God Bless Slavery

Here's another example of why religion and politics are not a good mix. Mychal Massie, a right wing pundit and African American, went on a radio talk show and started out with a frank discussion about the problems in the black community and, indeed, he made some salient points that are worthy of discussion. But then he jumped the shark with this gem:

The black people today who curse America are cursing God because if God had not permitted the Ashanti and Dahomey tribes of ancient Africa to trap other Africans and sell them to the Muslims, who sold them to the Europeans, we would not have what we have today.

I'm sorry, but that is the point at which I file someone under W - for Wingnut. To invoke God into a discussion of worldly matters is a futile proposition, because matters of faith aren't compatible with logic. I've talked about this issue before. What exactly is God's will? Which bad things that happen are part of His master plan ("God permitted"), and which are just the acts of evil people against His will ("they have succumbed")? Massie said, "Had Joseph not been kidnapped and sold into slavery, he would not have been in a position to help his family in their time of need." If I recall my bible study right, he wasn't kidnapped but sold out by his siblings. It just goes to show no evil deed shall go unrewarded, and where the logic in these types of arguments breaks down. It's like saying we should hail Osama bin Laden as a hero for making America stronger and forging a plan for democracy in the Middle East. Um, no.

If we push God aside, Massie's assertion that had there not been slavery then "we would not have what we have today" is actually quite accurate, if "we" means all of us who live in the Western society. If not for a slave labour force, Europe and America could not have generated vast wealth and become the economic powers that now exist. (Do the ends justify the means?) But it is likely that African nations would have prospered better under different market conditions, and blacks in Africa would have prospered more in the long run than the descendents of slaves in the West. So it is no certainty that African Americans are better off because of slavery - at least the point is arguable, and doesn't warrant a condemnation on religious grounds.

Like I said, some of Massie's other points merit discussion. He talked about the decline of both two-parent households and business ownership in the black community, which would be a good chicken-and-egg issue to examine. (In some ways, de-segregation hurt black enterprise because African Americans exercised their newly found freedoms to go where they couldn't before, but no whites were rushing into black businesses. So does that mean God didn't want de-segregation to happen?) Mind you, he also made an inane remark about today's gangster's not being as well dressed as the ones of yore. (How does he know that God doesn't like tank tops and bling?) It's unfortunate that Massie chose to incite rather than inspire.