Expecting something different from African American persons who are plagued by religion have always and will always be nothing more than an expectation. When expecting a situation or a common occurrence to change most blacks go right into pious mode. They begin to pray and flood Sunday’s altar instead of doing something about their present predicament which is drastically unlike the Jews and Muslims that I know. The prayer is usually an emblematic plea that has been unanswered thus the reason why the results are generic. If God is in the business of answering prayers, it is my prayer that God does not answer prayers that do not edify or call for a permanent change. A change that reflects something has been done by the one down on bent knees.
In that vein, I must ask – What have you (the men/women who are praying for Eddie Long) done to ensure your words are more than just meaningless fustian? Have you asked yourself why you feel a need to pray for a man that has disrespected and defied the God that you believe is your Final Call? Why not pray that he loses it all…all his misguided respect and toxic authority? Why not ask God to bring Eddie Long to a severe breaking point? Why not pray that Eddie just goes away…banished to the wilderness? Why does not your divine wish resemble what the God of the bible has done to recklessly prideful men? Why not condemnation for men who acquire popularity not by delivering an unabashed truth e.g. Nebuchadnezzar, Book of Daniel?
Instead, approval is given to a highly conflicted man who gains status and adoration by taking advantage of the mentally and spiritually compromised?
Black Americans are dejectedly diseased by Christianity so much so that their disease rejects antibiotics thus making RTD (Religion Transmitted Disease) incurable. They will be forever poisoned by spiritual distortions, atrocious interpretations of biblical text, and easily swayed by the opposite of reality. Leaving them insane for lengthy periods of time. One has to be insane if they repeat the same act over and over again while acquiring the same result. That result is Nothing. An unanswered prayer request that defines what the church has become, a building that houses men and women who idolize the worst of humanity.
Once again, I have been reminded by pitiful persons that Man is their religious Hope. This is that hopeless hope that I refuse to extend. Never will I think or believe that a man deserves or has earned a title of Bishop, Pope, The Most High, or the Supreme Leader. I proclaim this because men like Eddie Long are knowingly flawed creatures that in most cases blame their indiscretions on their humanness. That to me is a horribly weak justification for destroying lives. Therefore, I forcefully use my judgment to do what African ancestors have done…they –the spirits of our past- have rejected malignant tumors e.g. devilish men that have eaten away at African American culture. SO, I pray:
‘Dear Lord, I come to you with a pained heart. I stand before you wanting to understand the minds and hearts of black people. I bow down knowing that my presence before you has been almost nonexistence for years. I am on the edge with people I would like to push off. But I will contain my anger while understanding that ignorance and foolishness are characteristics of people that are comfortable. In my uncomfortable state, I have one request…Please use all your power to eliminate the dangerous pride that sits in the bosom of men that have become Nebuchadnezzar:
Send them out into the wasteland. Infect them with craziness. Force them to praise you…then and only then bring them back restored…but only after they have lost everything. That’s my prayer, Lord. Amen and Amen.’
The Pseudo Preacher
