In search of faith that is superior to religion

my immigrant parents especially my father An ardent Christian, as a result, my childhood looked very different from the American life I had seen at school or on television. My parents often talked about our military upbringing in Nigeria. and their belief that Americans are too lax. They come up with different plans. There’s a lot to keep us on the straight and narrow: At home, we listen to a steady stream of gospel music and watch Christian programming on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. However, the heart of the strategy is visiting small Nigerian churches. Our North Texas daily

I quickly saw a gap between the fist-pumping, patriotic Christianity I saw on TV and the earnest, passionate faith I received in church. On TV, it seemed that Christianity was not only a way to Only spiritual salvation is attained. But it was also instrumental in influencing the world of American exceptionalism. Africa is mentioned frequently on TBN, but is almost exclusively a destination for white American missionaries. On screen, they appear drenched and sweating as they distribute food, clothing, and Bibles to groups of apparently black people. You will be bewildered but grateful. Ministers spoke of how God’s love—and, of course, the support of the audience—made such donations possible. But the subtext is much louder: God has blessed America. And now America is blessing others.

In church, however, I encountered a completely different type of Christianity. Biblical characters are the same. But they were awakened for different purposes. God is on our side because of us as immigrants and children. Theirs is the underprivileged. Our ancestors suffered many losses at the hands of Americans and Europeans. Just as the Israelites in the Bible suffered in their own time. and the same is true of those chosen. We will be victorious.

by Scholastic Mukasonga

As time passes I have learned that Christianity is a malleable faith. Both the powerful and the powerless can use it to justify their beliefs and actions. This is, in part, Scholastique Mukasonga’s message. Sister DeborahPublished in France in 2022 and recently released in the United States, translated by Mark Polizzotti, the novel is set in 1930s Rwanda and focuses on a group of newly arrived African American missionaries. It preaches the traditional Christian message about the impending end of the world. But there is a twist. They prophesied that “When everything is beautiful and dry again Jesus will appear on clouds in the sky, and everyone will find Jesus black.” These missionaries were another form of destabilizing influence in a land dominated by Christianity. It was founded and published by the Belgian colonists. This emphasizes the supremacy of white Jesus.

Read: Family stories about colonialism and its aftermath.

The most important force in the novel is Sister Deborah herself. She was the unbridled prophetic light of the African American forces. and has the power to heal throughout her stay in Rwanda She developed a black woman-centered theology, and as a result, she was eventually reprimanded by her former mentor. Reverend Marcus A gifted itinerant preacher who serves as a missionary leader. Sister Deborah It is a novel about the breadth of Christianity. But it also includes the limitations of inclusiveness. Especially for women of the same level.

Those limits are evident throughout the book. The first part is narrated by a woman named Ikirezi who recalls her childhood in Rwanda, a “sick young girl” who needed constant care. But her mother avoids the local clinic: She is “not confident in the medicines that the authorities prescribe. It seemed unintentional.” Iguiresi’s mother eventually determined that her child’s chronic illness was caused by “Coming from a person or spirit” in desperation So she decided to take her to Sister Deborah. She didn’t know much about this American missionary. Except that she is “Prophet Woman” who has the gift of “Healed by the Laying on of Hands” Upon learning of his wife’s plans, Ikirezi’s father exploded:

with the emotional outburst of Ikiresi’s father Mukasonga deftly paints the two opposing Christian camps in the novel. One camp relies on the Bible to defend its status. and another camp used the Bible to gain status. White padri (priests) attempted to maintain spiritual control of the local population by calling African American missionaries evil invaders. Evangelicals, for their part, positioned themselves as an alternative religious entity. And they began to attract many followers. especially women who were drawn to Sister Deborah’s zealous service and supernatural abilities.

