Interesting piece. it is unfortunate, though, that the high-tech powered media of America and Europe never have interest in this kind of history...the game of the day is to help set-up moslems and blame them for everything th ... read full comment
Interesting piece. it is unfortunate, though, that the high-tech powered media of America and Europe never have interest in this kind of history...the game of the day is to help set-up moslems and blame them for everything there after. Just to add up. Prof. Dr. Frances kan of religion and the changing world wrote "As a God loving christian who must always say the truth, i stand to say that more innocent souls were humiliated and murdered by people of the christian faith (Christians) than any person or group of person of any religious denomination,....even in the 21st century"
C.Y. ANDY-K 10 years ago
My brother Francis,
I am quite sure many people will fail to understand the trajectory of your post. Haven't seen Part 1, btw.
As my 2-part series a while ago seek to portray, it is direct rebuttal to many of the claims ... read full comment
My brother Francis,
I am quite sure many people will fail to understand the trajectory of your post. Haven't seen Part 1, btw.
As my 2-part series a while ago seek to portray, it is direct rebuttal to many of the claims made about how benign the intrusion of Arabs and Islam into Africa was. Of course, I have also provided the literature that refutes those claims. I am sure your subsequent series will provide that those of Molefi Asante and others who are disagree with those claims and back my side of the story.
As I wrote, some earlier Africans Americans both into the myth of the "goodness" of Islam in Africa. But we must re-examine the data and ask some hard questions? To whose benefit?
I shall return to comment on specific aspects of the article. Meanwhile, I am just wondering where Akadu and his/her insulting brigade are this time around? They are so swallow and hollow, bereft of any knowledge beyond their specific degrees they only have trivia and insults to contribute to learned and serious posts.
Andy-K
francis kwarteng 10 years ago
Dear Andy,
Please forgive me. I chose to spend a lot of resources on Chriatianity and its role in the enslavement of Africans because you did a good job on the Arab Traans-Saharan Slave Trade and, therefore, I decided to c ... read full comment
Dear Andy,
Please forgive me. I chose to spend a lot of resources on Chriatianity and its role in the enslavement of Africans because you did a good job on the Arab Traans-Saharan Slave Trade and, therefore, I decided to consider Christian Trans-Atlantantic Slave Trade.
Let's see waht we come up with in the subsequent installments.
Anyway, Prof. Salahuddin's disingenous. This was why I didn't want to interpret his kind of reasoning for readers.
We shall explore his faulty reasoning in more appreciable detail from other angles.
Thank you.
C.Y. ANDY-K 10 years ago
Hi Francis,
I wrote my short rejoinder in a hurry, hence many typos which one must decipher to understand what I wrote! Phew!
Couldn't find the post again later when I was less busy, only to re-appear today.
Now, in ... read full comment
Hi Francis,
I wrote my short rejoinder in a hurry, hence many typos which one must decipher to understand what I wrote! Phew!
Couldn't find the post again later when I was less busy, only to re-appear today.
Now, interestingly, you raised the issue of armaments in the Arab world. Of course, arms are what are used for perpetrating violence and must therefore be part of the debate. I commented on that in my original piece of 1995 but deleted that portion in the recent series. Here's what I wrote about the arms supplies to the Arab world from the Western World, etc., and it is applicable today as 1995, whether Akadu likes it or not!
"Mandela and his arms trade must be exposed in order to stop more massacres in Africa with "cheap" S.Africa arms. What goes round, comes round. Even selling to Saudi Arabia is bad. They simply re-ship it into Africa to cause more mayhem. And note, Loay, this is my first mention of Saudi Arabia."
Hmm! You can notice that my first salvo was directed at Mandela of all people, for supplying arms to the Hutu regime that orchestrated the Rwandan genocide of April 1994. The "enemy" within Africa must also be dealt with!
We must not lose focus who the real enemy is though. I recollect an incidence when we radical African-Caribbeans were organising and participating in the marches against the intended attack on Iraq by the Western powers. There was this Sudanese from Darfur who was happy that Iraq was about to be attacked cos he claimed Saddam Hussein supplied arms to the repressive Sudanese regime. He would rather prefer to march in support of the attack. No amount of argument would persuade him that his position was ideologically flawed. It soon turned into who suffered most from enslavement b/n the guy and one Caribbean academic/intellectual/activist. I think that debate must be decisively concluded.
Let's see what you have up your sleeves.
Andy-K
WILLIAM 10 years ago
If the pastors fail to educate you can and you are doing it. Congrats Francis. Authentic Traditional Religion,Authentic Islam and Authentic Christianity, Authentic Budhism, are part of colors of the rainbow proving harmonious ... read full comment
If the pastors fail to educate you can and you are doing it. Congrats Francis. Authentic Traditional Religion,Authentic Islam and Authentic Christianity, Authentic Budhism, are part of colors of the rainbow proving harmonious beauty. But you must first discover it. Too many fake teachers of late!!
Baba 10 years ago
It bleeds my heart when I see people who appear to be scholarly talk about islam as if it is an arab religion. There is no religion on the face of the earth except Islam that can claim that its early adherents thought of othe ... read full comment
It bleeds my heart when I see people who appear to be scholarly talk about islam as if it is an arab religion. There is no religion on the face of the earth except Islam that can claim that its early adherents thought of other races joining them. Every little Muslim knows the name "BILAL" as the name of the caller to prayer at the time of Prophet Muhammad. He was an Ethopian slave who was bought and freed by the first Caliph of Islam (Abu Bakr) when he saw him being maltreated. The Prophet Muhammed is reported to have "Obey the leader even if he is an Ethopian slave". This was to tell the Arabs that leaderhip is not only for them and that it can be for the blacks too. As for racism, the Quran declares in Surah 49:13 "Humans are created into nations and tribes only to know one another. The best in thesight of Allah are those who are concious of HIM", not black not whites but the CONCIOUS ONES.
As for Judaism, they say it themselves, you can only be jew by birth. That is why they don't proselytize. For christianity Jesus himself was a Jew and said "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Isreal"Mathew 15:24,Mathew 10:5-6. Jesus is reported to have likened a Cannanite to a dog[Mathew 15:26](Which i don't believe he would do such a thing as a mighty messenger of god).
Osos 10 years ago
I perfectly share your thaughts. Many people do not understand Islam and they are not even ready to explore the religion. From a Christian background, i have thoroughly researched religion to the level that i now know the tru ... read full comment
I perfectly share your thaughts. Many people do not understand Islam and they are not even ready to explore the religion. From a Christian background, i have thoroughly researched religion to the level that i now know the true religion that was last revealed by God which for me is Islam. But i respect other religion as they are all revealed religions except that it has been adulterated by human cultures with time.Christian may go to heaven if he worship his creator in truth and obey the commandments of GOD. We should respect one another and their faith for mutual co-existence.Lets not judge so that we be judged.
MUHAMMAD-KAAMIL. 10 years ago
BOMBS AND GUNS WAS INVENTED BY THE TERRORIST IMPERIALISTS.Arabs are tribes not a skin color,there are Arabs who are darker than so-called blacks,these article is more than garbage is based on philosophical rhetoric.in every ... read full comment
BOMBS AND GUNS WAS INVENTED BY THE TERRORIST IMPERIALISTS.Arabs are tribes not a skin color,there are Arabs who are darker than so-called blacks,these article is more than garbage is based on philosophical rhetoric.in every society we have criminals wicked evildoers no doubt.the articles should be on facts and clear evidence like IMF terrorist WORLD BANK terrorists,we need bombs and guns free world so that we can leave in peace.entertainment industry is menace to society etc.because we good Muslims don't no the word terrorism.what we knew in Islaam is the word KHAWAARIJ the dogs of HELL-FIRE,as prophet Muhammad Narrated peace be upon him and his family and those who follow them in righteousness.not he said and she said sentiments.
GHANABA 10 years ago
BABA,PLEASE TRY AND FIND A JOB IN ANY OF THESE MUSLIM COUNTRIES AND SEE HOW YOU WILL BE TREATED AS A MUSLIM FROM GHANA. UNTIL YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED NAKED AND BLATANT RACISM FROM THESE MUSLIMS YOU WILL CONTINUE DEFENDING ISLAM.
BABA,PLEASE TRY AND FIND A JOB IN ANY OF THESE MUSLIM COUNTRIES AND SEE HOW YOU WILL BE TREATED AS A MUSLIM FROM GHANA. UNTIL YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED NAKED AND BLATANT RACISM FROM THESE MUSLIMS YOU WILL CONTINUE DEFENDING ISLAM.
THE KORAN ASKS MUSLIMS TO BE KIND AND ACCEPTING OF JEWS AND CHRISTIANS. NOT TO THOSE WHO PRACTISED TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS LIKE AFRICANS. AFRICANS WERE CONSIDERED AS KAFFIRS.
ARABS STILL DO NOT CONSIDER BLACK AFRICANS AS HUM ... read full comment
THE KORAN ASKS MUSLIMS TO BE KIND AND ACCEPTING OF JEWS AND CHRISTIANS. NOT TO THOSE WHO PRACTISED TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS LIKE AFRICANS. AFRICANS WERE CONSIDERED AS KAFFIRS.
ARABS STILL DO NOT CONSIDER BLACK AFRICANS AS HUMANS. JUST TALK TO ANY AFRICANS WHO HAS LIVED IN THE MIDDLE EAST. IT IS IN THE DNA OF ARABS TO SEE BLACKS AS SUB-HUMAN.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO LIVE IN AMERICA ND EUROPE TODAY, YOU DONT KNOW RACISM UNTIL YOU HAVE LIVED AMONG ARABS AS A BLACK PERSON.
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GIDEON 10 years ago
The fact of the matter is that every christian who participated in the enslavement process was a bad christian. Therefore as christians we dissociate ourselves from their actions. But can muslims do the same? considering the ... read full comment
The fact of the matter is that every christian who participated in the enslavement process was a bad christian. Therefore as christians we dissociate ourselves from their actions. But can muslims do the same? considering the fact that their prophet mohammad islamatised slavery, and not only that, he, in fact permitted the raping of slaves by their masters(you can check this out for yourself in the quran and the hadiths). He himself took and raped several slaves as documented in the islamic sources. Therefore the muslims historians you quoted in your article are not being honest, otherwise, they would have condemed their prophet first, before condeming christian missionaries whose actions are not supported by the christian scriptures.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago
Those interested in this controversy can see Tony Martin’s “The Jewish Onslaught: Despatches from the Wellesley Battlefront.” You can also see “the Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews,” Vols. l &ll” and ... read full comment
Those interested in this controversy can see Tony Martin’s “The Jewish Onslaught: Despatches from the Wellesley Battlefront.” You can also see “the Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews,” Vols. l &ll” and “Jews Selling Blacks.”
You should also see Lenni Brenner’s (Brenner is a White American Jewish academic whose articles on this controversy appeared in “The Amsterdam News”; he tells you about the Jewish role in slavery). These books have useful historical information to help you appreciate the nature of the controversy!
Most of the scholars Prof. Salahuddin quoted from were/are neither Muslims nor Christians: Molefi Kete Asante, Walter Rodney, JA Rogers, WEB Du Bois, Ivan Van Sertima, John Jackson (atheist), Cheikh Anta Diop (came from a strong Muslim family; he never explicitly said what his religion was. I have read all his books to know this; Diop is the most influential African scholar to date!).
