As my fascination with the history of Saint Lucia continues, I have been researching the relationship of slavery and Christianity. It is still inconceivable that the Christian Church as expressed in Protestant and Catholic format never raised their voices against this evil commerce of slavery. Even Bartholomew De Las Casas, which may have been historically viewed as a small spark, advocated for the use of African slaves instead of Native Indians. The Christian Church leaders in the most evil distortion of the Bible, sought to use passages of scripture to provide the soothing of the consciences of the elite that the practice of slavery was acceptable in the sight of God.
Obviously, the African slaves saw this travesty of the truth and were never attracted to Christianity in the pre-emancipation period. However after the emancipation there was a dramatic change. In referencing the book – A History of St Lucia – Harmsen, Ellis, Devaux, it is recorded that even up to 1837 attendance by slaves at churches was extremely sparse. In 1841 there was a dramatic change with churches island wide overflowing with the newly freed people.
The following comment in a historical record is pregnant with seeds of understanding the relationship of slavery and Christianity. It was said in 1841: ‘ The chief ambition of the laboring population now is to dress themselves and their children, and conduct themselves in a manner that would surpass our European peasantry, on Sundays and fete days, the church is actually crowded with these persons, many of whom come a considerable distance from the country to attend the mass’. This was the experience in differing records for Castries, Anse La raye, Gros Islet, Laborie, Choisuel, Vieux Fort . It is recorded that the District Magistrate for Soufriere was shocked that the auctioned seats in the church were taken by the freed slaves. It is recorded ‘ about 100 places were purchased by the newly freed, at prices varying from two to six dollars, mostly by women, who, I am sadly afraid, go to church principally to display their finery’.
It is clear from the historical records that it was not the message of Christianity that caused the sudden movement in large numbers into the churches. The principal reason for the growth of attendance was that the Sunday morning became an avenue to express equivalence of status. The women and men can dress as their former masters and sit in the same pew, a powerful expression of empowerment.
The tradition lives on, and even today the special days of Christmas, New Year’s and Easter would create the same display of finery and high attendance. The new dress has to be purchased to go to church on those days. The term ‘Sunday Best’ is now established within the Caribbean vocabulary. The traces of distortion have now shifted, with certain groups within the society saying that Christianity is a white man’s religion. This is totally incorrect as Christianity was in Africa before any European white every heard the name Jesus Christ.
As a young teenager embracing Christianity in the midst of the Black Power revolution, you were bombarded with these statements of a ‘white man religion’. However I always wanted this to be shown to me as it was contrary to the very Bible that I read. The symbolism of Jesus with the Caucasian features also bolstered their arguments; however I knew that Jesus would have had Jewish features, wooly hair and definitely not that nose we see in drawings. So if any ill-informed individual mouths these inaccuracies be so advised that this is not so.
This is an aspect of slavery that needs to be considered in understanding our society. It is a challenge for church leaders to present a new message, one which says that church attendance has nothing to do with your soul’s salvation. In our local context to also show that Africans played a dominant role in the Early Church and convey the historical truth about Haile Selassie. The truth must be told.