Antoine Raynor.

* * * What role is the Christian church and religion playing in the lives of young black men and women in Bermuda? And how is the church viewed by the youth of today. Who will inherit this island? These are the questions that The Royal Gazette sought to answer after reading a report commissioned by the Ministry of Labour Home Affairs & Public Safety.

The report, based on a series of interviews conducted by race relations activist Eva Hodgson with more than 100 young black Bermudian men and women, centred on young black men's feelings on issues which most affected them daily.

Figuring prominently on the list was the Christian church and religion. So The Royal Gazette visited churches across the Island and talked to pastors, ministers, church-going young people, Rastafarians, Muslims and young men and women on the street to get a full and accurate understanding of how this particular issue is viewed by the entire community.

A young man, who says that his relationship with God is a close one even though he is not a part of any particular religion or church, openly expressed his opinion. But he asked not to be identified because of his family's ties to a local church.

He said he grew up in the church. But as he got older he grew away from the church, but not, he insist, from God.

"If you check it every religion around the world from Asians, who worship Budda, to Native Americans that looked to the `Great Spirit', to the Jewish, their religion is part of their culture and has been for generations and generations,'' he said.

"We are not Roman and we are not Catholic, we're African. I have a real problem with how people want to push their religion on you and want to condemn you if you're not a part of the church they belong to.

And they know that's wrong 'cause thou (the Bible) says `judge not lest, ye be judged'.

"So how are you going to tell me that I'm a sinner because 'cause I don't go church, or that my belief in God is any less strong or sincere.'' Clearly passionate about the issue of spirituality and God, the young man also accused black churches and the black community of failing the youth.

"They're not getting involved in the lives of the youth,'' he said.

Disillusioned "You have to show them the way and you have to show them by living the life you preach, not preaching one thing and doing another. How can you call yourself a man of God and then not live in a Godly manner.'' He went on to say that as far as he could see pastors and ministers were living a lot better than members of their congregations, while their jobs were to make life better for everyone not just themselves.

Pastor Lorne Bean, of St. Paul A.M.E. Church, answered the young man's comments about the church by reminding him that the entire civil rights movement was a church-based movement.

And, he said, while the church seemed not to be doing anything for the community, churches often helped people without much fan fare.

He said: "When we take groceries to families in need we don't alert the media or the public we just do it. So when people don't hear about things like that, they automatically think nothing is being done.'' And responding to the young man's implication that money was the motive behind some people's connection with the church, Pastor Bean added: "It is unfortunate that some people live up to that description.

"But there are people that live up to what they preach and somehow they get lost in the shuffle.'' He noted that the Bible story (1 Samuel 2:22-27,4:12) of Eli a priest whose sons were "rouges and scoundrels'', took from the people's offerings to God, and committed fornication in the Lord's temple, were punished for their "evil''.

"So I can assure you that God neither sleeps nor slumbers,'' Pastor Bean said. "He sees everything that goes on. And those in the church who are ruled by a love of money, their judgment will be severe.

Pastor Bean said in his opinion, it is impossible to lead a true Christian life and have a relationship with Jesus Christ, without fellowship with others who also believe in the Lord.

He added that the reason why so many young blacks are moving away from the Christian church is because appears to be so closely associated with the "prevailing power structure''. And says "splinter religions'' like Rastafari, are an attempt by young people to rebel against the system, because black men feel the church is tainted by it's ties, and is a reaction to Christ `Europeanised'.

And he said that the same way young men identify with Malcolm X, more so than Martin Luther King, is the same way religions like Islam and Rasta appeal to the anger and discontent they feel.

"The church is filled with many more young women than men. I think it is perceived by younger men as a female thing. Rasta and Islam are more male dominated, and on the surface they appear to offer young black men a chance to affirm their manhood more than Christianity.'' SURVEY SUR