And they are renowned (international) scholars. Some, like Ivan Van Sertima, advised the Nobel Committee on subjects related to literature; his scholarship changed pre-Columbian historiography and how the West viewed ancient Africa). Asante created the first doctoral program in African/African American Studies in the world; Asante, like Diop, is one of the most influential scholars in the world today. He has written 74 books on Africa and I have read most of them; Diop is the reason human civilization’s attributed to ancient Africa (ancient Black Egypt), not to Greece or Mesopotamia (See “The Peopling of Ancient Egypt & the Deciphering of the Meroitic Scrip,” which covers a 1974 UNESCO-organized international symposium where he single-handedly (with the world-renowned Central African Egyptologist Theophile Obenga) defeated the rest of the world; Du Bois was America’s first Urban Sociologist (and we can’t even begin to address the global impact of his scholarship). There are additional sources I excluded for the sake of analytic brevity.
The doctoral dissertation “The Ebb and Flow of Conflict: A History of Black-Jewish Relations Through 1900,” cited by the Moslem writer Demetric Muhammad, was written by a White American Jew, Dr. Harold Blackman.
Finally, we don’t have to blame Prof. Salahuddin (though I don’t necessarily agree with his analysis outside the scholars whose work he quoted from) because the quotes he attributed to Cheikh Anta Diop, Edward Wilmot Blyden, WEB Bu Bois, Ivan Van Sertima, and JA Rogers are all correct. I had read these scholars years ago before encountering Prof. Salahuddin’s provocative essay, which I did recently.
Dr. Degruy-Leary, Rev. Dr. William Jones, the Catholic Church, the 18th century Ghanaian Jacobus Capitein, and Frederick Douglas are Christians! Please let’s learn to put aside our religious sentiments and deal with the facts (which maybe discomforting given one’s religious affinity).
Please don’t rely on Prof.
Salahuddin’s bibliography. Get the bibliographies and look at the evidence he cites yourselves.
Who knows whether I am a Christian or Moslem!
I look at the bare facts. Understand that I never attempted to interpret them. I gave them to you as I saw them.
KB 10 years ago
Where in the bible does the christian god forbid slavery? You'd think Jesus, knowing fully well that his followers would be turn out to be murderous slave-owners, would have warned them about it.
Where in the bible does the christian god forbid slavery? You'd think Jesus, knowing fully well that his followers would be turn out to be murderous slave-owners, would have warned them about it.
RASH 10 years ago
HI GIDEON , MAY THE PEACE PROTECTIONS AND GUIDANCE OF ALLAH BE ON YOU . IF YOU QUOTING FROM THE QURAN OR THE HADITHS, YOU MUST BE SPECIFIC AND ACCEPT THE FACTS AS THERE ARE , DON'T GO ABOUT MISLEADING THE PUBLIC OF WHAT YOU D ... read full comment
HI GIDEON , MAY THE PEACE PROTECTIONS AND GUIDANCE OF ALLAH BE ON YOU . IF YOU QUOTING FROM THE QURAN OR THE HADITHS, YOU MUST BE SPECIFIC AND ACCEPT THE FACTS AS THERE ARE , DON'T GO ABOUT MISLEADING THE PUBLIC OF WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW OF
Oyibaba 10 years ago
I beg to differ with the author's position in this controversial topic.
It is a moot point to consider someone who lives in the west, or considers himself a Christian, as a Christian when he is not living the life of a Chr ... read full comment
I beg to differ with the author's position in this controversial topic.
It is a moot point to consider someone who lives in the west, or considers himself a Christian, as a Christian when he is not living the life of a Christian. In the same vein, a person cannot necessary be a Muslim by choosing to live among Muslims and label himself a Muslim.
"A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit" (Matthew 7:18).
"Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:20).
Christlikeness is the character of choice for the Christian. In thought, word, or deed he emulates Christ. As a servant or slave (doulos-Gk)of Christ,
his will belongs to him, and he lives to please his Lord.
A true Christian will not treat another person inhumanely. His treatment of a neighbor is governed by God's Law.
It is the total disregard of God's law that cupidity has became a default in a world which knows no God. Satan still uses pawns from every nation, race, tribe and religion.
Christlikeness is God's solution for for our world.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved"
(John 3:16-17).
MMMM 10 years ago
You seemed to analys Chritianity and Islam and out of your own justice found them guilty, but you did not analyse the racist aspect of African traditional religion too where certain practices encourages slavery and discrimina ... read full comment
You seemed to analys Chritianity and Islam and out of your own justice found them guilty, but you did not analyse the racist aspect of African traditional religion too where certain practices encourages slavery and discriminates even to the extent of killing innocent slaves to accompany dead chiefs or Kiling albinos, tribal wars (between) Africans themselves, looking down on certain tribes and Countries. Eg Ayigbe fuo nyebro, asante apes, ntafuo, frafra fuo gyimifuo, kwahufuo pepefuo etc
Nana Bawuah 10 years ago
The Supreme Being of the Akan people appears in the triad of Nyame-Nyankopon-Odumankoma. Nyame is the female aspect of the Supreme Being or Creator, symbolized by the Ohemaa of the state. Nana Asaase Yaa is the mother of the ... read full comment
The Supreme Being of the Akan people appears in the triad of Nyame-Nyankopon-Odumankoma. Nyame is the female aspect of the Supreme Being or Creator, symbolized by the Ohemaa of the state. Nana Asaase Yaa is the mother of the earth. The Abosom were created by the supreme being and work for him. We Akans believe the God Almighty the supreme being is too unique to be worshipped directly, therefore we worship him through Abosom and the spirits of our ancestors, who are closer to both the spiritual and material world. Just like you cannot talk to a Akan King directly, but through his linguist, the same way we do not talk directly to God. If someone pours libation without mentioning the Supreme being and Nana Asaase Yaa, then he is not a proper traditional priest.Abosom reside among other places in rivers, forests, stones etc, unless you think those places are not the creation of God.
We do not worship the Christian God. We worship the same God (Nyame) the Jews call "Jahwe". Jew is just a name of religion, we are Hebrew-Aramaic folk of Jewish religion and culture.The first Akan was the son of Ezer, the son of Seir the Horite, the first foriegn conqueror of Egypt. The second Akan was a descendant of Juda and the third, a descendant of Gad, all belonged to the twelve tribes of Israel. Akan folk in this sense, are made up of Isreal-Edomites, Twi (Tawi/Egyptians) and Babylonians.
Akan figures like ABA-DUA-BA or the symbol of BAAL and the ANKH (NKWA) symbol of our ancient EGypt is seen in the open place where the Roman Catholic Popes often meet their international Catholic audience, as well as the whole United Nations Confeerence Hall. The AKU_ABA symbol can also be seen as the architectural design at the entrances of many church houses. Those foreign cultures have still gone so far by selecting and using some of our Adinkra and many other symbols for their own purpuse. Either the Akan symbol of WUDJA/WUDGYA (the eye of Hrrus), or the DWENNIMMEN (Ram`s horns), any of these symbols can be found in many forms ain many art works of the foreign Christian nations or in their churches. The worse of all, our Adinkra symbol named NKOTIMSEFUOPUA (the hair style of certain attendants n the Queen-mothers court) really it is a variation of Swatisca, the symbol adopted by the German National Socialist, better known as Nazi. Still until today, our MMUSUYIDEE symbol is seen as the main symbol of the whole german military force. Also the Akan symbol of KARAFOKOMA one of our impotant royal insignia is seen in a big shape on the ground in Pentagon with the inscription (intelligence Agency of the United states of America). How come our ancient spiritual symbol becomes a property of the United States? Most people you call "holy in your bible" starting from "Ham" (Abraham) are of Akan origin.
Looking like we dont exist no more, they`ve divided our legacy like pieces of pie among themselves, even though we are not a vanished race.
How dare you to describe any other religion than Christianity as demonic? Is Buddhism demonic? Is Daoism demonic? Is Hindusim demonic? Is Judaism demonic? If not, why are you considering African religions or ancient indigenous beliefs in general as demonic? I wonder when Christians will stop claiming hegemony over all other religions.
Christians do make sacrifices, during any holy communion they are drinking the blood of Jesus Christ.The Latin word sacrificium, ‘sacrifice’, is derived from sacrum facere, "to make holy". In Catholic liturgy, to make something holy is to set it apart by "consecration". The Christians use this word for the central moment of the Mass when the priest says the words of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper over the bread and wine in front of an altar. There do exist various occult symbols and items, on top of it the legend of the holy grail. Christianity its by his history one of the cruelest religions.How many people have died in the name of Christ, Christianity and Catholicism? Thousands and millions were killed, who refused to accept Christianity and their holy places being destroyed.Entire cities had been wiped out in the name of Christianity. Not to mention the numerous religious wars i.e. Catholic extermination camps,Catholic terror in Vietnam,Rwanda Massacres (where the catholic church had been actively involved) of course it does not end there, it goes on with the killings of Indians in South America etc. I have not even mentioned the christian crusades etc.
Degenerating African religions saying its backward and babaric is far from the truth. Its very sophisticated, if you take the time to analyze it.Trying to push away African spirituality without making an effort to understand it, will surely lead you astray.There are different religons in the world with different ways how to get close to God and our creator force. One cannot say one faith system is better or even superior to another.We all have a right to practise and follow what we believe in and what appeals to us. The Akans came to the present day area of Ghana, because they refused to accept Islam and did not want to engage in constant warefare with those who were trying to impose it upon them. They didnt come to Ghana to be forced into Christianity. If one wants to follow a foreign religion, let him/her do so. But they should not condem indigenous religious beliefs out of ignorance.
If one really has a problem with his/her own culture, then he must stop practising it! That person must stop in performing Akan naming ceremonies, stop conducting funerals in the Akan fashion, stop pouring libation, stop engaging in Akan festivals such as Akwasidae, stop the practise of customary marriages, even stop bearing an Akan soul/day names, since they have a spiritual connection to the cosmology of the Akan people. They must also avoid praising Nyame/Nyankopon since this is how the Akans referred to their creator.They must stop practising all aspects of their culture.One cannot say I embrace my culture, but I reject the spiritual aspect of it. This is not possible, one does not exist without the other.
Nana Bawuah 10 years ago
It is true slavery had existed in the medieval empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, but but these "Slaves" had rights and were treated fairly. After a certain period of serving, the slaves were taken into the family where the ... read full comment
It is true slavery had existed in the medieval empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, but but these "Slaves" had rights and were treated fairly. After a certain period of serving, the slaves were taken into the family where they lived as a free person.They respected the culture and linage of those that were enslaved. Slaves were also part of the family and often the line between slave and non-slave was blurred.Any person who abused a slave was held in high contempt by society.When Columbus explored the Americas the boom came for Black Ivory as Slaves were called. To work the Sugar Cane and Cotton fields many hands were needed and it was soon determined that the native Americans were too fragile for the job so one needed replacements.
First of all the Asantes had been very rich, long before the arrival of the first Europeans. Why do you think they came? Why do you think they fought us seven times? The Europeans introduced slavery. The Asantes did never work together with the colonialists, except for the Dutch!The Dutch were the only foreign allies of Asantes, supplying them with arms and ammunition during the Anglo-Asante Wars.
Asanteman was not created on basis of a master servant relationship. Many joined us voluntarily and conquered states were not called defeated states.Although they recognised the Asantehene as their overlord, they retained their sovereignty.Once their loyalties were ensured, member states of the Asante Union retained their independent existence. Their people were not seen as servants, but as brothers and sisters with their chief being given an important position in the kingdom. An Asante law created by Osei Tutu I, was the naturalization of the conquered states with all due rights as citizen. Whoever dared to tell his son, these people were from this and that place, conquered etc. had to pay with his life. They had to be fully be respected as real citizen.
