Christianity. It sounds innocent enough. But, with that religion comes a dogma with a dark side; an aspect of oppression for minorities. The Christian faith was never the choice for Africans and Native Americans. The word of God was on the lips of white Europeans who wanted to spread their religion to the primitive cultures in far away lands. The Native American's and African's pagan religion offended the white land conquerors in a disturbing turn of events. It was Christianity that embellished the minds of white males –that it was fine to perceive people of color as inferior. Oppression of Native Americans and Africans came in many forms; including the guise of Christian faith that put non-whites and women in a lesser place. The image of God was a white male; further pressing on the enslaved races that even in death they still are under the white male's authority. The character Celie in Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple and Pauline in the novel Tracks by Louise Erdrich, exemplify the harmful effects for Native Americans and African Americans to believe Christianity.
[...] The African American character Celie in The Color Purple by Alice Walker, and the Native American character Pauline in the novel Tracks by Louise Erdrich, exemplify the detrimental effects of believing in the white man's faith of Christianity. The pagan religion practiced by their ancestors was deemed savage and primitive of the newly arrived white Europeans. The Christian faith was pressed upon the Native Americans and Africans as a tool of oppression. Cultural genocide broke-up the pagan traditions of the past and the minorities were demanded to follow the more ‘civilized' faith. However, this faith [...]
[...] The isolation created by her neglect of Chippewa culture enforced her Christian faith even more; causing Pauline to adopt obsessive, obscure religious practices. To remind Pauline of the great suffering Christ endured, she wore her shoes backwards, wore burlap underwear and even restricted her toilet use to twice a day. However, Pauline couldn't withstand the isolation and would make visits to the Pillager's to have some kind of human connection and to exemplify that she would survive in the white world. [...]
[...] The Oppressive Christian Faith as Detrimental to Africans and Native Americans Christianity. It sounds innocent enough. But, with that religion comes a dogma with a dark side; an aspect of oppression for minorities. The Christian faith was never the choice for Africans and Native Americans. The word of God was on the lips of white Europeans who wanted to spread their religion to the primitive cultures in faraway lands. The Native American's and African's pagan religion offended the white land conquerors in a disturbing turn of events. [...]
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