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The new black atheist community (largely led by women)

#1
C C Offline
Black atheists matter: how women freethinkers take on religion
https://aeon.co/ideas/black-atheists-mat...n-religion

EXCERPT: [...] However, while many black churches were radical advocates for political and economic equality, others remained conservative institutions that failed to challenge the status quo. This conservatism helped give rise to an increasingly vocal and influential group of African Americans ­– the new black atheists. Who are the new black atheists and what is behind their recent growth? First, let’s briefly look at the ‘old’ black atheists.

[...] Among African Americans, the earliest evidence of atheism and agnosticism comes from 19th-century slave narratives [...which...] posit[ed] that the brutality of slavery drove many blacks to become atheists. Likewise, prevalent proslavery religion turned many enslaved blacks away from Christianity and religion in general. [...] The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense and the American Humanist Association were also notably not Christian. But it wasn’t until 1989, when Norm Allen, Jr founded African Americans for Humanism, that there was an explicitly secular organisation for blacks. Black Atheists of America and, more recently, Black Nonbelievers Inc, as well as local groups such as Black Skeptics Los Angeles, soon followed.

New black atheists are not content to personally reject religion but instead have a goal of spreading freethought to the broader black community. [...They...] argue that religion hurts the black community by promoting sexism, patriarchy and homophobia. They claim that black churches have failed to address drug addiction, housing inequities, health disparities, lack of employment opportunities and other pressing social problems facing black Americans. Rather than adopting religious solutions such as abstinence-only education to a problem such as teenage pregnancies, black atheists call for more sex education and access to birth control. Today, new black atheists are more likely than ever to be women....
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#2
Magical Realist Offline
Quote:New black atheists are not content to personally reject religion but instead have a goal of spreading freethought to the broader black community. [...They...] argue that religion hurts the black community by promoting sexism, patriarchy and homophobia. They claim that black churches have failed to address drug addiction, housing inequities, health disparities, lack of employment opportunities and other pressing social problems facing black Americans. Rather than adopting religious solutions such as abstinence-only education to a problem such as teenage pregnancies, black atheists call for more sex education and access to birth control. Today, new black atheists are more likely than ever to be women....

It's inspiring to see such a grassroots movement rise up finally among a strongly religious community. People of color have been so ripe for so long for the freedom that atheism brings to one's life. Liberated from the stifling effects of sin and guilt, reliance on God, and establishment oppression of their thoughts, they can embrace a fully rationalist approach to their spirituality that may incorporate many individualized elements. It should be remembered that atheism is often just a phase on one's spiritual journey, whether one sticks to a more humanist Saganesque wonderment of nature or follows a path to a more mystical or pagan tradition. Or you can just be a total secularist and not think about spirituality at all. It's all good.
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