From the beginning, humanity in its quest for survival, for the most part, emerged as the predator, “the beast”, the warrior, merciless, brutal and cold-hearted killers and conquerors seeking territories, dominions, spoils and advancement into vast and powerful empires and civilizations.
Notwithstanding this nature, “the beast” had, from the beginning, an awareness of the inner realities of the spiritual world. Humanity as animals were differentiated from the lower animals by the intellect. This was our access to knowledge, vision, inspiration, creativity and religion.
A large percentage of ancient humanity, in coming to terms with the struggles, challenge, obstacles and suffering in their existence, believed in the practce of idolatry, worshipping idols as gods.
Religion became an essential element in achieving group unity and outlook and in shaping the way in which early humans responded to and interpreted their world.
Religion became the instrument by which emperors, pharaohs and monarchs validated their absolute power and deified themselves. This led to an alliance and collaboration between religious leaders, the ruling class/elite and the rulers to establish, promote and maintain the status quo.
The warriors had taken on the mantle of religion, counterfeit and different from the original root religions, to serve their own purposes, but they remained cunning, merciless, brutal, cruel and coldhearted.
Their alliance was to facilitate the efficient and effective conquest, rule and exploitation of other groups and civilizations to establish dominion and obtain wealth and territory.
An important centre of activity and interaction between the different civilizations of the time was in the Mediterranean region, and the Mediterranean Sea was an important area of trade, transport and cultural exchange between diverse people. The region extended from the Nile River in Egypt to ancient Rome in the West.
It became a Roman lake and an area of conflict between the Roman Empire and the peoples of Ancient Egypt and to the East and North East.
This conflict subsequently escalated into religious wars between peoples of the Christian and Muslim faiths.
In the late Middle Ages in Europe (which lasted from the fifth to the late fifteenth centuries), the balance of power shifted in favour of the Muslims, and this led to a fundamental increase in power of the Roman Catholic Church (The Papacy), which had evolved since Emperor Constantine, in the fourth century A.D., adopted Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire.
The R.C. Church had amassed considerable wealth property and power in Europe. Most Europeans had become Roman Catholics and this caused an increase in the influence of the Church, both spiritual and political.
The Church, by this time, had been completely taken over by the warriors, who in the exercise of their power had committed acts of unspeakable and unimaginable horror in the name of religion.
In the late fifteenth century, “the warriors” from Europe, masquerading as agents of their respective countries, embarked on their exploration of the New World with their weapons in one hand, and the Bible of the priests in the other. The ministers of religion were warriors in the habits of priests, false pretenders without shame, decency or conscience, proficient in the arts of treachery, deceit, manipulation, dishonesty, cruelty and killing. They were without compassion, empathy or mercy.
The nefarious expeditions and conquests of the Europeans ushered in the period of colonization of the New World, led to the genocide of the indigenous peoples and the subsequent colonization and partition of Africa and Asia in the eighteenth and late nineteenth centuries.
In 1763, Britain became the world’s dominant power during this period of the birth and growth of capitalism and the industrial revolution.
This colonial power was responsible for the enslaving of Africans from West Africa, for the slave trade and for the slavery of Africans, which they developed into an economic institution that produced increased wealth for the few in England.
Colonialism was a yoke around the neck of the conquered and led to the despoilation of economies and the establishment of social hierarchies, a caste system based on racism, racial superiority and racial discrimination.
This racism was perpetuated by society, including the members and hierarchy of the Church.
After the Second World War, and in the late twentieth century, many countries by dint of consistent struggle and sacrifice, gained their independence from colonial oppression and exploitation.
However, notwithstanding formal independence, the liberated countries have still been held under imperial control by Europe and North America, led by the United States as peripheral industrialized and developing countries governed by the central developed countries. The decolonized nations, the commonwealth, are locked into capitalism and neocolonialism where diplomacy and other sophisticated measures are used to compel submission with an emphasis on double standards and divide and rule.
It is important to note that throughout this period and to date, the alliance of religion with colonialism and neocolonialism remained intact to the detriment of the emerging peoples and societies, although there were changes and adjustments made due to the changing reality of the late twentieth century and beyond.
In fact, the struggle for independence of the colonized territories in the world, and in particular, the Caribbean region in the late twentieth century, exposed the weaknesses biases, prejudices, hypocrisy, complicity, and anti-people attitudes of the established religions and churches.
Many of them, if not all, were opposed to independence and were fierce critics and opponents of the national liberation leaders and their supporters. Their primary focus was to maintain their power, wealth, status and privilege in society. They were also determined to maintain the status quo and the control of their religion and congregation.
The leadership of the established religions, former colonialists promote the belief in capitalism and neocolonialism and are anti-communist and antisocialist in their perspective. They are profoundly materialistic although they posture as spiritual and continue to maintain their alliance with the ruling class /elite who, established in their market morality, are nihilistic and cynical in their outlook. Further, this class/elite, except for situations of crisis and emergency, are immune from feelings of compassion and concern for the rest of society whom they exploit in their quest for profit.
These religions/churches emphasize faith, piety, correctness, traditions, ceremonies and rituals, with a restricted and limited involvement in concrete works, deeds and actions to build community and promote civic and social responsibility.
Their focus on education has been directed towards training the society to be submissive, deferential, conformist, complacent and obedient in support of the status quo.
They have not shown any significant or systematic interest in educating our citizens to be independent critical thinkers, problem solvers, mediators and counsellors who are socially conscious, frank, intellectual, courageous, questioning, respectful and idealistic.
The leadership of the churches, in their schools or education policies, have shown little or no interest in systematically combatting racism, racial discrimination and racial prejudice or in seeking to promote genuine mutual respect, understanding, trust, tolerance and friendship among individuals and racial groups in our society.
They promote negative competitiveness and intra-group rather than inter-group solidarity and fail to properly promote the love and trust that hold together a democratic, multiethnic, multicultural and multireligious community and society. They have all failed to develop in their respective congregations a shared sense of national identity in the midst of diversity and multiculturalism.
They have an illusory vision for our society that is all positive but are unable, because of their positions and stances, to effectively influence the leadership and the society to move in the direction necessary to transform our institutions and approaches. As a result, they have failed to achieve genuine change and the building of democracy in our society.
In the centre of this misdirection, paralysis and inaction among the church leadership, The Interreligious Organization seems to be a white elephant.
The time has arrived and is now upon us. There must now be an honest and deep reflection, soul-searching, analysis and understanding by the leadership of the established Churches, and it must result in a change in their attitude and approach to their sacred mission.
It is clear to us that the church leadership must now redirect their approach to an emphasis on the application of the word to the current world realities. The Churches must now become more involved in the communities. We must now see involvement in continuous projects and actions geared towards building social consciousness, self-reliance, national unity, civic and community responsibility and involvement.
Faith and works must be shown to be inextricably linked and necessary for success in achieving our noble goals. Therefore, we must take the Churches back into the communities, where they can better help the citizens develop self-reliance, efficiency and self-organization.
The Church must apply the lessons and teachings from their holy books to the current realities existing in our societies and give their wholehearted, meaningful and consistent support to these efforts to develop our democracy.
Humanity, on an individual and on a collective basis, must now awaken and take its salvation into its own hands, and not wait for the leadership and the powers that be to make the changes required to advance our democracy.
Let us revitalize the national liberation movement for peace, bread and justice by intensifying the non-violent social movement for change.
