USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: The Smoke That Must Be White

"Cornelius is glad that you raised the matters that you raised and
that you assert that "Chineke"and your Igbo religious traditions are
close to the teachings of Christianity. Very close? That in itself
would suggest that it must have been both unnecessary and a walkover -
that you therefore didn't put up much resistance to the Christian
missionaries who were and are still hell-bent on Christianizing
Igboland and that's probably why you would like Cardinal Arinze to be
the next pope - Chineke willing – so that he can extend the light of
Chineke and his only begotten son, Jesus of Nazareth?"

-------Mazi Cornelius.

Mazi,
That Christianization was unnecessary. It was not a walk over because
your missionary friends were actually on a mission of political and
cultural domination which was resisted. A Nigerian Pope now? Why not!
Only because your friends took a lot out of here, it is pay back time.

CAO.


On 4 Mar, 14:27, Cornelius Hamelberg <corneliushamelb...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Chidi,
>
> Pure-ly political?
>
> It's still a nuclear winter over here, so all your talk about roasted
> yam with palm oil  - papa soup and fresh palm wine reminds me of good
> old sunny days in Nigeria. Just the thought of moin-moin, makes my
> mouth water.
>
> For me life in Igboland – those Sam Mbakwe times -  was evenly divided
> between visiting friends, hectic weekends in Aba, hectic weekends with
> the musical enticements of Sir Warrior and the Oriental Brothers at
> the White House in Owerri, politics in Umuahia where our over-zealous
> Igbo brothers and sisters of "the Assemblies of God"almost succeeded
> in drowning me with their baptismal ritual of "full immersion" in the
> river – and when I finally regained my breath they asked me how I was
> feeling – even as I was gasping for air and when I said " OK" they all
> shouted, "Hallelujah!" " The blood of Jesus! " "You are saved!"
>
> The other time the pastor wanted everybody who wore glasses to step up
> to him and deposit our glasses on the floor of his pulpit shouting
> that "all sickness and disease is of the devil !" - so our glasses
> were piled up in front of him after which he started to curse the
> devil. He was about to smash the whole pile of spectacles in front of
> him when I quickly withdrew mine from the pile  after which he asked
> me to step up to the pulpit  - since I was first in line, and then
> with his middle finger and thumb he squeezed my eyeballs hard for
> about thirty second and then withdrew his hand shouting at me to open
> my eyes after which he asked me if I could see anything (as if I had
> been blind) - I replied " Yes " (In fact he had squeezed my eyeballs
> so hard that all I could still see were the stars , blue yellow and
> green stars – it was a kaleidoscope of colours but the main joy of the
> moment was that I could see something, anything at all and the church
> was filled with "Hallelujah ! Praise the Lord !" - the pastor's
> reputation was now assured  - had just been established – he had just
> healed the blind – in Jesus name!!!!!
>
> As his his fame spread through the pews. I quietly returned my glasses
> back to safety and out of sight, into my pocket and then, without my
> glasses I was as good as Blind Bartimaeus,but the congregation didn't
> know this and continued singing their spiritual,
>
> "He has done for me,
> he has done for me,
> what my mother could not do,
> he has done for me"
>
> Cornelius is glad that you raised the matters that you raised and that
> you assert that "Chineke"and your Igbo religious traditions are close
> to the teachings of Christianity. Very close? That in itself would
> suggest that it must have been both unnecessary and a walkover  - that
> you therefore didn't put up much resistance to the Christian
> missionaries who were and are still hell-bent on Christianizing
> Igboland and that's probably why you would like Cardinal Arinze to be
> the next pope  - Chineke willing – so that he can extend the light of
> Chineke and his only begotten son, Jesus of Nazareth ?
>
>  I guess that the idea of sacrifice – a white cock, a goat – a sheep
> - for atonement  - is the chief reason for Christian missionary
> success in Africa South of the Sahara, with the hyperbolic idea that
> not merely  a goat or sheep or cow or white cock, but the son of god
> himself   as in  the  Roman Catholics Agnus Dei : " O lamb of God who
> takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us"  is an unbeatable
> idea for a mind that African religious culture has prepared to accept,
> with just one more leap of the imagination.
>
> You mistake me as one who would emigrate to Nigeria, after ten years
> in Sweden, during which time I did not once set foot in a church, but
> should spend the next four years of my life in your part of
> Nigeria/"Biafra" only to preoccupy myself with acquiring a missionary
> education at the hands of Igbo Christians. As I told you some time
> ago, my only regret is that I did not join the Arochukwu  when I was
> invited to do so.
>
> The Jesuits (badder than all branches of the CIAs, Mi6- a-z, Mosse,
> KGB combined) are good at dealing with other cultures and have gained