Guess why Osei Tutu had to send his army to fight and conquer Denkyira again, just a year after the first war? It is because, he gave too much freedom to the conquered states and allowed their chiefs to rule over the subjects.When we conquered the other states, including Denkyira, we could have imposed people on them, but we didn't. We allowed them to rule themselves, only asking that they should have a linkage to the centre. We allowed them to administer their own affairs, to manage their own resources instead of taking them here, which would have been the case in a master-servant relationship.
Because we cannot tolerate greatness in our midst, we try everything to destroy it.
They are trying to deny the african holocaust. By holocaust I mean an act of genocide that is not only against the people himself, but also a crime against humanity. It expresses itself in three basic ways. First the modern masses destrucation of human life, that is why we cannot call it slave trade.They always try to deny what they did and try to make people believe they are responsible for their own oppression. The Europeans have oppressed the world and they want the world to believe that they somehow are saving us. They did it with the Native-Americans, they did it with the Africans, they did it with the Latinos, they did it with the Asians, they even do it to some of their own people. The ruling race class will always try to deny and refuse to take responsibility for the holocaust. They do that first by trying to call it other names like trade. Now, if the holocaust or enslavement is only trade, then it is business gone bad with collateral damage. If however it is what I said the modern masses destrucation of human life, that results in genocide, both as a cultural and pyhsical oppression, then this require reparations. The other thing they are trying to do is make us responsible for our slavery. Here they collapse three kind of people, perpetrators, collaborators and victims. The perpetrators are clearly the Europeans, the collaborators well in every society you get traitors like that. Some people even supported the British at the time King Prempeh I was being exiled, because they wanted to accede to some stools. The same kind of traitors shopped Yaa Asantewaa out to the British. It is like going to the Jews and tell them some of you collaborated, there were jews in the german Nazi army, they actually selected people to be killed. Imagine people looking for their families and you tell them you all need to apologize? The Jews are never called responsible for their holocaust, only Africans are. We don`t say the Jews are responsible, because we know it were the Nazis who killed them just like we know its the whites who killed us.
MMMM 10 years ago
"The slaves had rights and were treated fairly" you mean the heads that were choped to accompany a dead chief was treated fairly? Or the albinos and deformed children that were killed were treated fairly? Or is it some that i ... read full comment
"The slaves had rights and were treated fairly" you mean the heads that were choped to accompany a dead chief was treated fairly? Or the albinos and deformed children that were killed were treated fairly? Or is it some that is named donkor to portray he is a slave is fair treatment? In my tribe people with slave ancestory have names that portrays them as so.Talk of discrimination abawa is still not fully eradicated in Ghana.By the way I hope you don't use any aspect of the judeo-Christian and Islam culture too then.
Nana Bawuah 10 years ago
I dont know about your tribe. In my tribe "Akan" in particular in my family many even married those slaves they were given. When was somebody killed for a Chief? Stop that nonesense, in Asante no citizen was allowed to be kil ... read full comment
I dont know about your tribe. In my tribe "Akan" in particular in my family many even married those slaves they were given. When was somebody killed for a Chief? Stop that nonesense, in Asante no citizen was allowed to be killed unless being convicted by court. Not even a King or Queenmother had the right to maltreat a slave (one of their subjects). Donkor is not a slave name! Among the Asante-Nsuta-Adako royal family this is a royal name.
Akan culture is older than Islam and Christianity. In fact, we came into present day area of Ghana and Ivory Coast, because we refused to accept Islam and wanted to maintain our culture and religion. Akan is one of the oldest races on earth.
AFRIKABI 10 years ago
YES, SLAVES WERE KILLED TO ACCOMPANY YOUR DEAD NANA. THE ABRAFO DID THE JOB WELL. THIS IS WELL-DOCUMENTED FACT AND YOU KNOW IT.
NO CULTURE IS PERFECT. STOP PAINTING A ONE-SIDED PICTURE OF YOUR PERFECT PEOPLE. IT IS FALSEHO ... read full comment
YES, SLAVES WERE KILLED TO ACCOMPANY YOUR DEAD NANA. THE ABRAFO DID THE JOB WELL. THIS IS WELL-DOCUMENTED FACT AND YOU KNOW IT.
NO CULTURE IS PERFECT. STOP PAINTING A ONE-SIDED PICTURE OF YOUR PERFECT PEOPLE. IT IS FALSEHOOD, IT IS UNTRUTH, IT IS IMMATURE. YOUR SLAVES WERE NOT TREATED THE SAME AS THE ROYALS OR REGULAR CITIZENS. THEY WERE PROPERTY, FOT GOD'S SAKE!
YOU MIGHT, IN YOUR BLIND OSTRICH STATE, BELIEVE THAT YOU TREAT YOUR FARM HANDS FAIRLY. IT IS NOT FOR YOU TO SAY. ASK THE FARM HANDS. ASK THE ONES YOU CALL PEPEFUOR IF THEY FEEL THE LOVE AND BROTHERHOOD YOU SO PROUDLY CLAIM.
OF COURSE, IN THE ANTEBELLUM SOUTH OF USA, THE WHITES BELIEVED THEY TREATED THE AFRICAN SLAVES WELL. THIS IS ALWAYS THE STORY EVERYWHERE. THE SLAVER SINGS ABOUT THEIR LOVE AND COMPASSION FOR THE SLAVE. BAWUAH, ASK THE SLAVE. LET THE SLAVE TELL HIS STORY, LET THE ABAWA TELL HER STORY, LET THE DAGARTI FARM LABORER TELL HIS STORY.
PLEASE, SHUT YOUR LOUD MOUTH, AND LET THE VICTIMS SPEAK.
C.Y. ANDY-K 10 years ago
Nana,
I read both your posts. I like your zest you really need to be straighten up tremendously!
I'll see what I can do, by and by. Watch this space.
Andy-K
Nana,
I read both your posts. I like your zest you really need to be straighten up tremendously!
I'll see what I can do, by and by. Watch this space.
Andy-K
C.Y. ANDY-K 10 years ago
Folks,
This is something I wrote way back in Sep. 1997 during a debate generated on an African-American created forum about the genealogy or descent of black people, the complexion of Jesus, some blacks (African-Americans ... read full comment
Folks,
This is something I wrote way back in Sep. 1997 during a debate generated on an African-American created forum about the genealogy or descent of black people, the complexion of Jesus, some blacks (African-Americans and the Falasha Jews of Ethiopia, and now some black Africans) claiming to be Jews/Israelites/Hebrews, or whatever. I was reviewing it to add some more meat and send it as a full article but in response to Nana, I'd like to present this for now.
Even though I could have written something else, I just posed some questions here, pointed a finger here and there to mark some paths for clearing up later. This may therefore appear as another muddle to some people, especially those I believe are victims of crooked thinking.
As you all know by now, according to Christian mythology, God destroyed all living creatures on earth with the exception of those saved by Noah and his family on the Ark.
Of course, the fishes and creatures living in water could be said to be exceptions too, since the flood waters could not be said to have drown them! The earth, the story goes on, was then re-populated by the humans and the flora and fauna from the Ark. It therefore follows that we Africans are also descendants of the sons and the wives of the three children of Noah - Shem, Ham and Japheth - assuming intermarriages between the off-springs of the children of these three brothers, instead of sister/brother conjugal relations and incest proper, both not uncommon in those days.
For a long time, Christians had held that we black Africans (not only the ancient Egyptians, Berbers and others identified as Hamites) are descendants of Canaan, the 4th and youngest son of Ham. Canaan was reportedly cursed by Noah, when he awoke from his drunken stupor, got to know that Ham had come to see him lying naked and told his brothers, who went backwards into his tent and covered his nakedness. This curse put on Canaan for some unexplainable reason, because he was not the one who saw Noah naked, was that he would become a slave to his brothers, serving them, drawers of water and hewers of rocks, as recorded in the Bible. Poor Canaan! That was before the rule about sons not bearing the sins of their fathers was invented, I suppose. Then, this "trokosi" logic could be said to make sense! (trokosi - vestal virgin- is a system of enslavement of innocent girls by some fetish houses for offences caused by relations, found up to today at parts of Ghana, Togo and Benin Republic).
Hmmm! Anyway, things might have been mightily bad in those riotous days before the deluge, with a dangerous and cursing, drunken-bolt (an alcoholic) like Noah being the only person to find favour with the Good Lord. Not quite a pleasing role model for our children in these trying times of alcoholism and use of drugs. It is bad enough to curse people even if curses don't work. That shall be the high moral value to be adhered to by all, if you are in my Moral Brigade. It can be broken at your own peril, of course.:-)
Now, having digressed a bit, the fact that Cush, the eldest son of Ham, was the one who allegedly settled in the area of upper Egypt and spreading to east and north Africa and, should be regarded as the father of the Hamites was smugly ignored in the bid to find a religious justification and moralization for the enslavement of Africans.
Perhaps, it can be argued that black Africans are not Cushite. Granted! But they are not descendants of Canaan either, by biblical accounts. Ancient Canaanites were Semitic (not negroid) and their home region is exactly the land of Canaan allegedly promised to the Israelites by their vengeance seeking god, Yahweh. We all know where that region is, don't we? It is today's Palestine from which Israel was carved out after WWII, some say in another fulfilment of biblical prophecy and promise. The Canaanites were conquered and largely absorbed by the invading and marauding Jews. Do people want us to believe that some ran away by magically changing their complexion and turned up in Africa as black Africans?
This internal examination of the Bible leaves one wondering where we black Africans descended from? From whom in the Bible, if neither Cush nor Canaan? Dear reader, the truth is that we Africans are not the descendants of any of Noah's children, simply because the flood story is a myth! No God ever destroyed living things on the earth with a flood. I have already posted an article tracing the origins of the myth already.
I intend to, if time permits, further deepen that with an examination of the two contradictory flood stories in Genesis mentioned in the article. But it may be necessary to trace the origin of the story of the family tree of man too later - anything from next week to many years from today. This is to show how the Jews simply took over what the ancient Egyptians (Kemetites) had formulated as the history of the world, with names like Kush (Cush) for the people of upper Egypt down to across the border with the Sudan, otherwise known as Nubia, long, long before it entered into Jewish mythology. The Jews simply stood history up-side down, placing themselves on top.
Some of us have been made aware that the Jews did not even have a word for "history" and borrowed the word "historia" from the Greeks. The Greeks, of course, got the Egyptian priest Manetho, (and certainly other priests of the areas they conquered in the Middle East, see The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 2:150-3), to write for them the history of the known world, (and much of the knowledge of the world to be attributed to the Greeks later, see Martin Bernal's Black Athena Vol. 1 and 2). These histories were put in the great library of Alexandria. And now, must we Africans accept the Jewish accounts based on these original sources, a distortion of what was written, as that of our own history? Accounts no longer
accepted as totally true by practically all of the foremost scholars of Euro-America in their higher institutions of learning?
To what level of backwardness do some Africans want us to descend, simply because they are yet to or unable to shed the abject superstition of their pagan, unlettered, uneducated, semi-educated, christo-paganist or miseducated parents? (Choose the category which fits you.). Of course, there are the educated ones with all sorts of higher degrees who are also caught in the snare. We must set ourselves free from the things used to enslave our minds.
