Bishop C. H. Mason, Pentecostalism, Magic & Divination. A Response To The Critic

Recently an apparent attack was levied against the founder of the Church Of God In Christ, Bishop C.H. Mason, claiming that he had used the art of Black magic and divination as a method to both divine the Saints of God and deliver the message of Pentecostalism to his followers.

Although Pentecostalism and Mason has had their fair share of critics over the years, this particular attack seemed to have been  inspired in part by the book "Black Magic: Religion And The African American Conjuring Tradition" by Yvonne Chireau University Of CA press 2006.

The book builds upon the assertion that post slavery spiritual ethics revolved around  the use of special material objects as a source of power. As stated in the excerpt, (pg. 111) Bishop Mason would illustrate his sermons by pointing out "earthly signs" and "freaks of nature". What is not discussed as much, is that these "illustrations" were used to deliver analogies in order to support a spiritual point. What was also overlooked was the Jesus often did as much using common and natural objects to illustrate spiritual points or make spiritual teachings. I'll discuss that more specifically toward the end of the article.

Clarifying The Confusion 

Now, the author didn't seem to have studied enough for this compilation of information. Though it wasn't short on information or historical research, it was woefully short on responsible delivery and handling of the information. The author misinterprets the setting of African American response to biblical instructions at the turn of the century, and how biblical commands were carried out within the Black community in general. In addition the author incorrectly classifies all meta-spiritual occurrences  as magic, further exacerbating the problem by lumping all classes of these occurrences together as one or a singular type of event; ie: Black Magic. This is an incorrect and, in my opinion, unscholarly approach set on course by a presupposition which leads to an incorrect examination of the causes that inspired and under girds reported spiritual events, miracles and observations. One can't assume that because mysticism occurred among African cultures that their descendants were inclined to the same type and practices of mysticism. This is a stereotype and a boarder-line insult if not an out right insult on all Black people who hold to and value their spirituality and in particularly their relationship to Christ.

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Hip-Hop, Idolatry & The Church Pt. 19 ~ The Ritual Sacrifice

In the first report from Nancy Grace on HLN after the death of Whitney Houston, she raised certain questions regarding the nature of death and the body of Whitney. When it was said that Whitney had been found in the tub, Nancy raised the speculation that someone had possibly "pushed her" beneath the water in the bathtub. In addition, she also raised the question of how did anyone know that someone else wasn't with her at the moment of death? To me, this made sense, because Nancy, as a trained investigator and lawyer, wasn't quick to make the assumption that everything was as it had been initially reported. After all, for years, according to her bodyguards, Whitney was never left alone for more than 10 minutes in the bathroom, consistently told to take showers instead of baths and checked on regularly just to insure her safety and health. Why did it all breakdown a that exact moment in that specific fashion?

Where Are The Witnesses?

We now find out that Whitney's body was never witnessed by any authority to be in the bathtub at all. According to reports, her body was found by emergency personnel in less than 10 minutes after the call, laying on the floor in the living room area of her hotel room, not even on the bathroom floor. Supposedly she had been pulled out of the tub by those who had found her. However, doesn't it seem strange to pull her out and keep pulling her out until she gets into the living room? Why not place her on the bed or a couch if the aim was to get her to a more comfortable place? Why the living room floor, and what advantage did the living room have as opposed to the bathroom floor if we're dealing with an emergency?

Who And What Was Really Celebrated At The Party?  

As stated, interestingly enough, Whitney was to be featured and honored at a pre-Grammy party. However, while she lay there on the floor, at 3:55 PM, after what is reportedly less than 10 minutes of resuscitation efforts by EMT's, until nearly 3:00AM the next day, a party took place under the feet of them that stood over her dead body, under the direction of Clive Davis, the man that she most trusted in the world, named the Godfather of her daughter, and that had earned billions of dollars off of her success.

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