> a lot of  experience over the centuries  – so a few years ago I
> attended  what for me was a social event, an Igbo baptism in a
> Catholic Church – here in Stockholm, and was surprised that the
> liturgy and songs were in the Igbo language. But I should like to
> point out to you, Chidi that of the many objections to Christianity
> that I encountered , mostly from the secularists was that they thought
> that Christian missionaries were free to  preach peace and love and
> turn the other cheek etc. but they objected most vehemently to any
> interference with Igbo (and Kalabari) marriage customs, and the
> practice of polygamy in particular. I guess that's where Islam wins
> over Christianity, as being more down-to-earth.
>
> Here's a more extended opinion about the matter in
>
> Edward Wilmot Blyden's  "Christianity,  Islam and the Negro race" :
>
> http://www.google.co.uk/#q=Edward+Wilmot+Blyden+%3A+Christianity%2C++...
>
> We've all had our fair share of  missionary activities as dealt with
> by Achebe, Bro. Jero, Ferdinand Oyono, Mongo Beti, Camara Laye,
> Tchicaya U Tam'si. About the "purely political", in "The Vultures"
> poet David Diop has this stinging criticism about, the proselytising
> Christian missionary Mwalimu
> "Who knew all the books but did not know love"
>
> http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=David+Diop+:+The+Vult...
>
> and the popular idiom about colonialism appearing on the horizon with
> the "New Testament"in one hand and the gun in the other, and then,
> gone was the land in  e.g. South Africa...
> In this regard the one book I should like to recommend above all
> others, is Balachandra Raijan's  "Under Western Eyes" - albeit with a
> focus on the relationship between English Literature (Milton's
> "Paradise Lost" etc. – such commentary and refection on contemporary
> machinations in Imperial-ism and Empire building in India  - also a
> people of inspiration. ( I was most recently inspired by Anish
> Kapoor)
>
> http://www.google.co.uk/#q=Under+Western+Eyes+-+India+from+Milton+to+...
>
> Now, do I get you right, Chidi, that ambitious as you are, you would
> like, "The Papacy,
> with the huge political influence it commands" to be under the papal
> presidency of  someone like Cardinal Francis Arinze?  What a very
> challenging task!!!
>
> http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=Nigerian+Cardinals&oq...
>
> This is my understanding : that the Catholic Church has its
> headquarters in Rome and  power is then devolved down the line through
> the Cardinals and bishops who are the local powers-that-be in their
> bishoprics – so the Nigeria's catholic bishops are the local governors/
> shepherds of their churches. In this respect the Catholic Church has
> already come a long way, by replacing the Monsignori with local
> clergy, nationals of whatever country, even replacing what the
> Catholic Church believes is the Holy Tongue (one which Jesus himself
> did not speak, Latin) by Igbo , although if my memory serves me right,
> I remember that Latin is once again their holy tongue wherever they
> are. For me that tongue is HEBREW.....
>
> About sexual abuse in the  Catholic church, there's a standard joke
> that gained currency over the past century, about some not so virgin
> mothers giving birth to Mulatto children in remote African villages
> where the only White man in sight – for miles around, is the local
> Irish or Italian Catholic priest..
> ..
> Well,here's some genuine matter of local politics in the Catholic
> Church in Africa, this time in Sierra Leone. Just as you have the
> Yoruba and Igbo rivalries in Nigeria  - in Kenya it's the Luo and the
> Kikuyu, so too in Sierra Leone, generally speaking it's between the
> Themne-speaking Temnes in the North and the Mende in the South.
> Recently there has been a lot of palaver : The Vatican appointed a
> Mende as Bishop of Makeni which is in the Temne heartland and the
> Temnes of Makeni  would have none of it ! They want a Temne Bishop.
> Raise that local problem to a global level and as if the Catholic
> Church is not sufficiently bedevilled by other pressing problems, you
> want to inject racism into the church as a new dimension? A new (or
> old?) Catholic Church reality .You would surely see that some people
> would be reluctant to accept the idea of a " nigger pope" this twenty
> first century...make no mistake about it....
> Read on (you will notice of course some cowardly Mwalimu who lacks the
> courage to attack me (his ad hominem) using his father's or mother's
> name:
>
> http://bintumani.forumchitchat.com/post/Makeni-has-declared-war-6127983
>
> I have since left that forum  - my livelihood or peace of mind does
> not depend on it.
>
> Anyway, Chidi,
>
> I remain,
>
> Yours sincerely,
>
> http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/corneliushamelberg/
>
> On Mar 3, 3:26 pm, Chidi Anthony Opara <chidi.op...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > "I don't know if you are an apostle of Chineke or a Catholic……….."
> > -------Mazi Cornelius.
>
> > Mazi,
> > If you had taken time to discuss faith with adherents of Igbo
> > traditional
>
> ...
>
> read more »

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