"But Not for the Grace of God Go I?: A Look at Pseudo-Piety

Dr. Matthew C. Stelly

      I am no fan of organized religion of any kind because, for one thing, most of them treat women as inferiors. Secondly, especially in the black community, the church has become a “house of preying” – preying on ignorant and poor black people, and duping the ones that consider themselves middle class with fairy tales and promises while delivering nothing. If there’s a Heaven and an afterlife, then why are they so afraid to die? Why do they collectively bust a gut crying and whining when a relative or friend dies? Shouldn’t they be happy?

      I’ll address related issues in future columns. Right now I want to address religious piety and the phrase that serves as the focus and fulcrum of this article.

I am impressed with President Barack Obama for the most part. But he is increasingly showing me that he believes more in irrelevant bullshit than he does in black people. Oh, he’ll mention being black when he’s talking to the effeminate population of Morehouse College. But for the most part, he’s a true “American” in blackface and, of course, he’s half-white so that’s where his real priorities probably are.

      Now that we have some context, let me share with you what this man said the other day. When he was speaking to the bruthas at Morehouse College during their commencement, he made a statement that I have heard uttered hundreds of times over the years. And this is it: “But not for the grace of God go I.” To most people, this is an honorific utterance, one that pays homage to spirituality, beliefs and of course, ethics. I don’t see it that way.

      I view this statement as the epitome of arrogance and false piety. This statement implies that the person (or persons) you are talking about is somehow not under the aegis of the same “god” that you are. You Christians out there are quick to look down your nose at other people who are worse off than you are. You tend to blame their situation on how they are living their lives – which you believe is not “in accordance with God’s teachings” (in other words, YOUR beliefs). So if someone is down and out you look down your nose, sigh and claim: “But not for the grace of God, go I.”

       So God has “favored” you despite the fact that you claim that your faith teaches that God is no respecter of persons. You claim that all are equal in the eyes of your God. And yet by making this statement you are implying that you are seen as being “tight with God” and the other person is damned or somehow worse off.

       Let me tell you Black Christians something: you can believe whatever you want but first of all, cast down your bucket where you’re at (as Booker T. Washington would say). You need to look around those churches and take a look at what your ministers and pastors are doing before you consider yourself “better” than someone else. Your religion allows you to smoke, drink, carouse, ho, pimp, gamble and do whatever you want and then, after you’ve gotten off, drop to your knees and say, “Sorry about that, chief.” And then, voila! You’re forgiven.

       The point here is that you are no better than the person or people that you’re looking down upon. Doesn’t your Bible say something about “Judge not – lest ye be judged”? So what is all this bullshit about God’s grace being something bestowed upon you while he denies it from others? As Jean Knight would have asked you in her 1971 cut, “Mr. Big Stuff – who do you think you are?”

       Black people: we ain’t favored by nobody. We squander our skills, talent and intelligence by laying everything at the feet of the people who oppress us. Graduating from school only to venture out looking for a white man to “adopt” us. We get money from one oppressive system in the guise of “paychecks” and then turn around and give it back and boast about having to “pay bills.” To you, paying bills is some kind of maturity “rite of passage.” Your pensions are a joke and you see how black women are disrespected and are so confused they walk around with other people’s hair in their head, nails done by an alien race, and carrying enough weight to crunch a sidewalk. Black men are on the down low, locked up, gay or locked up.

        And you’ve got the nerve to say nothing when the highest ranking black man in history (not most powerful, highest ranking) says, to a group of young black men who are about to leave college and engage in the same activities I’ve just described, “But not for the grace of God go I”?

       There may or may not be a Supreme Being that is more than the way it’s described by organized religion. And if that is true and this entity is omnipotent, then “it” should be judged based on the decisions it’s made. A key reality is this: a worldwide minority of people controls the majority of the world. Based on that control there are on-going wars, exploitation, thievery and murder, all committed in the name of “the American way.” And you are all a part of it because your silence is consent.

       So the next time you hear somebody talk about “But not for the grace of God go I,” you think about that shit. You ask yourself, “when all is said and done, how “blessed” am I really?” If you’re truthful with yourself, the answer may prevent you from uttering such an asinine and arrogant statement in the future.