Adventism & Classism

Classism is a thing I was born exposed to. My maternal grandmother worked as a maid for a white family in Orange Groove, Johannesburg, we lived in servant quarters but my experience regardless was suburban. The quiet and serene places, the lawns and pavements, the blue pools and fishponds, the surrounding trees, the double storeys and double garages; I grew up exposed to those settings. My father enrolled me to a private creche, we spoke English like our white counterparts at early childhood, siesta was an important session for brain development, we were forced to sleep, Africans don't force their toddlers to sleep through the day, it's important, it must be done, but that's not what I'm on about now. My father furthermore built a home in the Zimbabwean suburbs and sent me to a private primary school. So classism is a thing which has prevailed in my life and has influenced my preferences, perceptions, interests, the way I talk and carry myself, something that has set me apart.

However since 2019 I have ventured into a journey of breaking my comfort zones and the classist conducts and influences by which I was conditioned to function. The need to always communicate in English, the perceptions for low rank behaviors, the aversion to African art, food and culture, I eat sorghum meal now and I love it with kale, cow tripe & intestines and maas. Lasagna, meat balls and salads are really nice but they don't quite satisfy me as a sorghum meal with kale, tripe and cold maas, haai ke lapho ngizizwa ngidlile. Guess where you can get such a cuisine? Dodgy alleys with questionable hygiene. Breaking classist ways mentioned above and many others was a paradigm shift for me as I was surrendering the only thing I knew, I felt lost at first but eventually found ground to stand on. Why in the first place would I attempt such a thing? First of all I have no issue with class, I have an issue when it doesn't serve you, I have an issue when it limits you intead of elevate you, I have an issue when it's more detrimental than functional, and that was the case with me. You see my father sent me to a good creche and a good school so I could polish up my English and civilhood to suit Western standards, unfortunately my visa to the UK got declined and since then all of the English that I speak, wear, behave, eat and write so well has not benefited me. You can thrive in the Western environment with classist inclinations but in Africa not so much. I began to embrace the reality of remaining in Africa in 2018 before I finally decided to start selling bananas in the streets, I knew I had to adapt to circumstances here and adapting meant throwing away classist dispositions because they didn't serve me. It hasn't been a joy ride since 2019 as I've really dipped myself into raw African realities, communication and socializing styles, etc... and yet still I deal with classist dispositions, partly because I still live in the suburbs, socialize with suburbans and I am an Adventist. 

Which leads me then to the core of the context I am bringing you to. There is an allegation that Christianity promotes classism: a belief that people from some social classes are better than people from others, so they behave a certain way, do certain things, work certain jobs, go out to certain places. I have put some thought to this premise and I would have to agree! Christianity has vast denominations but from my denomination as an Adventist I see the classism which implicitly influences the church and behaviors and perceptions of people and although religious it is very similar to that of social rankings, in the way we dress, eat and behave. 

I grew up knowing that we do not clap in the Adventist church, or dance, but when I put some thought to it I figured this must emanate from people of class as the Adventist church is of American origin. I was watching Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapleton's CMA performance of 2015 when they sang Tennessee Whiskey merged with Drink You Away, that was a billion dollar elating  performance! JT is a known pop performer and he always just delivers! However, at this show, the front row elite audience were not moved. They did show pleasure in their great smiles and impressed facial expressions but most wouldn't dance or clap although the rest of the auditorium seemed buzzed, and I'm sure those who danced among the elite group felt out of place. That is the exact behavior in the Adventist church, a group or individual will sing to the best of their notes reaching the bottom of their lungs and simply get a stoic AMEN! I am not complaining about this behavior as I have become as such, I am comparing and contrasting our behaviors and conducts as a church with that of American elites to emphasize on where they may have emanated from, which to me is evidently a place of the elite group. I am not a clapper at any occasion, I am not a physical performer either when I'm happy, I can promise you that that cord of conduct in my fibres is rooted in Adventist influences and teachings which run from elite depths of the 1840's in America.