Andy-K
Bergen, Norway
Now resident in London. UK
11 Oct. 2013
Nana Bawuah 10 years ago
Ham=Kam (was the second son of Noah (Nowah) and belong to those who survived the flood. As the creator led them so that they populated the whole mainland, the interior land and the cost. Some of them also sailed to the Island ... read full comment
Ham=Kam (was the second son of Noah (Nowah) and belong to those who survived the flood. As the creator led them so that they populated the whole mainland, the interior land and the cost. Some of them also sailed to the Islands. Besides the people kept partly the name of their founder, partly they changed the name and partly they also accepted such anmes, which were more common to their neighbours. The changing of names of their origin was especially practiced by the Greeks after attaining power, aspiring how they were, our fore-parents were forced to take over Greek names and abide by their state constitutions. Some common examples were the land Ethiopia which was changed to Kush and the name Kyetima=Kittim (chetima) changed into Cyprus. Ham was the father of Kush (Ethiopia or Nubia), Msram (Egypt, Put (Libya and Kanaan (Israel). And truly the land Egypt was described as the "Tent of Ham" or "the land of Ham". Ham was told by their father Notah to be the "care taker" of his other two brothers whose names were Sem and Yefet. Se Huru , the biblical Seir the Horite was the father of Ezer, the father of Akan and we the Gyaakan=Akan=Kna are the descendants of Akan, the founder of the ancient Hebrew-Aramaic religious culture, we are Agya HamMa(descends of Ham the father). For just our Kradin (soul name) cult and called amah=AmMah==AmMa (Amma;2ndSam,chap2,vrs24-30) and our Akan/Guan masculine name Hammah alone gives us through evidence of our HaMa (Hamatic) origin, without mentioning anything about our Mma and Maa cult. Any culture which ensued the name of HoRi=HoRu (Hor;Horite;Horus)=HuRi=HuRu=HuRRu) was esbablished by the descendants of Se HuRu to identify their origin, HuRu was the land the origin of the first known Akan. On the other hand, any culture that ensured the name of AmuRu was established by the descendants of Kanaan to identify their origin. All the above mentioned groups were descendants of "Ham, the Godfather", and the fore-fathers of the Akan and Guan jewish folk. The Akan you see is the grandson of Se HuRu and that Guan you see is the grandson of Kanaan.
If you go to the Manhyia Palace Museum, you will see, that Effigy of Egyptian Mother-Goddess Hathor, is reproduced on the gun of the first Asantehene, Nana Osei Tutu Opemsuo as well as on some of the soldiers (Abrafo?) that guard the Asantehene.Ancient traditions make it clear that the falcon clan people (Adako/Oyoko clan, which is the ruling clan in Asante) who worshipped the great Mother-goddess Hathor and her son Horus entered Egypt... in groups independent of each other.... Horus the Elder, son of Hathor, whose people originated from Punt (Punt I was situated in southern Arabia, Punt II in Nubia)..... There can be little doubt that these groups were segments of a matrilineal clan, for succession in its royal lineage was in the female line and Hathor and Horus are typical representatives of matrilineal deities.
The Akan Enchi, which is the same as the Babylonian Enki, is a name of a town located in western region of Ghana, it is found south of Wiawso, near the borders of Ivory Coast. Enchi and Enki is like Mamfe in Akuapem, which the Europeans called Memphis in ancient Egypt. Just to mention two out of many examples.
look at the culture, language, customs, symbols, names etc. of the Akan and judge for yourself.
AFRIKABI 10 years ago
THERE WAS NO NOAH. THE STORY OF NOAH WAS BORROWED FROM OTHER PEOPLE WHO LIVED LONG BEFORE THE JEWS. I BELIEVE U HAVE READ OTHER EPICS OF THE FLOOD THAT THE JEWS COPIED. NOAH AND THE FLOOD IS NOTHING BUT THE MYTHOLOGY OF ANCIE ... read full comment
THERE WAS NO NOAH. THE STORY OF NOAH WAS BORROWED FROM OTHER PEOPLE WHO LIVED LONG BEFORE THE JEWS. I BELIEVE U HAVE READ OTHER EPICS OF THE FLOOD THAT THE JEWS COPIED. NOAH AND THE FLOOD IS NOTHING BUT THE MYTHOLOGY OF ANCIENT PEOPLES. THE ARK OF NOAH IS AN IMPOSSIBLE ARCHITECTURAL AND LOGISTICAL CHALLENGE IN HIS DAYS. THE STAGGERING NUMBER OF SPECIES OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS IN THE WORLD COULD NEVER FIT IN NOAH'S ARK.
IT IS ALL MYTHOLOGY, LIKE THE GREEKS HAVE HERCULES AND APOLLO AND ALL THE OTHERS. TAKE IT AS AN ENTERTAINING WORK OF LITERATURE THAT HAS NO BASIS IN FACT.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago
JEWSIH TRADITIONS COPIED THE FLOOD FROM "EPIC OF THE GILGAMESH"
JEWSIH TRADITIONS COPIED THE FLOOD FROM "EPIC OF THE GILGAMESH"
C.Y. ANDY-K 10 years ago
To me, it is all deja vu. I've traveled this road. Here we go!
Subject: EXPOSING THE BIBLICAL MYTHS II
Folks,
I hereby post another article for those who want to know the truth and those who believe in the biblical ... read full comment
To me, it is all deja vu. I've traveled this road. Here we go!
Subject: EXPOSING THE BIBLICAL MYTHS II
Folks,
I hereby post another article for those who want to know the truth and those who believe in the biblical myths because they have never been exposed to the material debunking such myths. I posted it on Okyeame before as "Noah! O! Noah! The Flood Waters Are Coming!"
Of all the myths of the bible, one of the most intriguing is that of Noah and the flood which supposedly destroyed all life on earth except those saved on the ark constructed by Noah, at the behest of God. That centuries of learning have shown this to be a mere myth and cannot be scientifically substantiated has not stopped some from trying to do so. This article is a rebuttal of one such attempt by the brand of Christians known as "scientific" creationists. Their main objective is to prove by logic and science that the earth was created about 6000 years ago (as the biblical account of the Jews will have it; Muslims put creation 50,000 years away), and not evolved over several billion years, as genuine scientists claim! By asserting the inerrancy of the biblical accounts, you'd find a strong resemblance between them and our brand of zealots we call "Chrife" or the "born-again" Christians, most first generation converts, or off-springs of “christo-paganists”, apologies to Rev. Prof Baeta.
The article speaks for itself, debunking completely the attempt to foist a new hoax on the American people. We must also not be hoodwinked by these myths any longer. I therefore call upon all those who still have their wits about them to begin to search for the truth about these things for themselves by looking up the references mentioned. Of course, as we had earlier said, there are 1000s of books on the bible, (and the Qur'an too; after all, this series started as an attempt to focus on violence in the name of Islam), with many exposing the myths behind the Bible. I can't quote all, not to say in one article!
Just as I said before, this is a process in the mental liberation of myself which I'm sharing with those who care (it's a free world!).
For clarity sake, as I've always said, no insults WITHOUT REASONED ARGUMENTS to justify the insults will be tolerated. By all means, call me a BIG FOOL, but in your superior wisdom and knowledge, explain to me why I am foolish.
If not I'll insult you back, if it pleases me. And don't threaten me with Inquisitorial jargons like you are committing "blasphemy", etc. You won't get me to burn on any stakes, nor will I allow myself to be fried in any cauldron!
Enjoy yourselves.
Andy Kwawukume
Norway
N/B
This post is about 8 A-4 paper. A print-out is therefore recommended for reading at leisure. {I’ve divided it into 4 parts to allow posting on Facebook.}
(Richard A. Fox specializes in historical archaeology and the prehistory of the Great Plains. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of South Dakota.)
In February 20, 1993, CBS television aired "The Incredible Discovery of Noah's Ark," an independently produced program purchased by the network. The ambitious goal was to determine if the great ship was "truth or fable" but the program title announced that conclusion straightaway. The producer billed the two-hour episode as an archaeological question for the "real truth." "New" archaeological explorations on Mt. Ararat, using new technology, would settle the issue.
Use of the word "new" immediately puzzled me. I knew of no archaeological expeditions to recover Noah's ark. I thought it was a myth. As it turned out, "Incredible" offered nothing to alter that perception, nor could I discern evidence of any fresh archaeological explorations.
Indeed, I did not see a single archaeologist among the "experts" interviewed, except Philip Hammond of the University of Utah. A genuine archaeologist, he was one of a handful of token sceptics. The program limited the sceptics to cameo appearances intended overtly to convey impartiality but otherwise designed to set them up as straw men. Doubtless much of their commentary never made the show. Not surprisingly, Hammond is listed in the American Anthropological Association directory.
On-screen ID-supers displayed profession and credentials as each "expert" testified. A Dr. Don Shockey, labeled a "professor of anthropology, explained gopher wood, the material of choice for arks in those days. Not shockingly, Shockey is not in the anthropology directory, nor is "Dr." Carl Baugh who, as a "paleoanthropologist," curiously talked only about his photo of the ark. Baugh's "science degrees," or rather lack: of them, are well known (see Kuban 1989), as are his childish efforts to prove that dinosaurs and humans once strolled together in Texas (e.g., Hastings 1987). Evidently the Texas "research" qualifies Baugh as a paleoanthropologist.
A Dr. Elfred Lee (also not listed) was the "archaeological illustrator." There is no such title in archaeology. Lee used "eyewitness testimony" to draw the ark, necessary because no one has ever produced the vessel. Larry Williams, who publishes a treasure-hunter newsletter, evidently lacks academic credentials, otherwise they would have been ballyhooed. He had been, we were told, around the world visiting archaeological sites. He was identified as a "publisher-archaeologist."
That is it for the archaeological "expertise." The program did mention that "thousands" had combed Mt. Ararat, trotting out an assortment of ark-hunters of every persuasion except archaeology. Nothing they were up to even remotely resembled archaeology. This is certainly startling. After all, the narrator declared an "archaeological quest." Why no archaelogists and no archaeology? It's simple. There would have been no story.
Just what was "Incredible" then? Not a religious mission, or so said the narrator. If not, why was so much more time devoted to global flood issues than to an archaeological quest? Numerous "experts" explained global flood "theory" details from astronomy to zoology. Now and then these segments were reinforced with amateurish skits portraying pre-flood wickedness, Noah, his family, and their odyssey. The narrator repeatedly referred to the biblical flood, claiming, for example, that "...the Bible is suddenly emerging as an uncanny historical document...."
Certainly Noah's ark implies a biblical flood, but archaeology does not deal with catastrophes. Even if archaeology could, the program's objective was to find an ark. So we might have expected "Incredible" to stick to "arkeology." But it did not. What possible connection, then, is there between archaeology and global flood theory punctuated with Noachian reenactment? The answer is singularly obvious. "Incredible" (and CBS) promoted a religious mission, and a peculiar soteriological one at that. CBS should have known better.
The religious link is important. Soteriology posits the following: (l) souls exist; (2) humans have (or are) souls; (3) souls survive corporeal death; and (4) at death, souls go to heaven or hell. Most Christians rely on faith in Christ for salvation, embracing the Bible as [as]a moral and spiritual aid, not as a scientific document. Not so the peculiar soteriologists - "creationists" as they are called. They insist on a fifth requirement for salvation: you must accept scripture literally as the inerrant word of the Bible-deity.
Of the several creationist varieties, "scientific" creationism is by far the most virulent (see McKown 1993). Despite the name, Scientific" creationists' motives are hardly scientific. Rather, they are singularly selfish. Indeed, anything that jeopardizes their salvation is false, even demonically inspired.
So, challenges must be eradicated, especially the evolutionary sciences (but also competing theologies). Thus, as "scientific" creationists would have it, the scientific knowledge accumulated worldwide over two centuries by thousands of dedicated biologists, zoologists, atmospheric scientists, physicists, geologists, astronomers, paleoanthropologists, archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, and more is bogus. All of it.
