Black Atheists Matter

Coming out as an Atheist was/is actually easier than coming out as gay. Similar to homosexuality, once you stop having to pretend being something you're not, it's very liberating. I didn't lose any of my friends because of it, some even welcomed debates and conversations about religion without trying to convert me. It helps that I was also never trying to make anyone disbelieve their faith, I merely articulated why none of that ever made sense or worked for me.

 

It's good to see more black atheists making their voices heard. All to often atheism is viewed as a white boys club, because guys like Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Bill Maher and Sam Harris get a lot of attention any time the subject of atheism comes up. I often remind people that there are black atheists and have been black atheists Throughout history. It's funny because the first atheist I ever met face to face was black when I was in boot camp. At that time I was still on the fence (agnostic) on the question of the existence of god, but I'd already rejected the Bible. I didn't come to the conclusion of being an atheist until I was 26. By then I'd already come out as gay to my family. In my experience it it was easier for me to come out as an atheist than to come out as gay. While my mom is disappointed and hopes I'll come back to Jesus I didn't receive nearly the level of animosity as when she found out I'm gay. Also when the subject of religion comes up at work I let it be known I'm an atheist I haven't gotten any flack at all. In fact it only encouraged my atheist coworkers to speak up, which resulted in some interesting discussions. Even when I was in the armed forces you'd be surprised how many atheists there are in uniform. We're vastly out numbered but there are alot more than I thought. I think the same is true for black atheists there are more than people know. I'm actually encouraged that more and more black atheists are speaking up.

 

I didn't realize that @Nick Delmacy was on Team A (Atheist) like Ock, from the podcasts and website I gathered Team B (Agnostic). I've been switching between Teams A and B since age 12 and reading "The Origin of Species." I did go through a church-attending period for a few years around college, but that was more because of the false belief that "no one does social programs and uplift better than the Black Church" (i.e. the TJ Jakes model), even if I didn't fully believe the bullshit. I'm now more of a Neil DeGrasse Tyson brother: embarrass Christians/Muslims/Jews/Buddhists/Hindus/etc. with a logical argument, rather than the vicious Trajectio Ad Absurdum arguments I used to use when younger.

As a young atheist, I was more of a flamer. Indeed, when I was 12, a friend came over and I tore a bible up in front of his face when we were playing in the basement and said, "If your God exists, let him strike me down now!" and laughed maniacally. Looking back, I can now see why he stayed the hell away from me throughout the rest of junior high and high school (lol). Time has taught me that, while the tail of the curve may have moved more to the atheist/agnostic side, nothing will even make Team A and B the mean on the curve. So now, my position with theists is "don't start none, won't be none."

Still, I can't wait until MLK Day next month when all the hypocritical Democrats and Republicans (even Trump probably) will attend black churches and sing the praises of the man whose greatest event, The March on Washington, was formed by two black atheists, one of them openly gay when it wasn't even close to being fashionable with liberal elites.




And did we mention all those gay/bi/atheist/agnostic supporters of the March like these two former roomies?

 

I have to give Deroy Murdock credit; as a black conservative (albeit an openly gay one), he had the balls to put this article out right after Hurricane Katrina, and I think black folk really needed to hear this shit:

Excerpt:

The question "Why would God permit such anguish?" is nothing new, but the predictable reply of believers is as inadequate as ever. God gives us free will to choose between good and evil, they say.

So why not flatten fast and loose Las Vegas rather the Gulf Coast, essentially the Bible Belt with beach blankets? Why not chasten earthlings by giving Bernard Ebbers, Charles Manson, and Kim Jong Il simultaneous coronaries, rather than whacking a retired double amputee not seen since she and her wheelchair vanished as 140 mph winds lashed New Orleans?

And does such a "supreme being" even deserve devotion? One can fear and respect whatever force dislodged a 1,200-ton, 200-foot-tall oil platform and slammed it into the Mobile, Ala., Cochrane/Africatown Bridge. Those behind local protection rackets also elicit fear and respect, but rarely expect to be worshipped.

ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion: Forget Prayer: God Ain't Listening

 

I forgot about Adrian Foster. That's a whole 'nother thread in and of itself, as I think part of the NFL's problem is that there is a new generation of young black men playing who are intelligent, multi-faceted, multi-talented and challenge the black football male stereotype (think OJ Simpson and Rosie Grier, the benign, gentle, non-challenging black giant stereotype), regardless as to faith or orientation. He was smart enough to retire very early, keep his money, and chart a path past football (in his case, acting and playwriting).

There are also brothers in academia who aren't afraid to step out. I prefer the thinking of this brother, Anthony Pinn, to Cornel West's white-liberalism-chocolate-coated-with-black-theology form of black upliftment. Like James Baldwin, Pinn is a former youth minister, and still a professor of theology at Rice University though an atheist. So, as a former minister and church teacher he's very familiar with the roots of the bullshit (most of us who are strident atheists are actually better read and versed in Bible/Quran/Torah than so called believers)

Pinn follows the thinking of existentialist writer Albert Camus, who rejects theodicean arguments for God limiting God's own intervention, arguing that "if God is omnipotent and permits human suffering, then God is a murderer."
Anthony B. Pinn - Wikipedia

 

I also gotta give props to black women atheists like Dr. Sikivu Hutchinson and Ayaan Hirsi Ali for speaking up about the stupidity and cruelty religion promotes.

 

This is so interesting. I consider myself to be solidly secular after struggling for years to find my own relationship with God. I grew up Presbyterian. There are not many black Presbyterians and we followed a very middle of road variety of Chrisitan theology and now is the largest protestant denomination of a liberal variety (although not as far as the universalists) . With that being said, I was a devoted teenager. I organized with other kids to start a Fellowship of Christian Athletes in my HS. We did prayers at the Flag Pole in the mornings. I didn't hear the normal dogma of hell, fire, and brimstone but to do what was right: I didn't attend a black church and I always felt judged because I wasn't Baptist or a member of the COGIC.

Presbyterians affirm that God comes to us with grace and love and that we were called to the mission of teaching the truth, feeding the hungry, healing the broken, and welcoming strangers. Generally, doing good.

All of that changed when I went to a small liberal arts college that has a covenant with the Presbyterian Church. I became a freer thinker, I began to question the tremendous suffering I was learning about and witnessing. I met Southern Baptists who called for people to die and I also met people who were way more religious than me act in pretty evil ways. I walked away from God and the church. I didn't walk aways from the values I learned, though....teaching the truth, helping others, etc.

I think most people are solidly secular but it is not socially acceptable yet to admit it. Particularly in the American South.

 

Yeah, I think Pres. Obama is really an atheist (his mother was), just because of mass stupidity a CE can never admit such. Even Napoleon, from what I remember of my teen readings, didn't want to f with religion as he figured trying to remove it would be the one thing that could sfficiently cause enough of a backlash to undo him (pre-Waterloo). So, like many politicians, he lived with it by manipulating and guiding it for ends.

Your story is similar to Dr. Pinn's. Even though he's now an atheist, he's not a throw the baby out with the bath water kind of bro, and even I will give props to the black church where appropriate. I would be like A Phillip Randolph and be a part of the "Nicodemus Wing" if I found a black church with a strong, 21st Century social outreach (but without the TD Jakes/Creflo Dollar bs).

It appears that many black male preachers your age are turning backs on church: Don’t Give up on the Black Church

 

As far as I'm concerned people have a right to believe whatever it is they choose, for me there is something in having a higher power. I do not conflate the actions of those that claim to represent the will of God with his actual will. I seek spiritual clarity for myself. Atheist and agnostic folk have their logic and believers have theirs I think both can be extreme all I promote as someone that believes in a higher power is encouraging anyone to seek their own personal clarity either way as long as you're at peace cool!