I have spent a large portion of my teenage and youthful life attending city churches in Johannesburg and Bulawayo, they became my preference as I grew up in town and the suburbs. City churches are English speaking and Western styled, I love them mostly because when African hymns and/or sermons are featured they come like quench to thirst, I think venecular hymns are sung best at English speaking churches, probably because English predominates, venecular loops in like a benefit of privilege. City churches, unlike community churches, have got congregants from all walks of life, people dress pretty well and look their best there. Hygiene and Cleanliness are in fact Adventist standards, suits and dresses are church garments so much that I invest in a good suit to wear solely on Sabbath and put it back in my closet after Sabbath, just how Guta Ra Mwari men invest in their khaki uniforms and belts but put them back after church. A suit to me is simply a church garment as I do not have a profession which requires formal outfits on a daily basis. However, there is more to the suit beyond my limitations as a church garment. A suit exudes elitism, no matter how cheap you got it for or if it was gifted to you, you wear a suit it must mean something honorable about your status, and that is a common thoughtline in the Adventist church, especially with Adventist women. A couple years back I was talking to a girl from my church, in fact we started talking because she was very accommodating and nice to me and actively interactive and palsy, I always wondered if there was a catch because I'd just started selling bananas in the streets, church girls aren't so friendly you know, they've got that 'sibling I hate' type of energy towards their fellow brothers in Christ, so, although I liked the little friendship we shared it was still a bit strange. However, eventually, our friendship fluttered away, she stopped coming to church and whatsapp responses lost weight, when she returned to church it was as though we'd never gone out for lunch before or sat together. I only figured some years later that my three piece suit and tonic leather shoes may have exuded an impression to her that I was a high income earner, four figures, but she lost interest on discovering that I was actually just a vendor who pushes a scorch-cart in broad daylight across the city. We all know the second-hand embarrassment that comes with being in a relationship with someone who sells in the streets, especially for Adventist women. Telling your friends about it, hugging them in town, it's inconveniencing. So I understand why she ghosted.

The standard of clothing in the Adventist church promotes a classism which for the African socioeconomic circumstances hinders marital developments in the church and thwarts young Adventist men from facing adaptive raw realities required to be independent and productive. It is my opinion and mine alone that Adventist dressing standards are elitist and harmful to a chunk of young people who attempt to maintain them and protect a certain elitist image as though successful and reputable simply because they're Adventist. Young people may be under the detrimental impression that it'd be mortifying for them to interchange 3-piece suits every Sabbath and then be seen selling fruits and vegetables at the flea market every other day, so they'd rather be layabouts at home waiting on God to bless them with a deserved white colar job.

Young Adventist women may also possess irrational relationship standards which are a result of perspectives filtered by the classism promoted in the church, they expect to be taken to candlelit dinners at fancy restaurants when first dates shouldn't be luxurious in the first place. It is evident why it is difficult for Adventist men to court Adventist women amongst other things. There has already been an argument posed on the lavish dressing and look of Adventist men on Sabbath and the the impression it exudes to women which unfortunately seemingly disconnects with who they are throughout the week; this is because there's a prevailing elitist presumption that Adventists are professionals or have clerical jobs or posts in white colar denominations, this may be true for some but it would be foolish to use that as a benchmark for all especially in a crumbling economy of a developing country such as Zimbabwe. The church ought to enact a game changing narrative which seperates Sabbath clothing from people's occupations and leaves room for thought and speculation, not fabric based conclusions. That I think would block mixed signals and would suit upfront African standards and promote the need for young people to look beyond one's garments, otherwise the church will continue to lose Adventist pure breeds due to unnecessary standards/class barriers.

I am a commute cyclist, it has become such a convenience actually to commute on a bicycle as this is a small town and I do not like commuter buses. Cycling is largely practiced in Western communities to curb carbon emissions, promote SDGs and as a city decongestant and to promote physical activity, health and wellness. However in Africa, the bicycle is well associated with poverty! The idea of cycling to church in a suit and your Bible in the front carrier together with a lunch basket, is highly discouraging. In fact I have never seen bicycles parked outside my church, I could be the first but that would reduce my market value or completely put me off the market as a potential boyfriend, because narratives are ill-structured and there's a constant mal-judgment based off of class. These are things I think religious structures can reform. 

Classism is a self sustaining phenomenon, people who live in true classist societies are well kept, they thrive on status and it works for them. I don't fear for anyone within healthy classist structures, they really have nothing to lose. However, when classism becomes detrimental and stagnating, it is no longer for us nor is it healthy and we ought to be concerned. It is detrimental, dysfunctional and stagnating for one to feel ashamed of parking their bicycle by the church on a Sabbath, or for one to feel ashamed of wearing their chino pants and a t-shirt, or for one to eat a sorghum meal with kale and tripe. Surely we are classist and that ought to stop.