What are the odds? They approach certainty according to the experts on "Incredible." There is, however, a caveat. The "experts" were largely, if not exclusively, "scientific" creationists. But the audience had no way of knowing that. The producer rarely identified their institutions, except for those, like NASA and the Defense Department, which tend to appeal to authority. Affiliations that might have invited suspicion were conspicuously absent, especially the Institute for Creation Research (ICR).
ICR connections that I noticed included the Institute's founder Henry Morris ("professor of hydraulics"); his son John ("professor of geology"); John Whitcomb ("professor of Old Testament Studies"); and Tim LaHaye (a fire-and-brimstone fundamentalist preacher). These men have spent decades trying to impart their dogma into our schools under the guise of science. Thanks to the courts and the Constitution, their plans have been repeatedly scuttled, though failures have not deterred them. Today they infiltrate school boards and pressure textbook publishers. Now it appears "scientific" creationists, abetted by CBS, have adopted another strategy - infiltrating our homes!
What about the "facts"? The program had plenty of them. More notably, much was ignored. This approach is often acceptable in science, but as a privilege, not a right. In this case, "Incredible" abrogated its privilege, and here is why.
Scientists understand that extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proofs. The claims made in "Incredible" flatly contradicted the theory and hard-earned knowledge of a dozen or so disciplines, not to mention Old Testament scholarship. Now this is exceedingly extraordinary, even incredible, so much so that the producer was obligated to show the inadequacies of prevailing wisdom. Needless to say, that never happened.
Now to some claims, beginning with archaeology. Remember, for "scientific" creationists the issue is really not science. It's salvation, and nothing more. "Incredible" made much of hand-hewn timbers reportedly carted off Mt. Ararat over the years. Of these, only Fernand Navarra's have been available for analysis. We learned that three laboratories dated Navarra's wood. The date, "Incredible" announced, was five thousand years ago, a time, said the narrator, when "the Bible indicates a world-wide flood occurred" (cf. Whitcomb and Morris 1961:398; Morns 1974: 247).
Now, here is what we did not learn. The date came from color and density calculations made about 1955 at a Madrid forestry lab. Another lab, estimating the degree of lignitization, decided on a date of "remote antiquity." The third assigned an age of 4,500 years ago without commenting on method.
Archaeologists have no confidence in such methods. They do, however, routinely use radiocarbon dating, which is quite dependable. Perhaps that is why "Incredible" did not reveal that six labs have independently dated Navarra's "five thousand" year-old wood. Six uncorrected mean data range from 260 C.E. to 760 C.E. (sigmas average +/-90).
The oldest date is from a sample of insufficient size. Otherwise, five means average nearly 700 C.E. All five are statistically identical at one sigma (Taylor and Berger 1980:35). Calibration curve corrections indicate each date is actually younger. Bristlecone pine data suggest a sixth through ninth century provenance (Taylor and Berger 1980:35-36; Bailey 1989:95-98). Evidently the flood was much later than heretofore suspected.
Much was also made of Near Eastern flood stories. Dr. Charles Berlitz ("renowned linguist" and author of "The Bermuda Triangle"), claimed "stories of Noah" are "practically identical" in different "languages" (Babylonian, Persian, Sanskrit, and Egyptian). The only element that changes occasionally is the name of Noah. These accounts "certainly help support the Noah legend," insisted the narrator, but we were not told anything about them. Later, the focus fell on Mesopotamia, specifically the Gilgamesh epic. We learned that the epic "paralleled exactly the story of Noah in the Bible, suggesting the biblical account is far more than a fictional legend."
Berlitz and the scriptwriters are egregiously wrong, this time by commission. They are not stories of Noah." No flood story anywhere is "practically identical" to or parallels "exactly" the Genesis account(s) (e.g., see Dundes 1988). In fact, there is no evidence that ancient Egyptians had a deluge myth. Mesopotamian flood stories resemble Genesis structurally, yet they exhibit numerous and detailed differences (e.g., Speiser 1968:8-13; Dundes 1988). Furthermore, Mesopotamian accounts do not in any way suggest or support biblical accuracy.
"Incredible" wanted viewers to believe that all flood stories derived from the Genesis deluge (through Noah's descendants). The program implied that the Gilgamesh epic dates to the sixth century B.C.E. The tablets referred to are evidently those from the library of King Ashurbanipal (668-626 B.CE.). These tablets are probably younger than the oldest of two flood stories in Genesis (Yahwist, or "J" strand), likely set down between 962 B.C.E. and 848 B.C.E. (e.g., Bailey 1989:135; Friedman 1987:87). But the implication that Mesopotamian flood traditions postdate Genesis is almost certainly false. We did not learn, for example, that the Gilgamesh epic has Sumerian roots.
Sumerian myth includes a deluge, but the clay tablets so far recovered present only a fragmentary account. This much we do know: Xiusudra (Ziusudra) found favor with the gods. He was spared, therefore, along with at least some animals, via a ship that survived a week-long flood that wiped out humankind. The sun god greeted Xiusudra as he opened the hatch. Xiusudra then sacrificed some animals, whereupon the gods made him immortal.
Tablet fragments bearing this story are difficult to date. Sumerians, however, divided their history into two periods - ante-diluvial and post-diluvial. The Sumerian King list details ante- and post-flood events. King list tablets date between about 2120 B.C.E. and 2065 B.C.E. (Dundes 1988:57), suggesting that the written record of Xiusudra's flood is at least that old. Tablets relating the first (ca. 1844 1505 B.C.E.) and second (ca. 1702-1682 B.C.E., or ca 1582-1562 B.C.E.) Babylonian traditions are only a slightly younger (Dundes 1988:54-55).
The best scholarship indicates that the earliest Mesopotamian flood myth writings pre-date Genesis, some by over one thousand years. There is widespread agreement among authentic archaeologists and biblical scholars - almost certainly the biblical flood accounts derived from Mesopotamian mythology (independent origins or a common source are not ruled out). Indeed, as the Bible records, the proto-Hebrews (Abraham) allegedly immigrated from Mesopotamia (Ur of the Chaldees), and later some Israelites spent time in Babylonian captivity.
"Incredible" also dwelled on the worldwide distribution of flood myths - proof, they claim, of biblical accuracy. Hundreds of traditional societies do (did) have flood stories. But, after displaying a world map showing the distribution, the program did not examine any. To do so would have exposed a glaring discrepancy. Those left uninfluenced by Christian missionaries stray widely from the biblical account. Some are so disparate that the only resemblance is a flood, and not always a global one (see, e.g., Dundes 1989; Bailey 1989:5-10).
Also, flood myths in a region are often similar (e.g., the Near East), indicating multi-regional origins. Moreover, The Flood was the ultimate cataclysmic event. Surely most Noachian descendants would have preserved some recognizable trace of it. But hundreds of societies do (did) not have flood myths of any kind. What are we to make of this? Absence, regional similarities, and diversity lean heavily toward independent origins. Contrary to "Incredible," a single historical event cannot account for world flood myths. If historical roots are suspected, local catastrophic flooding provides the most plausible alternative (e.g., Bailey 1989).
Various "experts" touted (in little detail) ancient documents that supposedly corroborate Noah's flood. I will discuss one; Bailey (1989) dispenses with the others. A Dr. Rodney Vleit ("professor of cultural studies") claimed that Berosus, a Babylonian chronicler, "visited the site about 475 B.C.E., where he wrote that the ark was quite visible." Vleit avoided identifying the "site" as Mt. Ararat - the program had by now conditioned the audience to make that connection - no doubt because Berosus did not write that he visited Mt. Ararat, or any place near it. And there is more.
"Babylonia", written in Greek about 275 B.C.E., is lost, but later chroniclers quoted Berosus. His flood story is a Sumerian version roughly paralleling the biblical account (see Dundes 1988:42-43). The hero was Xisuthrus (i.e., Xiusudra). The ark, wrote Berosus, came to rest in "the land of Armenia." Mt. Ararat is located in what was ancient Armenia, formerly the kingdom of Ararat (see Bailey 1989). Berosus, however, identified the Corcyraean mountains (i.e., Gordyaeans), also in Ararat, as the landing spot, not the Ararat range (see Dundes 1988:43). The Gordyaeans are more than two hundred miles south (roughly) of Mt. Ararat.
Note here that the Genesis reference - "mountains of Ararat" - could refer to the kingdom, not the range and certainly not the peak. Indeed, in Jeremiah 51:27, Ararat is called exactly that - a kingdom. Clearly Berosus had a different understanding than do today's ark hunters, "Professor" Vleit included. Why they insist on combing Mt. Ararat is indeed a mystery.
Berosus's version might well prompt the frugal archaeologist planning to find Noah's ark to ask: a question: Are there more accounts putting the vessel somewhere other than Mt. Ararat? Of course, but "Incredible" ignored them all. Ancient Christian, Jewish, and Muslim sources put the ark on various peaks, ranges, or districts stretching from Ceylon to Arabia (see Bailey 1989 61-81). Some even record ark wood finds!
The Mt. Ararat tradition is evidently the latest. Bailey (1987:81) has traced its origin to the eleventh century C.E. (although seventh-ninth century timbers from Mt Ararat might put it earlier). Sources citing the Gordyaeans are more numerous, so the archaeologist might well decide to begin there. Conversely, Mt. Ararat might be a last resort, since the tradition is further removed in time from the event. More likely, the archaeologist would investigate what it is on Mt Ararat that dates to medieval times.
Like the producer of "Incredible," I find no difficulty in straying from the archaeological "quest." A Dr. Walter Brown ("professor emeritus, physics") presented a breathtaking synopsis of his "hydroplate theory." Fancy graphics illustrated how subterranean waters ten miles deep burst through mid-ocean fissures and inundated the Earth. Not much need be said about Brown. Geologists will pick his nonsense apart. Rather, I will emphasize the subtle ploy used by the scriptwriters. After Brown finished, the narrator capped it off: "The demonstration you have just seen ... supports the biblical story of the deluge in every detail." Of course! All Brown did was recklessly rip hard-won knowledge from legitimate science (e.g., plate tectonics, glaciology) and force it into the biblical framework.
Brown never did provide a mechanism to trigger his floodwater eruptions. The scriptwriters remedied that. A David Coppedge ("astronomer") set the stage for Brown, explaining that any one of a hundred ancient meteorite impact sites on Earth could have produced a cataclysmic event. Then Brown appeared, mechanism in hand. Predictably, Coppedge failed to consider why the hundred impacts did not produce one hundred global floods. Astronomer Coppedge, evidently without academic credentials, stood next to a small stargazer's telescope as he pontificated. A Mt. Wilson Observatory set would have imparted more authority.
Several "experts" were, like Coppedge, less dazzling than Brown. Addressing the knotty problem of ark space, Whitcomb insisted that the Bible does not say all species boarded the vessel. He excluded fish and "major" insect varieties. No evidence or reasons -- just sweep-of-the-hand authority.
The ark: space problem occupied Dr. Kenneth Ebel ("professor of biology"). He noted that each "family" extant today has a single pair of ancestors. The-hundred varieties of dogs, for example, have a single common ancestor. Then Ebel made a deceptive shift. The only "taxon" mentioned in the Bible is "kinds." Scientific creationists have a tough time with this, Ebel included. "Kinds" (compare family above), said Ebel, were put aboard the ark. These "kinds" then, were the ancestors of all the "species" (compare variety above) that we know today. So there was plenty of room on that ark. With a sweep of his hand, Ebel rewrote the binomial classification system. Families became species and species became varieties, and genera vanished. Ebel's obfuscation would lead taxonomists to classify him as a "scientific" creationist, not a professor of biology.
