Kwanzaa with Commentary

December 29, 2005 – Every year Ann Coulter updates an op-ed called Kwanzaa: A Holiday from the FBI. Kwanzaa lovers will hate it. Check it out.
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Check out debate the origin of Christmas.

I neglected to include a couple of links from the previous Kwanzaa post (2003). For more discussion on the “Christmas is pagan” meme and tired “Saturnalia” retread, read Is Christmas Pagan? and Christmas is NOT Pagan…

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In the past two days I’ve received close to 500 hits on a Kwanzaa article I wrote a couple of years ago (Originally published in December 2003 as Why Black Christians Shouldn’t Celebrate Kwanzaa) and posted on this blog. I hate that I have to write about Kwanzaa, and I hate that it’s seeped into the mainstream to point where white people are wishing black people a “Happy Kwanzaa.” Thank God nobody’s said that to me lately.

Googlers have been landing on my blog because I’m one of the few bloggers who’ve written about Kwanzaa, and as you know, blogs tend to appear quite high in search results.

Here’s the most irritating thing about running a blog with commenting. Sometimes it’s difficult to express oneself clearly to people of varying cognitive abilities. Some process information better than others. Some are able to reason better than others. The less bright may miss the subtlety and nuance. Certain readers may know a bit of the history behind a particular subject; others may be completely ignorant of it. The intellectually curious may do some independent research in an effort to support or dispute my arguments, while others just want to get in their 2 cents regardless. A few may lack common sense altogether, and still others want to be contrary just for the sake of being contrary.

To condense my thoughts into a coherent post, especially with a subject like Kwanzaa, is not easy. It’s 10 times as difficult to explain spiritual matters to non-believers. It’s unfortunate that biblical literacy is not considered important anymore. As this nation was founded on biblical principles, it was a matter of course that people had at least a cursory knowledge of the book, whether they believed it was the word of God or not.

As education in America continues to sink further into the sewage pipes, so has the most fleeting knowledge of an historic book that contains familiar sayings and situations, and inspirational and life-affirming accounts of God’s relationship with his creation. Biblical ignorance is now a badge of “enlightened” honor.

Most critics of my Kwanzaa article are black, of course, and non-Christians, although the article is clearly addressed to Christians. I personally don’t care who or what heathens bow down to worship. My motivation for writing the article was to tell black Christians who observe Kwanzaa why it is spiritually dangerous to do so.

I’m reposting the article with commentary. An update is long overdue. A few months ago an editor at the Christian Research Journal asked me to write a Kwanzaa article for their December 2006 issue. That piece will be more fleshed out and scholarly. In the meantime, I’ll attempt to answer a few of the most common questions and critiques, which I’ve placed in brackets.

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“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines.” Hebrews 13:8&9

America — the greatest country in the world — was founded on the concept of religious freedom. In America, you can be a Christian, Jew, Muslim, atheist or pagan, without fear of persecution. While government cannot endorse one religion over the other, individuals can.

[Discussions about Christ are taboo in government schools, but Kwanzaa isn't. From a reader: "Today a gentleman was invited by my child's kindergarten teacher to talk about Kwanzaa to the class...If the philosophy of Kwanzaa is allowed to be discussed in public school should I be allowed to discuss Jesus Christ with the class also?" Answer: Of course you should be allowed, but you are NOT.]

For decades, the media have given credence to many a self-appointed black “leader,” no matter how outrageous. Now they’re doing the same with a pagan ritual called Kwanzaa, a so-called African-American holiday.

A made-up, anti-Christian observance, Kwanzaa is celebrated by blacks who profess Christ. In our politically correct climate, even President George Bush, a believer in Christ, feels obligated to praise this ritual.

[All holidays are made up! True. But in this context, here is what I meant: Kwanzaa is a jumble of political ideology, pseudo-cultural, and spiritualized "African" rituals. Unlike Christmas, the Christian observance of the birth of the Savior, Kwanzaa isn't a deep-rooted, historical, or true observance of anything African. An ex-convict created a faux African Christmas replacement for black folks.]

Kwanzaa was invented in 1966 by Dr. Maulana “Ron” Karenga, a former black militant, Marxist and convicted felon. Claiming to have the unity of black people in mind, Karenga committed most of his crimes against blacks.

Just five years after his invention, he was convicted of torturing two black women by stripping them naked, beating them with electrical cords, placing a hot iron into the mouth of one and mangling the toe of the other in a vise. During the ordeal, he forced them to drink detergent.

[Hey, we all have a past, including me. I just thought this information was important to note.]

But I digress.

Observed from December 26 to January 1, this “alternative” to Christmas is based on a mixture of East African harvest rituals called first fruits — according to Karenga — and 1960s radicalism, although most ancestors of black Americans were from West Africa.

