The Pew Forum on Religion and the public life has a very interesting website full of data they collected on americans and their religious beliefs and practices. They studied catholics, jews, protestants, muslims, evangelicals and those who attend african american churches. The study was interesting to me because it highlighted some interesting aspects of the african american religious experience in america. Although I think that defining myself as a black atheist is somewhat arbitrary (I could just as easily have named it the gay atheist, but I didn't want to incite the wrath of god) I thought it was important to self-identify myself given the paucity of other black atheists in america today.
Being a black atheist can be an isolating experience at times. Of all the african americans I know myself and my partner are the only two atheists. The pew study on religion showed that 90% of people in historically black churches are absolutely certain that god exists (compared to 71% of the population at large). Additionally, 7% were 'pretty certain' that god exists while 0% classified themselves as atheists. Although the 0% is obviously not true it hints at just how rare black atheists are. Why are there so few of us out there?
The pew study has a very useful tool that allows for comparison of different religious groups and, somewhat unsurprisingly, african american church-goers rate very high with regards to regularity of church attendance (60% go at least once a week vs. 39% for the US at large). Additionally 85% (!) of african american church goers say religion is 'very important' in their lives compared to 56% of the population at large. It is easy to imagine that it is difficult to develop the independent thinking skills necessary for becoming an atheist with such a high level of consistant exposure. I've met many people in my life that are capable of asking the right questions and display a healthy level of skepticism but these flickers of skepticism never have a chance to grow into the seeds of atheism because the church life is the only one they know. I know that when I left home for college and gradually went to church less frequently I was able to separate myself from that particular lifestyle which was very important in my own personal journey. Many african americans are never in that position, even if they move away from home.
Daniel Dennet hit the nail on the head when he talked about 'belief in belief'. Basically, the idea is that people may not believe everything they say they believe with regards to their theological beliefs but that they believe in believing. I had a friend tell me recently that she was going to an ethics class where they were discussing the accuracy of the bible and she said 'well its just not in me to question it; it is what it is'. From her tone I gathered that, despite her skepticism in the bible, she was just not capable of challenging it. In my experience these types of attitudes are prevalent in the african american community and, considering the level of religious exposure african americans encounter, its easy to understand why.
Is it possible to toss off the shackles of religion when you are constantly exposed to it?
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
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13 comments:
Camp Out
is a feature documentary film that follows ten Midwestern teenagers as they attend the first overnight Bible Camp for gay Christian youths...
I do not understand gays who want to somehow reconcile themselves with a religion whose foundational documents clearly reject them.
The black atheist is a rarity indeed, and to be an openly atheist black person is almost shunned. I do wonder why black people have embraced Christianity, when it is that very religion that justified their slavery.
MLK would disagree with you Siditty, and so would almost every black person. The way the church is used is of course, only a topic of discussion among skeptics. Christians only discuss the way the church should be used and black Christians think that the church should have been used to free them from slavery, but not to enslave them initially. Religion is just one of the many bits of black culture that are put into almost complete disarray when they are mixed with all the other aspects of black culture. Blacks must feel as if, rejecting the church would be like rejecting their grandparents (as Obama so eloquently explained in his speech regarding the Wright situation).
It's a damn shame. I wonder if Obama is a closet atheist. According to something I read, Obama's reading list consisted of authors like Nietzsche and Rorty. I was wondering if our host (The Black Atheist) would chime in with his opinion on this one?
http://reaching-oblivion.blogspot.com/
I'm sorry, I just need to test if my new name worked.
http://reaching-oblivion.blogspot.com/
For years I've questioned how we could possibly believe the crap that passes for religion. Afrocentrists and Liberation Theologists have tried to sweeten the deal, but when the smokes clears, the Bible is at best acopy of stories told before. In fact, the discovery of the Rosetta Stone should have been the death knell for Christianity as the basis for every story in the Bible had its basis in ancient Egypt. The redemptive suffering of liberation theology makes as much sense as racial conservatives and Microsoct works. At some point there is a clear difference between shit and Shinola
Wow. This is great. I wouldn't go so far as to call myself an athiest, but I'm definitely not a Christian. I don't think the Bible is the word of any meddling God the father. And let's face it folks, Jesus isn't coming back.
I do belive in a creative universal power, but not one that's interested in any code of morality. That said, it's been very hard as a black immigrant to "fit in" with African-Americans.
I literally can't relate to something that is a core value for many of them and I have a bit of scorn for the Jesus-loving that is so prevalent.
It's made dating difficult and reading this post was actually an aha moment for me...like no wonder I seem to gravitate towards dating white men. It's not the white, it's the non-Christian...cuz I assure you none of them were Christian or any other kind of religious for that matter.
Hi. I may wish to link to your thread, if indeed you are open to other opinions. As an African American, I'm one of those 90% who is sure God is real, and yet, I'm not Christian. It gives me a slightly different understanding. Anyway - I have some interest in your pov about what makes atheism.
Siditty - just for a point of reference - black churches are described differently crossing numerous denominations, because black theology has always differed from white theology. Even now, with the integrationist tendencies of mega-churches, I suspect that black folks just think differently about God, Christ, etc.
QueenTiye
Gawd knows I heart Dennett, but his is a wussed-out version of the unvarnished Nietzsche:
"But the fact that the ascetic ideal has meant so much to man is an expression of the fundamental fact concerning the human will,
namely, its horror vacuii: it needs an aim - and it would sooner will nothingness than not will at all."
And to hell with (yet another) white commenter telling black folks "what they should do".
I dated a black atheist from Chicago once. The woman was, in a word, wonderful
Unfortunately, whatever trauma she faced in her overtly religious past kept her from being loved and I was unable to hold onto her.
I'm guessing the excessive religious background of many American black people stems from a deep rooted sense of social and political desperation from generations of social injustice.
I am reminded of the words of Susan B Anthony who said during her struggle for women's rights "To no form of religion is woman indebted for one impulse of freedom."
I wonder if black people ever had such a voice.
I had no idea how rare Black non-believers were until I became one. Not to minimize the trauma and rejection felt by lgbt folks, but admitting it to friends and family and dealing with their reactions has been very difficult.
As many have previously stated in various ways, there are few Black athiest because, well, there are few black athiest. Meaning, we are scattered and isolated, we are not reproducing with each other and we have created not alternative institutions to the churchfor, reflection, emotional growth, and community building.
Further, it is often the nature of freethinkers to have no interest in converting people. Which is laudable. The consequence of that however, is that it makes it difficult to introduce new folks to the fold. We all just have to tumble in...generally after spending sometime away from home.
Another Black Atheist Here,
Although I do actually prefer the term agnostic. That's also a testament to how thoroughly saturated my upbringing was in the principles of Christianity, and the warnings about becoming an unbeliever. I can't be disappointed with the fact that Black tradition has mired us in a high state of religiosity, but I am sometimes inpatient that so few of us seek to know the real truth.
I have been discussing the problems with Christianity with my wife for months. She usually changes the subject because she is too uncomfortable with the topic. Today, she finally admitted that she doesn't really care how accurate or real the Bible is. She has to believe in something. Good enough for now I suppose. Also, in response to relentless, I'm pretty sure that Obama is a closet agnostic at the least, and maintains religious appearances to avoid unnecessary political losses.
I am a black atheist. Isolated and weary. I lost my job. Family members. Just because I don't believe in god. I sit through a lecture week after week in my Psychology class, in which my teacher rants and raves about how good "god" is. Glad to see I'm not alone.
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