The oft-quoted Jomo Kenyatta saying goes something like, ‘When the white man came, he had the Bible. We had the land. He told us to shut our eyes and pray. When we opened them, he had the land. We had the Bible.’
While we cannot dismiss the ancient grassroots history of Christianity in Africa, the European version of the cross came before the flag, with missionaries paving the way for European settlers to permeate the continent. Initiatives like missionary education for the natives supported the colonial project and created a class of African elites to govern us after ‘flag independence’ in the mid-20th century.
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It is inaccurate to say missionaries furthered colonialism. Missionaries spread the Gospel and saved souls with their edifying and sacrificial lives. Christianity is not in control of Africa. Paganism/humanism/secular religion and its evil values (e.g. birth control) shape Africa along with musloids. In fact those are the only governments in Africa. Therefore it is truly strange to see an ever-increasing number of anti-Christian bigoted speakers – who’ve never done anything of material benefit to Africans mind you — who constantly rail against Christianity which is not only powerless but is the only hope for Africans. It is a waste of time and unproductive. The worst thing that a racially oppressed group marked for genocide can do: is turn into anti-Christian blasphemers –total enemies of God the Lord Jesus Christ.
Marcus Garvey founded the movement of Pan Afrikanism. He was a Methodist. He also many times spoke about God. Yet many anti-religion bigots who try to use the banner of Pan Afrikanism these days would logically have to condemn him even though he did more for the Pan Afrikan cause than anyone else who came after him. Gaddafi and Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and Idi Amin and a few others are the only ones who had a big influence on the movement after Garvey. But the movement died with Martin Luther King. The corpse of the movement began rotting with the assassination of Patrice Lumumba and overthrow of Idi Amin. The corpse of the movement was finally incinerated into vapor with the assassination of Gaddafi.
The Protestant propagandists are not missionaries. Protestant propagandists from Anglicanism (the UK) and Calvinism (the Dutch) are the ones who spread imperialism and who tried to use their fake versions of the bible to justify it. Later the baptists and mormons and Pentecostals etc joined them. Many Africans even fought on behalf of the imperialist oppressors (their co-religionists) against Africans who fought for freedom and sovereignty. There are also plenty of madrasas in Africa that spread Arab rule and colonialism on the continent. Africans are indoctrinated to have loyalty to foreigners instead of their fellow Africans. Instead of building the continent economically: such Africans are engaged in trade with the foreign enemy and are taught to hate those who don’t share their beliefs. Christianity has no “grassroots history”. It is not a people movement. In the first century AD St. Phillip is the one who converted the Ethiopian eunuch to Christianity. He was the first convert to Christianity outside of Judean ethnicity. The Apostles then spread Christianity in Egypt and North Africa. Bishops and Priests were consecrated and ordained and so perpetuated the hierarchy established by Lord Jesus Christ. There is no such thing as “a European version” of Christianity. There is only Christianity. It teaches that all races are equal.