A Dr. Ken Cummings, also a "professor of biology," explained another tricky issue. How did animals from every corner of the Earth make it to the ark? They instinctively sensed an impending disaster and were led or driven to safety (i.e., right to the ark). Evidently the two lucky survivors of each "kind" were genetically endowed with powerful instincts. Just as clearly these favorable genes did not survive. Today, millions of animals everywhere are wiped out annually by catastrophic floods, wholesale fires, and the like.
Then there is the matter of being on time. Instinct had to kick in early for those most distant from the ark, maybe decades for turtles. Nonetheless, Cummings may be on to something. Mark Twain (1962:24) suggested that the super-sensitive instincts of dinosaurs provoked these beasts -- all of them, not just pairs -- into a frenzied, headlong stampede toward the ark. Imagine the havoc they would have wreaked. Fortunately, Noah learned of this and wisely sailed without
them. Besides, as Twain wrote and to which Whitcomb can attest, the ancient mariner was under no obligation to admit all and so the dinosaurs became extinct.
Roger Oakland ("author/science professor") testified to the variable evidence for a global flood. Even the fossil record shows it! Worldwide, fish and animals were buried suddenly in "swimming positions." Most of us can probably accept the swimming fish. For animals, however, Oakland cited the "most dramatic" example, a Nebraska site where rhinos, hippos, and zebras were buried in "swimming positions" by "volcanic ash." What tephra has to do with global flooding he did not say. Nor did Oakland define an animal's "swimming position."
Oakland further noted, in references to the terrifying flood, that in Scotland "tons of fish have been found in positions of terror, fins extended and eyes bulging." Ethologists may notice a rather strong anthropomorphic bias here. Speaking of anthropomorphism, Oakland did not consider why human skeletons are never found in swimming positions. In any case, I recall occasionally seeing rather calm fish swimming about with extended fins and bulging eyes, though not tons of them.
These examples are representative of the nonarchaeological content. There is also the laughable model ark test that "proved" that an ark built to biblical specifications could survive the roughest seas ever. Space does not allow a look at the "scientific" creationists' water vapor canopy theory (it went from biblical clue to certainty in minutes). Neglected also is Grant Richard's ("geologist/geophysicist") ignorance of orogenic processes (he claims that water-formed lava and salt crystals on Mt. Ararat prove the flood), and much more nonsense.
Such "theories" expose the biggest single problem confronting "scientific" creationists. In order to appear scientific, they cannot suspend natural laws; they cannot invoke the powers of an omnieverything being in order to get animals to the ark, to supply floodwaters, or whatever. That is religion, not science. The restriction results in torturous proofs of the improbable, if not the impossible, everything dressed up as science.
"Incredible" had to face a more worldly problem. "Thousands," as one "expert" said, have sought the ark. On the other hand, no one has ever produced it. This vexation was handled in two ways. Ark: eyewitnesses were sprinkled throughout the two hours, reinforcing the Noah's ark claim through repetition. At the same time, repetition avoided consolidating what are essentially two millennia of negative findings.
Next, the filmmakers' employed what I call the "rotten luck" syndrome. Just as the ark's physical remains are about to be revealed, something adverse intervenes. "Incredible" used an inhospitable mountain, a dangerous and uncertain climb, an earthquake, uncooperative weather, tricky glacial ice, inopportune deaths, low aircraft fuel, the Russian revolution, fear of death, lost proofs, religious persecution, Turkish political strife, terrorism, bandits, and the U.S. government's refusal to release incontrovertible proof of the ark (it would betray our sophisticated spying technology).
In the end, though, what about the ancient sources, the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century eyewitnesses, the past sojourns, the photographs, and the previous calculations? Well, these are old news. Though they prove the existence of Noah's ark, too many people continue to be skeptical. So "Incredible" would chronicle new "archaeological" expeditions equipped with modern technology. And so we were introduced to five new eyewitnesses, plus state-of-the-art satellite photo proofs.
The new eyewitnesses, not one an archaeologist, seemed sincere enough. But the usual caveats apply. People often see what they want to see, especially religious zealots. Also, things get garbled; what is seen is not necessarily what is reported. Sometimes people simply fabricate stories, playing on what folks want to hear. As well, eyewitnesses are not always capable of comprehending what they see, and so on. But the most damaging case against these new witnesses lies in results. Like all before, not one produced an ark or information leading to an ark.
Much was made of the late James Irwin's photograph. The program played masterfully on Irwin's deep spiritual convictions, his dedication to discovery, his career, and his untimely death. The skillful emotional weave helped to convince us that the astronaut had indeed captured Noah's ark on film. Irwin had wanted to confirm his find. Then death intervened, the somber narrator reminded us. A tragedy, indeed, but with such conclusive evidence at hand, what about a follow-up by colleagues? "Incredible" made no mention of such.
The other photographic "proof" segments reminded me of the story about the emperor's new clothes. Even with photo enhancements, l seldom saw an object. Yet the analysts insisted something was there, probable an ark. One segment reduced a French satellite image to a handful of pixels. Using a pointer, the analyst carefully outlined an "ark-like" object protruding from a pixel of known size. The object's dimensions, he assured us, closely paralleled ark specifications. Expecting, I am sure, that few would see anything (I saw nothing), a telestrator finally drew it in.
And so "Incredible" ended. Like the old proofs, the new bore no semblance to archaeology. Rather, the program abused my profession and insulted its practitioners. And CBS is responsible. What does archaeology really say about a global inundation and the rejuvenation of world populations through Noah's lineage? Wherever post-deluge sites exist, they must lie above flood deposits. The prediction is fatal to the historicity of a biblical flood and Noah's harrowing voyage. Few buried sites in my part of the world lie above flood sediments of any kind. I guarantee that the situation holds everywhere. Archaeology joins all historical sciences in refuting the claims made in this abysmal, irresponsible production.
References:
Bailey, Lloyd R. 1989. Noah: The Person and the Story In History and Tradition. The University of South Carolina Press, Columbia.
Dundes, Alan. 1988. The Flood Myth. University of California Press, Berkeley.
Friedman, Richard E. 1987. Who Wrote the Bible? Summit Books, New York.
Hasting, Ronnie J. 1987. New observations on Paluxy tracks confirm their Dinosaurian origin. Journal of Geological Education 35:4-15.
Kuban, Glen J. 1989. A matter of degree: An examination of Carl Baugh's
credentials. National Certain for Science Education Reports
9(6):16-19.
McKown, Delos B. 1993. The Mythmaker's Magic. Prometheus Books,
Buffalo N.Y.
Morris, Henry M. (ed.). 1974. Scientific Creationism. Creation Life Publishers, El Cajon, Calif.
Speiser, E. A. 1986. The Anchor Bible. Doubleday and Company, Inc., Garden City, N.Y.
Taylor, R. E., and Rainer Berger. 1980. The date of 'Noah's Ark.
Antiquity 210:34-36.
Twain, Mark. 1962. Letters from the Earth. Harper-Perennial, New York.
Whitcomb, John C., and Henry M. Morris. 1961. The Genesis Flood: The Biblical Record and Its Scientific Implications. Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., Phillipsburg, N.J.
"It is the total disregard of God's law that cupidity has became a default in a world which knows no God. Satan still uses pawns from every nation, race, tribe and religion."
That is pure, distilled, undiluted stupidity. I ... read full comment
"It is the total disregard of God's law that cupidity has became a default in a world which knows no God. Satan still uses pawns from every nation, race, tribe and religion."
That is pure, distilled, undiluted stupidity. In a world where the vast majority of people are religious, you claim it "knows no god?" Foolishness. Maybe if there were less religious idiots lopping off others heads and condemning others to eternal torture in the name of their make-believe gods, the world would not be the cesspit it is now.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago
I agree with you!
Arab racism toward blackness can be ferocious.
But you must be careful when you compare it with racism in the West (America and Europe). We must know the history of America and Europe to draw this con ... read full comment
I agree with you!
Arab racism toward blackness can be ferocious.
But you must be careful when you compare it with racism in the West (America and Europe). We must know the history of America and Europe to draw this controversial conclusion. The question is a tricky one.
Remember that most contemporary problems on racism related to America and Europe are carried out outside the geographies of America and Europe.
Most of the wars going in the world today have their historical (and even contemporary) roots in the racist legacies of European and American policies toward non-White peoples!
Please read Mark Mazower’s good book "Dark Continent: Europe’s Twentieth Century” to understand European racism (and atrocities).
See also CLR James’ “The Black Jacobins” and Harriet Washington’s “Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present.” These books scratch the surface (of American and European racism toward blackness).
babs 10 years ago
christians are trained to hate and insult in their churches.u hardly see a christian who accept the reality.
christians are trained to hate and insult in their churches.u hardly see a christian who accept the reality.
babs 10 years ago
so with with gideons comment,if he should be dealt with by muslims,then they are violence.i believe christians will do the world good if they stop using posting stupid comments.
so with with gideons comment,if he should be dealt with by muslims,then they are violence.i believe christians will do the world good if they stop using posting stupid comments.
KB 10 years ago
The sooner we leave these silly myths behind, the better. Even if you want to cling to superstition at all costs, why not stick to your own traditional religions, which are clearly more suited for this environment? These Jesu ... read full comment
The sooner we leave these silly myths behind, the better. Even if you want to cling to superstition at all costs, why not stick to your own traditional religions, which are clearly more suited for this environment? These Jesus-and-Mohammed religions are madness, plain and simple.
Jerry Sodeman 10 years ago
I didn't want to waste time reading all of this, but what i read was obviously anti-American, anti-Christianity garbage. Why does not the author talk about the Christian abolitionists, the white people who died to free the s ... read full comment
I didn't want to waste time reading all of this, but what i read was obviously anti-American, anti-Christianity garbage. Why does not the author talk about the Christian abolitionists, the white people who died to free the slaves, and the fact that all of this stuff has been eliminated, mostly by white Americans who professed to be Christians? It is disgusting to see people complaining about things that were happening 200 years ago instead of being thankful that they have been eliminated. If things are so bad for Dr. Butler, what is she doing as an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania? Why doesn't this hypocrite and ingrate go to Africa? If she is objective and investigates, why doesn't she admit that George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin in self-defense? If the author really wants to talk about terrorism, why does he/she not talk about Islamic terrorists? It is almost every day.
C.Y. ANDY-K 10 years ago
My goodness! Disgusting to see people complaining about things that happened 200 years ago? Where did you get that one from? Here we are trying to put the records straight and understand why there is a continuum of Euro-Ameri ... read full comment
My goodness! Disgusting to see people complaining about things that happened 200 years ago? Where did you get that one from? Here we are trying to put the records straight and understand why there is a continuum of Euro-American and Arab atrocities and exploitation of we black Africans and you call that complaining???
The last slave ship to have left Africa, from around Whyddah, the port reserved for the continuation of the slave trade after its "abolition", was in 1877.
So they helped to "abolish" slave trade and slavery in the Americas but Jim Crow Laws made life worse for the "freed" slaves and their colonisation and transposition of their hegemony to Africa was even worst for wear on Africa! Yes, we complained that 20 million slaves were taken to the Americas and in the process a 100 million lost their lives in African and enroute but within the short span of King Leopold's grip on the Congo, 20 million Africans were killed! 20 million compared to the 20 million taken to the Americas over 400 years! The legacy of that brutality, the hatred sown, is still unfolding in the Congo, with over 5 million killed since 1974!
Ha! So the stalker armed with a gun killed the person he was stalking and started harassing in self-defense? It is amazing that it doesn't occur to even the lawyers of Trayvon that he was rather fighting for his life, his life that was threatened by a loose canon loonie with a record?
