Commentary: Religion, and Black American History

Religion

Mankind looks up at the stars and wonders.

How many times have you asked yourself a question you could not answer? To the thoughtful it happens frequently. As a result mankind has sought understanding through some religion, or area of study. What is often not appreciated is that these thoughts and ideas come from man, and there lies the weakness in religions.

Before I get an avalanche of e-mails let me state clearly that religion plays a very important and necessary role in civilized societies. Every person is entitled to their own beliefs. Freedom of religion is what drew many to the shores of what was to become the United States of America. But, and there seems to always be a "but", history shows us that the oppressed can become the most oppressive.

On September 11, 2001 a collection of religious zealots commandeered four commercial airlines and created such destruction that the entire world paused. Most were horrified by the death and destruction while some applauded the actions of men who will become martyrs that gave their lives for a just cause. All this foolishness in the name of God. The Midnight DJ is mystified.

Christianity; Judaism; Islamic; Hindu; Buddhism; and all other religions come from the minds of people. God, in the humble opinion of The Midnight DJ, is far beyond man’s comprehension. History reflects that there have been, and are, exceptions, but for most of us the august powers of God is far beyond us. However, there is God. Consider this poem.

Land Locked Mind

The land locked mind knows nothing of the clouds

Attaches gender to God

The land locked mind sees color of skin and nothing within

Is ignorant to the needy and worships the greedy

The land locked mind knows only spoken languages and the pen

Hears nothing of the voice within

The land locked mind hordes what should be shared

Does not care, love, or dare

The land locked mind rapes, murders, and steals

Devalues justice and denies appeals

The land locked mind is the father of hate

It can not help but to discriminate

The land locked mind is the mother of deception

Converts lie to fact through repetition

The land locked mind is lost and fails to understand

Refuses to give a helping hand

The land locked mind is the true enemy of the state

So focused on itself it can never relate

The land locked mind is sightless in a dark room with no light

Prefers to lie, beguile, and destroy over doing anything right

The land locked mind is gripped by ignorance and knows nothing of history

Lost in a forest of universal thinking where most is a mystery

The land locked mind must be released into the sea of knowledge

Showing the land locked mind the way must be your pledge

Ollie Morgan

copyrighted Ó 2000

To murder in the name of God is to bring a great discredit to our Creation. Murder is man’s way; not God’s. God has created the universe and all that lies within it. For those that doubt I ask that they only find a spot on this earth where they can see the sun, the moon, or stars. I invite the doubters to hike in any mountain in any land and then tell me there is no God. Or, just simply consider the life forms on this small spot called Earth; those roaming the land, under the waters, and floating in the skies. As a matter of fact there are even more life forms within the earth that most do not know, or appreciate. No, God is not some old man in the sky. God is not a man at all. What God is goes way beyond human flesh or understanding. The mystery of God is, for some, not at all bothersome. It is those men that claim some "greater understanding" that formulate the broad range of religions, and they can be very dangerous people; all in the name of God.

Embrace your religion. Go to your place of worship and fellowship. That is certainly your right, and, as people, we need these common spiritual grounds and the strength that comes to us from collective invocation. Where there should be greater caution are those that take the position that their religion is the only valid understanding of God, and the meanings and intentions of God. To think that one religion has the correct understanding is similar in thought in thinking that in all the vastness of the universe the only intelligence can be found on Earth. Folks, God is not wasteful. Everything on this Earth, and above and below, is in balance. There is a purpose for the ant, and that purpose is being met everyday for all of time. If it is natural then God made it, and unlike the inventions of man there are no breakdowns in the system; ever. As there is purpose for the ant there is also purpose for the volcano erupting. We, as mortals, may not understand these purposes, but we should be able to accept what is indisputable. And if this hypothesis bears merit then how could one religious sect be more blessed by God than another? The Midnight DJ suggests there is an absence of reasoning in that logic.

Spiritual we may be. There is clear evidence that electricity circulates in our bodies for as long as we are alive, and is gone when we are dead. Many argue that the electricity is our spirit, and no dispute if offered here. There is plenty of evidence over the course of time that some people are blessed with a higher consciousness than others. Why? The Midnight DJ dares not to speculate. It is certainly the subject of many debates who these people are, and are not. I find no role for me in that debate, and consider the debate a waste of breath and thought. Believe who you chose to believe as long as that belief does not bring grief to others that agree or disagree. Old adages are old adages because they are true. "Live and let live" is cool with me.

In closing The Midnight DJ has known many false messengers. Seen with my own eyes sinful priests, lying preachers, and many false prophets. The messengers are not as important as the messages. Anybody can be a messenger and they need not understand the message they bring. A back stabbing colleague brings you a message about them, and people in general. You can heed the message or ignore it; God has given you that power of selection. I suppose God made us all whole and with all we need to master the journey of life. I further suppose that God gave us the arms but no instructions as to when to embrace or strike out. That choice is ours to make. We chose to love or to hate with each step we make. When men, as the men did on September 11, 2001, do what they do far too frequently there is no absence of God. God made us whole, and we decide what row we hoe.