Salt * Wet * Fish

In the latest season of the Amazing Race, the participants were brought to the Republic of Senegal in Africa, also dubbed “Ghetto, Africa”. One of their mission was to meet at a famous slave house in Goree Island, off the coast of Senegal which was the epicenter of the African slave trade for more than three hundred years. Once there, they were told that each team could place a rose at the doorway of the slave house, where thousands of African were kept before they were shipped to the “New World” as slaves, of course. It was an emotional moment (even as I type this) as the camera showed a dark passage with a single door (the door of no return) which opens to the ocean.

Its emotional to me because its sad that one class of people could actually cause so much sufferings of another class of people all in the name of religion that sanctioned it. Yet if the science of natural history is to be correct, we, man, descended from our forefathers in Africa, but evolved different skin colors and hair types because of our adaptation environment. Yet religion could claim one’s right above others and allow them to cause immense sufferings for those they see as different and not like them.

Its sad when the colonists came over to continents like Africa, Americas and Australia, many of the natives suffered terribly in their hands, the people where killed, sold as slaves and children were take away to missionary schools. The old religions and history of the natives were destroyed and their forefathers were forced to take up the new religion or face a beating, torture and imprisonment.

In chinese there is a proverb called 認賊作父 [Recognising or accepting the thief as the father]. It sort of means that we take the enemy as a friend.

Over many years of colonisation, many of the newborns have forgotten how they go there, whether its in the new world or back in their own country. They have even forgotten the many sufferings their forefathers have been through because of sanctioned believed from the religions of the colonists. However, these newborns having forgotten their roots, their ancient religions and traditions. They have adopted the religions of those who have enslaved their people, killed their people and caused them to be displaced and to suffer, as a gift and as their rights at birth. Worst still the same people, who have forgotten the sufferings and discriminations of their forefathers, some are now discriminating others people like the gay and lesbians and use the same religion of the colonists to discriminate, to torture, to kill and to cause immense sufferings to people who they feel are different from them… seems like not much have change over 300 years.