Why Islam is my choice — Page 109
109 R: No. This came from the white community of the time. That’s how they justified the treatment of African Americans in the United States. W: Coming back to the question, though, what has changed during Christianity to enable it to now offer a different society structure, in which the Blacks need not be treated as God had meant them to be treated, according to the previous beliefs? R: You can not look to the Church. You have to look at the political system. If you’ll notice, the rights of African Americans in the US came through the political system, it did not come through the Church. This is a very fair commentary on the Church, because when the slaves were emancipated, it came through the political system. It came through Abraham Lincoln. This was the first Republican party. And those people who supported that—the freedom of the slaves—though we know it came from God—these people were just instruments. But the Church was not the instrument, because the pope gave his approval of slavery in the 15th century. Pope Nicholas V, he was presiding over at the time, said, “You can have their bodies if you save their souls. ” This is why it is related that throughout the history of slavery that they said that only good people could read the Bible. Only one or two people were taught to read the Bible, and they read the Bible to the other slaves. W: It really served no part in permitting the Afro- Americans to have all their rights. It was more of the political process. R: It was a political thing and there were some people who saw slavery as wrong and they supported the abolitionists. . . W: … Many of us who did not experience these things first hand and have never done so, have a difficult time understanding the basis for those societies who operate on structures of that type. Is it possible, do you think, that a