BTW, stick to the subject. This is a follow-up to the debate on terrorism, etc. I posted a 2-part series on the Arabs/Muslims just a while ago. It certainly challenged the position taken by Prof. Salahuddin, which I believe this present writer is also opposed to. Wait for his Part 3. when he explores the position of Dr Molefi Asante, et al.
Andy-K
Nana Bawuah 10 years ago
Even if you want to ignore the holocaust, which was committed on the native people of Africa, South America and many other places. What about the Catholic extermination camps,Catholic terror in Vietnam,Rwanda Massacres (where ... read full comment
Even if you want to ignore the holocaust, which was committed on the native people of Africa, South America and many other places. What about the Catholic extermination camps,Catholic terror in Vietnam,Rwanda Massacres (where the catholic church had been actively involved), active support of Catholic Church of the Nazi regime in Germany and killing of million of Jews? Christianity is not one inch better than Christianity. Always claiming hegemony over any other religion by any means necessary until today.
Francis Kwarteng 10 years ago
Andy,
I am so happy with your intellectual exercise in setting the historical record straight.
My main ineterest is how you address this Jerry Sodeman.
I am too sure if he leaves in space. My heart beats with sadne ... read full comment
Andy,
I am so happy with your intellectual exercise in setting the historical record straight.
My main ineterest is how you address this Jerry Sodeman.
I am too sure if he leaves in space. My heart beats with sadness when I hear people like him making comments such as the ones he/she made here.
How sad.
Thanks for doing a good intellectual job.
I am truly grateful. You have more to teach us than many who appear on Ghanaweb to instult without giving us anything of value to share with friends and families.
Thanks.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago
Sodeman,
You don’t know what you’re talking about!
Please read Kenneth Chang’s article “Black Scientists Less Likely to Win Federal Research Grants, Study Reports” (The New York Times,” August 18, 2011). Pleas ... read full comment
Sodeman,
You don’t know what you’re talking about!
Please read Kenneth Chang’s article “Black Scientists Less Likely to Win Federal Research Grants, Study Reports” (The New York Times,” August 18, 2011). Please also read Kirsten West Savali’s article “Divided States of America: 26 States Petition to Secede After Re-Election of President Obama.”“
Nothing I said in the essay is anti-American or anti-West (they are taught in many American institutions).
Abolition did not begin in the West (Europe and America) as you think. It started in Africa. There were nearly 300 wars fought by Africans to end slavery in various places in Africa but are not mentioned in the histories of White Abolitionists (read the works of the British historian Basil Davidson, he’ll tell you more about this; this is neither taught in the West nor mentioned in Abolition history in the West; we don’t even teach African Abolition in our schools either). So don’t give the wrong impression White Abolitions did all the fighting. And who cares if any White Abolitionist died? Don’t you know some of these Abolitionists owned slaves themselves and many of their closest family members did as well?
Unfortunately, your comments are similar to those made by White American racists!
Let me first tell you that Dr. Butler is an American. Her forbear fought for America’s independence and also built America. I don’t know about your nationality (whether you are natural born citizen of America) and, therefore, she has every right to say anything she wants to say about her country (more than you and I—if you are not American). Besides, Dr. Butler can decide to live wherever she desires to live. That is her right, not yours. Finally, as American and pubic intellectual she has every right to contribute to discussions affecting Americans. I have that right to do the same thing in Ghana.
Let me remind you what Eric Holder, America’s first black attorney general, said recently:
“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards.” How’s this different from Dr. Butler’s?
Sodeman, have you read Washington’s “Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present”? Have you read or do you know about the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment and how this and other such experiments conducted on African Americans have affected the health psychology of African Americans today? This is what ex-President Bill Clinton said:
“The eight men who are survivors of the syphilis study at Tuskegee are a living link to a time not so very long ago that many Americans would prefer not to remember, but we dare not forget. It was a time that our nation failed to live up to its ideals, when our nation broke the trust with our person that is the very foundation of our democracy. It’s not only in remembering that shameful past that we can make amends and repair our nation, but it is in remembering that past that we can build a better present and a better future. And without remembering it, we cannot make amends and we cannot go forward.”
Let’s listen to President Obama on Zimmerman acquittal:
“Delving directly and personally into the national debate over race and ethnicity in the aftermath of George Zimmerman’s acquittal of killing Martin, Obama said the country needs to look for ways to bolster Africa-American boys and examine state laws to see if they encourage confrontations like the one in Florida…it’s time for all of us to do some soul searching…Obama questioned whether a law that sends the message that someone who’s armed “has the right to use those firearms even if there is a way for them to exit a situation” really promotes the peace and security that people want…”
White Christian Americans like Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Patrick Buchannan, Don Imus, etc., have said horrible things than anything publicly attributed to Dr. Butler in her entire life. Most White American intellectuals know Dr. Butler is right. “Conservative political pundit Pat Buchannan stoked controversy today by claiming that Barack Obama’s re-election has ‘killed White America,’” writes The Daily Currant (See the article “Buchanan: ‘White America’ Died Last Night)
Tell Jews to stop talking about what happened to them in the past 5 thousand years. It’s only Africans who’d say we should stop taking about matters that happened 200 years but whose impact we still continue to feel in Sudan and all over Africa today.
Please read:
1)Norman Finkelstein’s “The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering”
2)Michelle Alexander “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness”
3)Douglass Blackmon’s “Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War 11”
Let’s end with one of President Obama’s remarks:
“But I did want to just talk a little bit about context and how people have responded to it and how people are feeling. You know, when Taryvon Martin was first shot, I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Taryvon Martin should have been me 35 years ago. And when you think about why, in the African-America community at least, there’s a lot of pain around what happened here, I think it’s important to recognize that the African-American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that---that doesn’t go away.”
We are not far away from 200 years. 200 years was just yesterday. Read Thomas Jefferson and you’ll understand that he predicted what we are currently talking about today. In fact, the legacy of slavery was one of his greatest fears. He made these observations nearly 200 years ago.
Please do some serious reading before commenting on sensitive issues. I wish I could say more.
AFRIKABI 10 years ago
ALMOST EVERY 5 YRS THERE IS A MOVIE OR A BOOK ON THE JEWISH HOLOCAUST. JEWS STILL CELEBRATE OR REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM 5000 YRS AGO. IT IS NOT FOR YOU TO TELL THE VICTIM HOW LONG HE CAN MOURN. THE GERMANS CANNOT TELL T ... read full comment
ALMOST EVERY 5 YRS THERE IS A MOVIE OR A BOOK ON THE JEWISH HOLOCAUST. JEWS STILL CELEBRATE OR REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM 5000 YRS AGO. IT IS NOT FOR YOU TO TELL THE VICTIM HOW LONG HE CAN MOURN. THE GERMANS CANNOT TELL THE JEWS HOW LONG THEY CAN MOURN.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago
AFRIKABI,
Your observation is part of my long response to Jerry Sodeman. Good observation though.
Please you can see it
AFRIKABI,
Your observation is part of my long response to Jerry Sodeman. Good observation though.
Please you can see it
Kofi Virginia 10 years ago
The problem with history is that people can use it selectively by highlighting those events that give them the best arguments. Arab slavers (in the Western Sudan and East African) and the various jihads on the continent (esp ... read full comment
The problem with history is that people can use it selectively by highlighting those events that give them the best arguments. Arab slavers (in the Western Sudan and East African) and the various jihads on the continent (especially in Sudan)are part of that history but should be mentioned and explained it its context. What is most important is how we strive to make the best of the current situation in other to create a better future as opposed to just making a list.
Hamid 10 years ago
You have to read the Legacy of Arab-Islam written by Prof. John Azumah who also happens to be a Ghanaian. He details Arab-Muslim racism and slavery in detail as well as Muslim jihad movements in West Africa back in the 18th a ... read full comment
You have to read the Legacy of Arab-Islam written by Prof. John Azumah who also happens to be a Ghanaian. He details Arab-Muslim racism and slavery in detail as well as Muslim jihad movements in West Africa back in the 18th and 19th centuries. IT IS A MUST READ!
GREAT NANA ANTWI 10 years ago
ARE YOU IN NEED OF A FAST POWERFULL SPIRITUALIST see www.greatnanapowerfullspiritualist.blogspot.com
ARE YOU IN NEED OF A FAST POWERFULL SPIRITUALIST see www.greatnanapowerfullspiritualist.blogspot.com
hawwa 10 years ago
nana,
since you are great why dont you use your power to creat more jobs in ghana for the poor who dont have work to do, or even use your powers to get some trillions of pounds for the poor ghanians who dont have some place ... read full comment
nana,
since you are great why dont you use your power to creat more jobs in ghana for the poor who dont have work to do, or even use your powers to get some trillions of pounds for the poor ghanians who dont have some place to sleep, and if your power is great as you said, you dont have to advertised yourself, make yourself some gud and stop posting shit on your blog.
Ferguson 10 years ago
Why would you want to defend these two evil, babaric, racist and slave minded religions at the expense of your God given life? Can't you see where these two religions pop out from? Can't you draw the lines? It is hard time, f ... read full comment
Why would you want to defend these two evil, babaric, racist and slave minded religions at the expense of your God given life? Can't you see where these two religions pop out from? Can't you draw the lines? It is hard time, folks!!!
john Mason aka Buffalo Soilder 10 years ago
amy people that goes to another people house after bein welcome repesent the seed of an larger invasion.@the ancient egyptians wire spiritual thousand of years before anyone called thier understsnding pagan.The invaders were ... read full comment
amy people that goes to another people house after bein welcome repesent the seed of an larger invasion.@the ancient egyptians wire spiritual thousand of years before anyone called thier understsnding pagan.The invaders were wrong than and they are wrong today.No one arabs or albinos came to africa for the good of the africian people.educated africa should form a bill of rights for the good of africans and send the invaders back to their evil sesiest racist land that they came from ,and reclaim the wealth of the land for th good of Africans first
francis kwarteng 10 years ago
Buffalo Soldier,
Your observation is one of the many reasons I wrote this piece.
But our people are difficult to convince of the dangers these foreign presence and ideas are doing to our very survival.
It's part of ... read full comment
Buffalo Soldier,
Your observation is one of the many reasons I wrote this piece.
But our people are difficult to convince of the dangers these foreign presence and ideas are doing to our very survival.
It's part of the reason why everyone else is "developing" and we are still behind.
Please preach your progressive philosophy to all.
Thanks.
john Mason aka Buffalo Soilder 10 years ago
There is no excuse for small slavery or big slavery everyone that came to the motherland came to brought their false belief to Africa.Educated Africans today should create for the benefit of AFRICA A bill of rights FOR THE A ... read full comment
There is no excuse for small slavery or big slavery everyone that came to the motherland came to brought their false belief to Africa.Educated Africans today should create for the benefit of AFRICA A bill of rights FOR THE AFRICAN PEOPLE TODAY TOMORROW MAY BE TO LATE.RECLAIM THE WEALTH OF THE LAND AND RECLAIM OUR SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION.NOW
Osei Yao 10 years ago
You wrote this thrash for doctorate degree? What a waste of time!
You wrote this thrash for doctorate degree? What a waste of time!
minka 10 years ago
Osei Yao,
What is your level of education?
You certainly don't write a one-page essay, post it on Ghanaweb and expect to get a degree for it.
Ghanaweb is not an academic journal.
Why are some Ghanaians so dumb a ... read full comment
Osei Yao,
What is your level of education?
You certainly don't write a one-page essay, post it on Ghanaweb and expect to get a degree for it.
Ghanaweb is not an academic journal.
Why are some Ghanaians so dumb and stupid?
