The Truth About Kwanzaa
This is the website that started it all for me. My experiences with Dr. Karenga, the creator of Kwanzaa and his involvement with my family are documented within this site.
I discuss how Kwanzaa got started and how it conflicts with the Christian faith. My website has served as a source for many who wish to learn the complete truth on Kwanzaa.
Feel free to join in and discuss anything about Kwanzaa here at my blog just for this topic: The Truth About Kwanzaa blog.
(click on image to take you to the website)
The Truth About Kwanzaa Website
My sister,
Though I find your article extremely interesting I have to question you comparison of Kwanzee to Christmas. If you consider Kwanzee to be a pagan holiday like I am presupposing you are, then you must take a look at the holiday that is called Christmas. It is just as pagan, if not more than Kwanzee.
Though I am by no means a scholar of the Nguzo Saba some of the principles are indeed great principles.Christmas in much of the same tone as you write about Kwanzee is just as far from God.
So at the end of the day it is like choosing between Obama and Mccain. If they both stand pretty much on the same plain, what is the next criteria you pick from?
Nonetheless a good, thought provoking observation.
Just my Thoughts
By: Brian Foulks on August 5, 2008
at 1:49 pm
Thanks for sharing Brian!
Just a couple of major differences between Kwanzaa and Christmas to start - spiritualizing Christmas is quite acceptable for the Christian, but spiritualizing afrocentric celebrations is not.
Christmas is merely a celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth, while Kwanzaa does more than celebrate anything, it attempts to create a way of life, devoid of placing God at the throne.
Kwanzaa makes man the center of his life, where Christmas represents Jesus Christ, who desires to be the center of our lives!
Appreciate your comments, and welcome to Christocentric! I do like your blog, “Revolutionary Intent, Invading the Culture for Christ!” Amen and glad to know you are a brother in Christ!
Hopefully, we’ll begin to see eye to eye on things concerning Christ and Kwanzaa. If not, that’s okay too because we will still belong to our Lord and Savior!
cm
By: Carlotta on August 5, 2008
at 7:39 pm
Truth be told sister Christmas is not about Christ it is a mass of pagan holidays lumped into one day. Though we celebrate it as a day as Christ birthday it is from its origin a pagan holiday.
Jesus was not born in December. If we examine the Biblical feasts, we can determine that He was born sometime in September during the feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles). The symbols that are used thoughtout Christmas have pagan meanings. Things like Christmas tree ,bulb ornaments and wreaths which were Germanic symbols for witches and the red bow symbolizes them on their menstrual cycle.
There are many more but point is not to protect Kwanzee but to show that Christmas is no better. Christmas has been accepted into the church for one reason or another but it is not anymore holy than Kwanzee. Truth be told it does not represent Christ anymore than Kwanzaa does.
So if one can spiritualize Christmas one can also spiritualize Kwanzaa.
Just a Thoguht
By: Brian Foulks on August 5, 2008
at 8:17 pm
Brian, do you not desire to celebrate the birth of Christ? Let’s leave out the trees, candles, gifts and what have you. Do you have anything against celebrating Christ’s birth? If you do not, is it considered “pagan” to celebrate something on a made up date? Is that a “sin” God forbid?
There isn’t anything inherently wrong with celebrating Christmas and I do not consider it a pagan celebration. Now people have “paganized” Christmas losing its true meaning, but that doesn’t make Christmas a pagan holiday in itself.
On the other hand we have Kwanzaa, created purposely as an alternative to not only Christmas, but what Christmas represents - Jesus Christ! I have enough information posted on my website, The Truth About Kwanzaa, that shows Karenga’s own writings about what he thinks of religion and his reasons for creating Kwanzaa. And not only with Karenga as a reason, but the celebration itself filled with many pagan rituals such as ancestor worship.
No Christian dedicated to Christ should have anything to do with Karenga and his dark, dark teachings on Kwanzaa. Not the same as people celebrating the essence of Christ’s birth on a day called Christmas.
I’m just explaining to you why I am more passionate in exposing Kwanzaa as opposed to exposing Christmas. Christmas just represents good while Kwanzaa represents darkness.
For another point of view on why Christmas isn’t pagan, see: Is Christmas Pagan
By: Carlotta on August 5, 2008
at 8:44 pm
I can find common ground with you on the Kwanzaa issue without any problem. But I have an issue when you make “scholarly allowance” for one and not the other. It appears your agruement is not so much with the pricinples but the stance of black nationalist thought.
Those same ingredients that you indict Kwanzaa upon are woven into Christmas. What we have is a cultural bias rather than a scriptural bias. You can see the error in a pagan holiday like Kwanzaa but you can not see the same error in a pagan holiday like Christmas.
I ask you to do the same research on Christmas with the same intensity, without any presupposition and see what you come up with. I submit to you that Christmas was not started as a way to celebrate Christ but a ploy by the Roman catholic Church to strip Christ of his power.
To end my thought I would like to say that his birth was neccessary but the his death was essential and what we celebrate is that he arose.
http://www.eaec.org/bibleanswers/christmas/christians_and_christmas.htm
By: Brian Foulks on August 5, 2008
at 9:17 pm
The bottom line is that before anyone can write passionately about something being wrong, is that they have to believe that it’s so! I don’t have a problem with Christmas so I’m not going to be using my time writing against it.
And I do like the way you ended your thought - Christ’s resurrection is the most important part of our faith in Christ!
Amen!
By: Carlotta on August 5, 2008
at 9:34 pm
Anybody know where I can get a hold of the 1st ” Kwanzaa: Origin, Concepts, Practice” from 1977.
By: Hank on December 6, 2008
at 10:23 am
Hank, I have my own copy which I was only able to get by raiding my sister’s bookshelf in her home. She was a member of Karenga’s US organization. Your only way of getting an older copy may be through Karenga himself.
Call (323) 299-6124 which is the number to the US organization’s center.
Good luck!
By: Carlotta on December 6, 2008
at 10:49 am