WHAT IS KWANZAA?
Some of today's African-American families have begun a
celebration of their culture that comes once a year. That
celebration is called Kwanzaa. It is celebrated beginning with
December 26 and lasting through January 1. Kwanzaa means "first
fruits" and is centered upon seven principles called the Nguzo
Saba. Each day of Kwanzaa is celebrated by the discussion of one
of these principles. A candle is lighted preceding the discussion,
whether it is during a meal time or any other time associated with
a family gathering. The seventh day of Kwanzaa if culminated in
gift-giving.
The Nguzo Saba (seven principles) which Kwanzaa was created to
introduce and reinforce is listed as follows:
1. UMOJA (Unity) - To strive for and maintain unity in the
family, community, nation and race.
2. KUJICHAGULIA (self-determination) - To define ourselves, name
ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves
instead of being defined, named, created for and spoken for by
others.
3. UJIMA (Collective Work an Responsibility) - To build and
maintain our community together and make our sister's and
brother's problems our problems and to solve them together.
4. UJAMAA (Cooperative Economics) - To build and maintain our own
stores shops and other businesses and to profit from them
together.
5. NIA (Purpose) - To make our collective vocation the building
and developing of our community in order to restore our people
to their traditional greatness.
6. KUUMBA (Creativity) - To do always as much as we can, in the
way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and
beneficial than we inherited it.
7. IMANI (Faith) - To believe with all our heart in our people,
our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness
and victory of our struggle.
Kwanzaa is taught by its creator, Dr. Maulana Karenga, that it
is not a religious but cultural holiday that is observed by people
of all faiths. What I will attempt to do is show how the ethics
represented in Kwanzaa closely resemble a religion, and why
Christians should have nothing to do with this anti-Christian
observance. The following is an example of words quoted from the
Dr. Maulana Karenga in the book The African American Holiday of
Kwanzaa:
"The time for Kwanzaa celebration was chosen to give those who
wished it a culturally specific holiday alternative to the existing
ones." (p 32)
Dr. Karenga also defines Kwanzaa from another book titled Kwanzaa:
Origin, Concepts, Practice:
"Kwanzaa has definite principles, practices and symbols
that are geared to the social and spiritual needs of Afro-America.
The core principles of Kwanzaa are the Nguzo Saba (the seven
principles) which I developed and proposed during the Black
Cultural Revolution in the Sixties as a necessary minimum set of
principles by which Black people must live in order to begin
to rescue and reconstruct our history and lives. The Nguzo Saba
are thus, social principles, dealing with ways for us to relate to
each other and rebuild our lives in our own image."(p.14)
In the third book written by Dr. Karenga that I will use for this
topic, Kawaida Theory: an Introductory Outline, he also says:
"The Nguzo Saba are the moral minimum value system Black
people need in order to rescue and reconstruct their history and
humanity, indeed their daily lives, in their own image and
interests."(p.44)
These self-centered principles are being introduced to our
children especially those in the public school system that has a
large African-American percentage. These principles seem innocent
enough, but upon closer scrutiny the Bible-believing Christian will
find that there are many problems. Here is are a few excerpts from
the teachings of Imani (faith) the seventh principle of the Nguzo
Saba which is the core of Kwanzaa.
"The Seventh Principle is Faith which is essentially a
profound belief in and commitment to all that is of value to us as
a family, community, people and culture. In the context of African
spirituality, it begins with a belief in the Creator and in the
positiveness of the creation and logically leads to a belief
in the essential goodness and possibility of the human personality.
For in all African spiritual traditions, from Egypt on, it is
taught that we are in the image of the Creator and thus capable of
ultimate righteousness and creativity through self-mastery and
development in the context of positive support.
Therefore, faith in ourselves is key here, faith in our
capacity as humans to live righteously, self-correct, support, care
for and be responsible for each other and eventually create the
just and good society."(p.70 The A.A.H.O.K.)
In his book Kwanzaa: Origin, Concepts, Practice, Dr. Karenga
continues on Imani (faith):
"The principle of Imani thus, imposes on us a
responsibility to believe above all in our own capacity and right
to control our destiny and daily lives, to liberate ourselves and
build a higher level of human life. In a word, it requires us to
shape reality in our own image and according to our own needs.
For only through such creative and proactive practice will we be
able to believe in ourselves and know fully who we are in this
world and the universe." (p. 45).
