The different names for the Creator, who is considered
to be the ultimate source of all things, have marked
linguistic differences among Africa's, over 1,000
various ethnic populations. Each language ethnic group
has a name for God, group names for lessor Gods, and
the Ancestors. The names of the different Ancestors
and Gods vary according to the geogeographical,
ethnic, and linguistic areas in which they are found.
However, they all have the same common meaning and
unity.

[edit on 10/25/2004 by Simulacra]

The perspective of the African American is a reflection of the legacy of slavery, as a european white person who has never been to America or Africa, I can only express sympathy for the injustices perpertrated on your people.

Injustice however is universal, and has always been perpetuated by the strong towards the weak and the rich toward the poor, today in countries like Somalia and indeed all over Africa, black people perpetuate cycles of injustice towards one another, every bit as repugnant as that injustice that white people perpetuate towards other white people in the states of the former USSR.

My prayer is that one day, the poor and the downtrodden of all colors and creeds will understand that, racism and religion are the tools of segregation which our rich overlords use to divide and rule us with.

And that a poor man in Somalia has more in common with a poor man in Bosnia than either will ever have in common with a rich American.