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skinned peoples and their conquerors is measurable in intensity of | Simon Kimbangu. This did not happen so long ago that the greed and the will to murder to fulfill greed's endlessly wearisome descendants have long been unaware of the wrong done and the demands. This behaviour has not ended in modern times. property confiscated, as is mostly the case with the Inquisition. Slavery still exists in Africa, for instance. There are thousands of Africans alive at the time of this writing Now, centuries after the first slashes into the belly of the who remember Simon Kimbangu very well. Kimbangu's name is African land and peoples, predominantly white-skinned countries celebrated throughout the great expanses of central Africa, and his still allow predominantly white-skinned corporations to assist fame continues to increase. He stands as far more than a mere insane warlords in killing each other, helping with helicopters and _ national hero. A short history of his life can be found in the technology simply to keep company profits going. So reported Encyclopaedia Britannica. He and his followers are also the sub- Global Pacific News not long ago. ject of more detailed scholarly research. Simon Kimbangu was a There is no question that the peoples of Africa, millions and prophet. He was tortured and left to rot in prison, where he died millions of descendants of the ancient Ethiopians and Egyptians in October 1951 after 30 years. among them, have been methodically dehumanised for centuries. There are Africans alive at this writing who were brought back No peoples have met with such enormous psychological and from the dead by Simon Kimbangu, and there are people still liv- material destruction in recorded human history. If they can be ing who watched him do it. The claim is that Simon Kimbangu said to be blamed for allowing any of it, then their fault could healed the sick, made the lame walk, returned sight to the blind only lie in a willingness to trust fellow men and hearing to the deaf, and even brought who come preaching principles. back to life an infant who had been dead for The damage that Christian missionaries three days. Kimbangu performed these have done to the psychology of human kind- . . miraculous deeds over a period of five ness in Africa over the centuries is untold. There are Africans alive months, from May 1921 through to 12 Missionaries routinely accompanied soldiers at this writing who were September 1921. Scholars do not dispute who came to steal lands and loot for their that this man performed these miracles. home European country. The procedure brought back from the There is simply too much testimony about went as follows: the missionary would stand i it. and read aloud an edict in Latin to whatever . dead by Simon On 10 September 1921, Simon Kimbangu villagers had gathered. The edict, complete- Kimbangu, and there are | gave a speech. He announced that the colo- ly inc hensible to the villagers, ordered Wl livi ial authorities about to arrest him and that each of them must at that moment con- | PEOPle still living WHO | spose a long period of silence on my vert to Christianity or be killed or enslaved. watched him do it. body". He announced that one day a "Great After it was read, the guns and swords King" of tremendous spiritual, scientif- were put to work. The soldiers felt jus- . ic and political power would arise, and tified in their murders through the bene- Scholars do not dispute that he himself would return as a repre- diction and authority of the Roman . sentative. Before this event, a certain Church. Through varying interpreta- that this man performed book would be written that would pre- tions of the works of Church fathers, these miracles. There is pare the people of Kongo (not the Roman Church developed a system . "Congo") for this event. This book of permissible murder and looting, and simply too much would be resisted, but slowly it would it was used routinely. testimony about it. come to be accepted. The missionaries would then go to Two days later, Simon Kimbangu work on the remaining people. The was arrested by colonial authorities— children were taught that their parents’ on his 42nd birthday, 12 September intelligent, peaceful beliefs were "from 1921—and curtly sentenced to death. the devil" and that they were to accept The authorities for the Roman Church poverty "for the good of their souls", had recommended his execution, and whereas the conquerers were supposedly blessed by God with so had various other Christian missions. superior might and wealth and so had to be obeyed. According to noted scholar Dr Allan Anderson, the Baptist mis- Not long ago, Pope John-Paul II issued a public statement apol- sion alone protested the execution of this man whose apparent ogising for the behaviour of the Roman Church during the crime was to have stood in a village daily for five months and Inquisition, centuries ago. Over a period of about 400 years, healed, consoled and revitalised people. The joy and the amaze- Church authorities humiliated, ostracised, tortured and murdered — ment of the gathering crowds had left the prophet open to sup- about half a million fellow Europeans over "matters of faith". As posed charges of sedition by jealous missionaries. Punishment for these atrocities in the name of God mostly occurred centuries ago, alleged sedition was death. the apology seemed a little late in coming. However, no apology Just as Kimbangu had predicted two days before his arrest, he seems to have been offered yet to the estimated 100 million was instead given an indefinite prison term, a "long silence of his Africans who were categorically enslaved, tortured and murdered body". Each morning he was taken from his tiny cell and put bod- into submission in the 400 years that the Roman Church itself ily into a tank of cold salt water for lengthy periods in an attempt assisted this activity, quite officially, benefiting from it materially to hasten his death. His prediction that his body would be tor- and politically. tured and humiliated came true. He had also predicted that day that Africa would be "thrown SIMON KIMBANGU: A PERSECUTED PROPHET into a terrible period of unspeakable persecutions". For the next One would wonder also why there is as yet no apology forth- 40 years, Africans were indeed put through a terrible period of coming from the Vatican for its role in intent to murder one unspeakable religious persecutions. Hundreds of thousands were There is simply too much testimony about it. SIMON KIMBANGU: A PERSECUTED PROPHET One would wonder also why there is as yet no apology forth- coming from the Vatican for its role in intent to murder one 62 = NEXUS Scholars do not dispute www.nexusmagazine.com AUGUST —- SEPTEMBER 2001