As noted in the previous paragraph, the key to righteousness
is not a dependence of God through his Word but self-mastery and
faith in oneself which is just another form of self-worship. And
what part does the Creator play in the human's life in this
teaching? The Creator appears to be just a figurehead with no
real function other than to be a name. Let's delve a bit further
into their teachings. Here is another quote by Dr. Karenga:
"The emphasis is on development of character through
instruction in and practice of the ethics Maat. Maat is
essentially truth, justice, and righteousness, but in the larger
sense it is right order established at creation and rightness in
the context of the divine, natural and social. Moreover, Maat
expresses itself in Seven Cardinal Virtues of truth, justice, and
propriety, harmony, balance, reciprocity and order. These virtues
and others form the substance of instruction whose product is a
good character. (pp36-37 The A.A.H.O.K.)
It appears that Dr. Karenga has a form a moral instruction by which
he calls "Maat". Here are further excerpts explaining Maat.
"The Maatian conception of the human person begins with
the proposition that humans are in the image of God. As Kheti
says, "they are in his image and came from his body". This
basic understanding carries within it several attendant
conceptions. First, inherent in this conception is the
assumption that human nature is endowed by Ra and is
essentially good, for it is in his likeness. Secondly, then,
there is no need for religious transformation, i.e.,
conversion or salvation. For the divine nature is already
there, it simply as to be cultivated through teaching and
Maatian social practice. Moreover, then, there is no
conception of original sin, i.e., an existential defect as in
Judeo-Christian anthropology. That is to say, one is
not born in sin, but in the context of possibility.
Therefore, offenses to God, humans and nature can be corrected
by teaching and self-corrective practice and do not require
confession and conversion, or divine grace to an unworthy
and inherently sinful being.(pp.26-27)
. . . Maat, then, is both the nourishment and essence of God
and to practice it is to share in his essence of God and to
practiced it is to share in his essence and ge in harmony with
his desire for the world. Therefore, Maat is the grounds for
ontological unity and affinity of God and humans and again
the grounds of human potential for perfectibility, i.e., moral
and spiritual development which leads to assimilation with
God. Given this, one does not find in Kemetic theology the
deep and enduring gap between God and humans which one finds
on other theological anthropologies, such as Judaism,
Christianity and Orthodox Islam.(p31)
The question that one must consider at this point is how does this
Maat theory tie into Kwanzaa? The following is quoted from Dr.
Karenga's book on The African American Holiday of Kwanzaa.
"The Kawaida emphasis on values which is found in Kwanzaa
is rooted in and rises out of the value emphasis in African
civilizations of ancient Egypt, Ashantisical African philosophy.
Whether in the classical African civilizations of ancient Egypt,
Ashantiland or Yorubaland or in the smaller societies of Dogon,
Dinka or Lovedu, the stress on value instruction and its inherent
assumption of the teachability of the human person are evident in
the Sebait, the Books of Wise Instruction". (p36)
Many, many Christians are following the Kwanzaa tradition without
an inkling to its deeper and darker messages. The intent of my
writings is to inform the Christian who desires to participate in
Kwanzaa of the real meaning of the Holiday and to also expose it
others for what it really is: An attempt by a man to establish a
way of living without the Word of God as his guide.
I have met Dr. Karenga and attended some of his meetings where I
have met members of his group (my sister being a member also).
These African-Americans are a nice group of people of which many
are also Christians. But upon hearing Dr. Karenga speak about
Christianity, I have discovered that he considers it a "white
man's" religion being "Eurocentric" in nature. He vehemently
rejects Jesus Christ as being merely a myth. He has also ridiculed
many of us indirectly by calling our belief "spookism".
Here is another example taken from his book Kwanzaa: Origin,
Concepts, Practice:
"The intention here is not to deny or diminish the importance
of the African spiritual values, but to make a clear distinction
between spiritual values and spookism. Spiritual values are
profound commitments to the highest principles and most proactive
practices of humankind, i.e., principles and practices which are
most vital and effective in the protection and promotion
of human life and development. Spookism, on the other hand, is
intense emotional commitment to non-human-centered principles and
practices which place humans at the mercy of invisible and
omnipotent forces and thus, deny the right and capacity of humans
to shape reality and their future according to their own needs and
desires." (pp 44-45.)
From my personal observation, Dr. Karenga is attempting to
separate African Americans from all that he considers "Eurocentric"
by creating our own holiday that is neither Jewish nor Christian.
In his attempt, which is becoming increasingly successful, he
is indirectly steering the Christian away from Jesus Christ and the
Bible.
This file passed thru the Christian Connection (414)541-6105