You sound like George Zimmerman
Lucy McCalmont 10 years ago
Who knows why you just had to make that lean,
who knows why you became part of the gangsta scene,
who knows who sold you all them blunts,
who understood your whistles and your grunts,
who made you assault the neighbor ... read full comment
Who knows why you just had to make that lean,
who knows why you became part of the gangsta scene,
who knows who sold you all them blunts,
who understood your whistles and your grunts,
who made you assault the neighborhood watch,
whose jewelry was that you were caught w/at school
who made you act the ghetto fool?
Why didn’t your Crip daddy stick around,
whose head on the pavement did you pound,
who had to make a decision that fateful night,
when you left him no escape and picked a fight,
who made the choice to mock and sass,
an armed watchman (you called “creepy @$$”),
who could’ve gone home but didn’t there go,
instead walked towards a six foot deep hole.
george zimmerman 10 years ago
Dear McCalmont,
You sound like those drug-using and thieving Hispanic/Latino fools who are always begging for money and food on the 4 train in New York.
Clean up and get some real job.
Stop begging and using drugs.
Dear McCalmont,
You sound like those drug-using and thieving Hispanic/Latino fools who are always begging for money and food on the 4 train in New York.
Interesting piece. it is unfortunate, though, that the high-tech powered media of America and Europe never have interest in this kind of history...the game of the day is to help set-up moslems and blame them for everything th ...
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My brother Francis,
I am quite sure many people will fail to understand the trajectory of your post. Haven't seen Part 1, btw.
As my 2-part series a while ago seek to portray, it is direct rebuttal to many of the claims ...
read full comment
Dear Andy,
Please forgive me. I chose to spend a lot of resources on Chriatianity and its role in the enslavement of Africans because you did a good job on the Arab Traans-Saharan Slave Trade and, therefore, I decided to c ...
read full comment
Hi Francis,
I wrote my short rejoinder in a hurry, hence many typos which one must decipher to understand what I wrote! Phew!
Couldn't find the post again later when I was less busy, only to re-appear today.
Now, in ...
read full comment
If the pastors fail to educate you can and you are doing it. Congrats Francis. Authentic Traditional Religion,Authentic Islam and Authentic Christianity, Authentic Budhism, are part of colors of the rainbow proving harmonious ...
read full comment
It bleeds my heart when I see people who appear to be scholarly talk about islam as if it is an arab religion. There is no religion on the face of the earth except Islam that can claim that its early adherents thought of othe ...
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I perfectly share your thaughts. Many people do not understand Islam and they are not even ready to explore the religion. From a Christian background, i have thoroughly researched religion to the level that i now know the tru ...
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BOMBS AND GUNS WAS INVENTED BY THE TERRORIST IMPERIALISTS.Arabs are tribes not a skin color,there are Arabs who are darker than so-called blacks,these article is more than garbage is based on philosophical rhetoric.in every ...
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BABA,PLEASE TRY AND FIND A JOB IN ANY OF THESE MUSLIM COUNTRIES AND SEE HOW YOU WILL BE TREATED AS A MUSLIM FROM GHANA. UNTIL YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED NAKED AND BLATANT RACISM FROM THESE MUSLIMS YOU WILL CONTINUE DEFENDING ISLAM.
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THE KORAN ASKS MUSLIMS TO BE KIND AND ACCEPTING OF JEWS AND CHRISTIANS. NOT TO THOSE WHO PRACTISED TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS LIKE AFRICANS. AFRICANS WERE CONSIDERED AS KAFFIRS.
ARABS STILL DO NOT CONSIDER BLACK AFRICANS AS HUM ...
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WE HAVE VACANCIES FOR THE UNDERLISTERED JOBS.
VERY URGENT. APPLICANTS MUST CALL THE OFFICE FOR DIRECTIVE FOR VERY QUICK EMPLOYMENT.
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SALESMEN,
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The fact of the matter is that every christian who participated in the enslavement process was a bad christian. Therefore as christians we dissociate ourselves from their actions. But can muslims do the same? considering the ...
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Those interested in this controversy can see Tony Martin’s “The Jewish Onslaught: Despatches from the Wellesley Battlefront.” You can also see “the Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews,” Vols. l &ll” and ...
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Where in the bible does the christian god forbid slavery? You'd think Jesus, knowing fully well that his followers would be turn out to be murderous slave-owners, would have warned them about it.
HI GIDEON , MAY THE PEACE PROTECTIONS AND GUIDANCE OF ALLAH BE ON YOU . IF YOU QUOTING FROM THE QURAN OR THE HADITHS, YOU MUST BE SPECIFIC AND ACCEPT THE FACTS AS THERE ARE , DON'T GO ABOUT MISLEADING THE PUBLIC OF WHAT YOU D ...
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I beg to differ with the author's position in this controversial topic.
It is a moot point to consider someone who lives in the west, or considers himself a Christian, as a Christian when he is not living the life of a Chr ...
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You seemed to analys Chritianity and Islam and out of your own justice found them guilty, but you did not analyse the racist aspect of African traditional religion too where certain practices encourages slavery and discrimina ...
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The Supreme Being of the Akan people appears in the triad of Nyame-Nyankopon-Odumankoma. Nyame is the female aspect of the Supreme Being or Creator, symbolized by the Ohemaa of the state. Nana Asaase Yaa is the mother of the ...
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It is true slavery had existed in the medieval empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, but but these "Slaves" had rights and were treated fairly. After a certain period of serving, the slaves were taken into the family where the ...
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"The slaves had rights and were treated fairly" you mean the heads that were choped to accompany a dead chief was treated fairly? Or the albinos and deformed children that were killed were treated fairly? Or is it some that i ...
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I dont know about your tribe. In my tribe "Akan" in particular in my family many even married those slaves they were given. When was somebody killed for a Chief? Stop that nonesense, in Asante no citizen was allowed to be kil ...
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YES, SLAVES WERE KILLED TO ACCOMPANY YOUR DEAD NANA. THE ABRAFO DID THE JOB WELL. THIS IS WELL-DOCUMENTED FACT AND YOU KNOW IT.
NO CULTURE IS PERFECT. STOP PAINTING A ONE-SIDED PICTURE OF YOUR PERFECT PEOPLE. IT IS FALSEHO ...
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Nana,
I read both your posts. I like your zest you really need to be straighten up tremendously!
I'll see what I can do, by and by. Watch this space.
Andy-K
Folks,
This is something I wrote way back in Sep. 1997 during a debate generated on an African-American created forum about the genealogy or descent of black people, the complexion of Jesus, some blacks (African-Americans ...
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Ham=Kam (was the second son of Noah (Nowah) and belong to those who survived the flood. As the creator led them so that they populated the whole mainland, the interior land and the cost. Some of them also sailed to the Island ...
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THERE WAS NO NOAH. THE STORY OF NOAH WAS BORROWED FROM OTHER PEOPLE WHO LIVED LONG BEFORE THE JEWS. I BELIEVE U HAVE READ OTHER EPICS OF THE FLOOD THAT THE JEWS COPIED. NOAH AND THE FLOOD IS NOTHING BUT THE MYTHOLOGY OF ANCIE ...
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JEWSIH TRADITIONS COPIED THE FLOOD FROM "EPIC OF THE GILGAMESH"
To me, it is all deja vu. I've traveled this road. Here we go!
Subject: EXPOSING THE BIBLICAL MYTHS II
Folks,
I hereby post another article for those who want to know the truth and those who believe in the biblical ...
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"It is the total disregard of God's law that cupidity has became a default in a world which knows no God. Satan still uses pawns from every nation, race, tribe and religion."
That is pure, distilled, undiluted stupidity. I ...
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I agree with you!
Arab racism toward blackness can be ferocious.
But you must be careful when you compare it with racism in the West (America and Europe). We must know the history of America and Europe to draw this con ...
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christians are trained to hate and insult in their churches.u hardly see a christian who accept the reality.
so with with gideons comment,if he should be dealt with by muslims,then they are violence.i believe christians will do the world good if they stop using posting stupid comments.
The sooner we leave these silly myths behind, the better. Even if you want to cling to superstition at all costs, why not stick to your own traditional religions, which are clearly more suited for this environment? These Jesu ...
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I didn't want to waste time reading all of this, but what i read was obviously anti-American, anti-Christianity garbage. Why does not the author talk about the Christian abolitionists, the white people who died to free the s ...
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My goodness! Disgusting to see people complaining about things that happened 200 years ago? Where did you get that one from? Here we are trying to put the records straight and understand why there is a continuum of Euro-Ameri ...
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Even if you want to ignore the holocaust, which was committed on the native people of Africa, South America and many other places. What about the Catholic extermination camps,Catholic terror in Vietnam,Rwanda Massacres (where ...
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Andy,
I am so happy with your intellectual exercise in setting the historical record straight.
My main ineterest is how you address this Jerry Sodeman.
I am too sure if he leaves in space. My heart beats with sadne ...
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Sodeman,
You don’t know what you’re talking about!
Please read Kenneth Chang’s article “Black Scientists Less Likely to Win Federal Research Grants, Study Reports” (The New York Times,” August 18, 2011). Pleas ...
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ALMOST EVERY 5 YRS THERE IS A MOVIE OR A BOOK ON THE JEWISH HOLOCAUST. JEWS STILL CELEBRATE OR REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM 5000 YRS AGO. IT IS NOT FOR YOU TO TELL THE VICTIM HOW LONG HE CAN MOURN. THE GERMANS CANNOT TELL T ...
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AFRIKABI,
Your observation is part of my long response to Jerry Sodeman. Good observation though.
Please you can see it
The problem with history is that people can use it selectively by highlighting those events that give them the best arguments. Arab slavers (in the Western Sudan and East African) and the various jihads on the continent (esp ...
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You have to read the Legacy of Arab-Islam written by Prof. John Azumah who also happens to be a Ghanaian. He details Arab-Muslim racism and slavery in detail as well as Muslim jihad movements in West Africa back in the 18th a ...
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ARE YOU IN NEED OF A FAST POWERFULL SPIRITUALIST see www.greatnanapowerfullspiritualist.blogspot.com
nana,
since you are great why dont you use your power to creat more jobs in ghana for the poor who dont have work to do, or even use your powers to get some trillions of pounds for the poor ghanians who dont have some place ...
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Why would you want to defend these two evil, babaric, racist and slave minded religions at the expense of your God given life? Can't you see where these two religions pop out from? Can't you draw the lines? It is hard time, f ...
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amy people that goes to another people house after bein welcome repesent the seed of an larger invasion.@the ancient egyptians wire spiritual thousand of years before anyone called thier understsnding pagan.The invaders were ...
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Buffalo Soldier,
Your observation is one of the many reasons I wrote this piece.
But our people are difficult to convince of the dangers these foreign presence and ideas are doing to our very survival.
It's part of ...
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There is no excuse for small slavery or big slavery everyone that came to the motherland came to brought their false belief to Africa.Educated Africans today should create for the benefit of AFRICA A bill of rights FOR THE A ...
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You wrote this thrash for doctorate degree? What a waste of time!
Osei Yao,
What is your level of education?
You certainly don't write a one-page essay, post it on Ghanaweb and expect to get a degree for it.
Ghanaweb is not an academic journal.
Why are some Ghanaians so dumb a ...
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Who knows why you just had to make that lean,
who knows why you became part of the gangsta scene,
who knows who sold you all them blunts,
who understood your whistles and your grunts,
who made you assault the neighbor ...
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Dear McCalmont,
You sound like those drug-using and thieving Hispanic/Latino fools who are always begging for money and food on the 4 train in New York.
Clean up and get some real job.
Stop begging and using drugs.