Christianity - A Journey from Facts to Fiction — Page 146
146 Christianity – A Journey from Facts to Fiction Christianity and Colonialism When colonial rule subjugated almost the entire continent of America and tied Africans from crown to toe in the chains of political bondage, they did not have to wait long until they were bound, hand and foot, in the chains of economic slavery as well. Imperial conquests are meaningless without an economic subjuga- tion of the people. Not far behind the political and economic lords came the Christian priests, robed in humility and self- sacrifice. Their purpose to visit Africa appeared to be diametrically opposed to that of their political and economic vanguard. They came not to enslave, so they said, but to liberate the souls of Africa. It is surprising that the Africans did not question this purportedly noble intention. Why did they not respectfully enquire of the benign philanthropic leaders of the Church, as to why should they take pity on their souls and their souls alone? Could they not see how mercilessly their bodies had been en- slaved? How wantonly had they been robbed of their political freedom? How they were bound in the chains of economic slavery? Why did they not take pity on their physical state of captivity and why were they only interested in liberating the souls of an enslaved people? The inherent contradiction is obvious, but alas it was not so obvious to those who fell prey to the Christian designs. Africa is naive indeed, and as much naive today as it was two hundred years ago. Africans still do not see the perpetration of their politi- cal and economic slavery through the invisible, remote controlled system of neo-colonialism. They still do not realize that for them