Hey All. The first time I'm posting in this thread. After the hijab, 21 things, several other recent threads and just life, I thought I'd post. I want to say I hope I don't offend anyone.
So my girlfriend of seven years, a West Indian Trini, converted to Hebrew Israelites in November of last year. I've been struggling to be supportive. Possibly out of fear, possibly out of discrimination.
I should give back ground. I'm in the military. I live in Tampa. She lives in Fort Lauderdale. Before the change, she was voicing her concerns about the distance between us and about marriage.
I went away for training for 2 weeks in Orlando and didn't come down for one week, so it was surprising. The only indicator I had was she mentioned once that in her church, they didn't read the bible (which I thought was an odd and ignorant statement).
The transformation was quick. She went from non-denomination Christian to Black Hebrew Israelite in 2 weeks. It was definitely a startling change. She no longer celebrates Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Valentine's Day, etc (Holidays that possibly have a Pagan origin). Her vocabulary is now Most High when referring to God/Allah/Yahweh/etc, the Truth/Heritage when referring to her religion, the Word when referring to the Bible. At first, she swore off having pre-marital sex but conceded to just not having sex on the Sabbath (Friday sun down to Saturday sun set).
I, personally, feel like it's a pretty extreme religion. We have a daughter (who at 2 years old had a heart transplant) and I'd prefer she be kept away from it.
She's now spouting about the oppression of the Black Man (despite not technically being black though being raised up in an environment with them). She used to LOVE Beyounce, someone in her group said Beyounce is a Satanist and a member of the Illuminati and now she will not listen to her music. Everything is a conspiracy. The Jews in Israel are fakes.
We were going up the street to her temple once. And I saw a group of Jews walking to their temple and she dared me to ask them what their lineage was. It's not overt racist, imo, but through religious pretexts a sort of superiority complex.
I attended her temple, watched videos and read up on their beliefs. I don't agree with it. However, I'm trying to be supportive. I learned politics and religion can be pretty divisive. It's a bit hard though. Martin Luther King Day was a doozy. They taught her that, according to the Bible, MLK was a false prophet.
I've been struggling with the idea of the Nation of Islam, Hebrew Israelites, etc. On one hand, I can see the benefit to the black community. On the other hand, I can see the danger.