[I cringe when I read news stories that assert Kwanzaa is a "celebration of black culture." ]

Participants acknowledge their African roots and promote seven, harmless-sounding principles — unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

While they sound commendable, the guiding principle behind Kwanzaa is based on race, not on faith in the one true living God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Paganism is a “religion of nature.” Those who practice it and other New Age fallacies see the divine in the created — humans, sun, moon, stars, trees — instead of the Creator. Christians who worship created beings are acting like pagans. It’s that simple.

[Christmas also has pagan roots! False. While it's true that certain objects associated with Christmas have pagan origins (the Christmas tree, mistletoe), the commemoration of the birth of Christ itself is not pagan. Critics often make the mistake of dismissing our claims simply because Christians may have borrowed ideas from other cultures. But Christians know the Bible is our final authority, not the culture. Although it doesn't command or even instruct believers to set aside a day to celebrate Christ's birth, the Bible doesn't forbid it, either. The whole point behind Christmas was much clearer before the days of politically correct thought control and speech codes.]

Karenga and his followers worship the created, their African ancestors, in a “libation” ceremony, and believe these dead ancestors to be spiritual intercessors between humans and God. But Christians know (or should) that only Christ is the intercessor between us and God.

[Unfortunately, I've participated in a Kwanzaa ritual, and it was quite worshipful. Fortunately I was an unbeliever at the time.]

Attention Christians: Kwanzaa is a made-up creed cobbled together by a man hostile to the very God you claim to worship! According to Karenga, Christianity is a myth. He does not believe in the God of the Bible. He says this about Christianity: “Belief in spooks who threaten us if we don’t worship them and demand we turn over our destiny and daily lives must be categorized as spookism and condemned.” He believes that the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, the whole rationale behind Christianity, is a myth.

[As a Christian, I don't feel that Kwanzaa is religious in any way. I see it as a cultural celebration.

"I think African American Christians must recognize that Kwanzaa is not a simple appreciation or reaffirmation of one's ancestry, said Eric Redmond, pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Temple Hills, Md., a predominantly African American congregation. The concept of self-worth based on one's ancestry is inherent in the system of Kwanzaa, and perhaps can reflect "the majesty of the image of God in all people," Redmond said. But he noted that Kwanzaa overlooks the depravity that can arise within any human culture.] (Source)

Over the years, Karenga has altered his pagan intentions to attract more black Christians into the fold. He now claims that Kwanzaa is a time of giving “reverence to the Creator.” Just what creator he refers to is unclear. Red flags should jump out at any Bible-believing Christian when someone reveres a “Creator” but denies the deity of Christ.

Christians must understand that Karenga intends Kwanzaa to be an alternative to Christmas so that blacks can celebrate themselves rather than the birth of Christ.

Kwanzaa is not an innocuous celebration of black history. It attempts to spiritualize that history, replacing Christ-centered theology with pagan principles. For Christians, the only principles by which to live are found in God’s word, the Bible.

Pagans have argued that Christ was not born on December 25. Insignificant. While no one knows exactly when Christ was born, the fact remains that He was born. Christmas is a time for Christians to celebrate this joyous fact.

Christ became a man to save men, not to lift up one race or culture in worship. As with any man-made religion, Kwanzaa is just another attempt to make gods of men. All Christians must be discerning when faced with these false doctrines.

The Fall of Man was the direct result of our determination to become gods. The pagan ritual of Kwanzaa is merely the old Lie wearing a new disguise.

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If you’re a regular LBC reader and not just some fly-by Googler, you know that I have a higher standard for people who disagree with me. Unfair it may be, such is life. It’s also my blog.

If you disagree with me and want to post your 2 cents, don’t reinvent the microchip. Don’t rehash tired lines or pose a question already answered. If you have something intelligent and fresh and original to add, be my guest. If you’re black and non-Christian and LOVE Kwanzaa, don’t write to me about it. Pray to the Golden Calf, observe your holiday, drink your libations, and don’t bother me.

Update: Lorie Byrd:

It really bothers me that schools include Kwanzaa as equivalent to Christmas and Hanukah. If they are going to include it in their curriculum they should at least tell the whole story on Kwanzaa.

Unrelated Update: Self-promotion alert! Visit my business blog.

Update III: Never assume people will understand a point if you don’t make it explicit. I don’t like what Christmas has become, and since becoming a Christian, I despise the “Santa Claus” nonsense. It’s unfortunate that Christmas is associated with material excess, but I’m not opposed to gift-giving, and the Bible certainly doesn’t forbid it.

• Kwanzaa not rooted in faith
• The Truth About Kwanzaa
• Kwanzaa – Racist Holiday from Hell
• The Story of Kwanzaa
• Kwanzaa: The Path To Blackness
• Happy Kwanzaa
• The True Spirit of Kwanzaa
• Kwanzaa: A Holiday From The FBI
• The Kwanzaa Hoax