Iquiresi’s mother defied her husband and took Iquiresi to see Sister Deborah. They arrived in American pharmacies. where Sister Deborah oversees the court “Under the big tree with the dazzling red flowers Sitting atop a tall termite mound with a carpet of red stars and stripes,” she asked the children. that gathered in front of her with Ikiresi among them. “Touch her staff while she placed her hands on their heads,” Iquiresi recalled. “A feeling of comfort and well-being spread throughout me under the palm of her hand.” Iguiresi’s depiction of Sister Deborah continues in the rest of this section. More or less: respectful and mysterious, educated, but also quite aloof. As time passes Ikirezi’s respect for Sister Deborah grew. It caused a screeching sound that blinded the healer with a blur of light.

The novel focuses on Sister Deborah’s perspective. She expanded and edited Ikirezi’s portrait of her life as a child in Mississippi. Sister Deborah discovers that she has healing powers. Her mother pulled her out of school, fearing “the vindictiveness of the people as well as her own.” with gratitude” for the gift from his daughter Not long after that Sister Deborah is raped by a truck driver. This made a huge change in her lifestyle. She had a profound religious experience when she visited a local church. And soon after fell in love with Father Marcus.

Reverend Marcus initially sees Sister Deborah as a vehicle for furthering his own ambitions. He was concerned about the suffering of black people around the world: “The insults, the insults and the lynchings they faced in America, the slavery, the massacres. and the colonial tyranny that was imposed on them in Africa.” His theology was not only focused on their salvation. But it also focuses on their ascension.

Sister Deborah began healing during Father Marcus’s revival services, and eventually he took her on a missionary trip to Rwanda. There, the Reverend and Sister Deborah began working together to attract more people. Convert new faces But their relationship began to crumble when the Holy Spirit informed Sister Deborah that the black woman Not a black Jesus will help them Pastor Marcus’ answer is both a warning and a prophecy: “If we follow you in your visions and dreams, We will step away from Christianity and venture into the unknown.”

Although the priest initially accepted Sister Deborah’s “vision” of women’s power, But he eventually uses it to undermine her. and denounced her as a witch Even in progressive and radical theology. Reverend Marcus believes that women must serve men. In the words of Mukasonka He is a man whose nearsightedness and thirst for power eventually overwhelm his generally good intentions. His behavior reflects a reality that many Christian women have experienced. Especially black women– In Rwanda, Sister Deborah is fighting against the caste system that places white men at the top. And put black women at the bottom. Sister Deborah’s claim that the Savior is a black woman undermines the status quo. And the reverend’s answer reveals a paradox that many black Christian women face: They are encouraged to seek spiritual freedom. But they are still expected to remain submissive.

Read: Why did this progressive evangelical church collapse?

However, what Pastor Marcus didn’t realize was that His warning about “Adventuring into the unknown” also set Sister Deborah on a path for her own liberation. The same is true of the women in Mukasonga’s previous work, which is a successful collection of memoirs, novels and short fiction. Sister Deborah explores and then occupies an unfamiliar, unfamiliar realm, that is, for men who have created a hierarchy in which they can flourish. and mark any territory That is beyond their reach is that bad. Sister Deborah believes black women can thrive in those dark spaces. A group of women began following her. And she changed her name to Mama Nga. A little girl collects “healing plants” for her, which she treats with local sex workers. and invited a homeless woman to come stay with her She created an ecosystem of care and protection for women. and proudly claims that Iquiresi’s father pinned it on her at the beginning of the novel: “I am what they call a shaman, a healer, although some might say a witch,” she declares. “I treat women and Children” for Sister Deborah Bishop Marcus’s Christianity was inadequate because it prioritized domination over service. She abandoned that path to pursue the true mission of Jesus. That is, uplifting and caring for the most vulnerable.

Mukasonga’s sleek novel is full of ideas. But perhaps most powerful and urgent is her assertion that black women sometimes fail to achieve true freedom within the confines of Christianity. By revealing how progressive interpretations of faith can uphold patriarchal norms. Mukasonga invites her readers to question the limits placed on marginalized believers in Sister DeborahTrue liberation lies in abandoning any belief. Even the Bible But the novel is more than a critique of religious institutions: it is a call to redefine faith. And it might even get violent. On your own terms