The Role of Religion and Spirituality in the Black Radical Tradition: Religion and Slave Rebellion

Introduction

From the onset, it should be noted that there was a rather rigorous policing of slavery in America in an attempt to discourage rebellion. For instance, in the American South, slave rebellions were deemed a source of anxiety owing to the fact that a significant chunk of the population of the region comprised of black slaves. In the said region and further afield, rules were enacted with an intention of not only controlling slave movement, but also slave congregation. This did not, however, prevent rebellions from taking place. To a large extent, this text concerns itself with the role of religion and spirituality in the Black Radical Tradition. More specifically, the editorial will explore the role that religion played in inspiring slave rebellions. In so doing, the editorial will first take into consideration the religious context of slavery in America, its utilization as an enabler of slavery, and how African slaves transformed it into a means to advance rebellion and liberation.

Discussion

As Jabir points out, one of the largest conversion of enslaved Africans into Christianity took place in the 1st half of the 18th century (54). It is important to note that as the author further points out, the said enslaved Africans were given hope by the Exodus narrative in the Old Testament, as well as Revelations in the New Testament. While the Exodus narrative talked about the delivery of Israelites from slavery, the book of Revelations made it clear that persecution and hardships would come to an end and called upon Christians to persevere for the end was nigh. Thus, the common themes in both books were hope and deliverance.

To a large extent, religion became a potent tool for slave owners to gain even greater control over slaves. As a matter of fact, according to Gerbner, the vast majority of slave-owners considered themselves Christian (107). To justify their holding of other humans as legal property and push the obedience agenda, they cleverly deployed various scriptures with Apostle Pauls Epistle to the Ephesians as Gerbner further observes being one of their favorite tools in this regard (115). Here, servants are called upon to be obedient to their masters for this is a way to gain access to Gods favors. More specifically, as Gerbner points out, in VI, 5-7:

Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will...

(117).

Through the deployment of such tactics, Christianity became an enabler of slavery. It is important to note that as Roboteau observes, slaves who were ushered into the country from the year 1619 going forward subscribed to a variety of religious inclinations (212). Close to a third identified as Muslim. However, a vast majority largely embraced spiritual traditions rooted in the traditional African society. There were, however, also those who had some Christian background. At the onset, very few slave-owners had any genuine concern for the spiritual growth of African slaves. It was not until much later that Christianity appeared, amongst some, to be a viable ideal to direct slave obedience, docility and submissiveness (Roboteau 219). From this point, slaves started being allowed to attend church sermons. However, this was...

…that in being able to comprehend biblical teachings on his own, Turner (and others in his position) could tell that there ware glaring hypocrisies being propagated by those who had taken it upon themselves to spread the good news. It is for this reason that Roboteau is categorical that there is high likelihood that this particular rebellion underscored the difference between European religion and African spirituality and alerted the country to the reality that enslaved Africans were not willing to circumvent their spiritual identification (137). However, notwithstanding Roboteaus assertions, there is no doubt that the revolt that Turner led had some Christian faith undertones.

The themes in Turners Revolt resonate with other slave rebellions that were inspired by religion. The ability of slaves to comprehend and understand biblical teachings lead to their questioning of teachings they had been used to during Sunday sermons. However, the scripture appears to have been used as an aid to fuel rebellion. It was an inspiration. It is, however, undeniable that there were spiritual traditions rooted in the traditional African society in the context of Nat Turners Revolt. This is more so the case given that in the opinion of Turner, the self-proclaimed Black Messiah, God was in constant engagement with him via the natural world. What others considered normal natural occurrences, like stars in the sky, meant something different to Turner and were consequential to the Revolt.

Conclusion

In the final analysis, it would be prudent to observe that to a large extent, the very same religion that had been deployed by slave-owners as a tactic of social control turned out to be a potent tool for slave rebellion. To a certain extent, religion became radicalized and was deployed as a source of empowerment by enslaved Africans. There is need to further explore the extent to which the…