To Be Young, Godless, and Black

It’s interesting that at this time in history with fundagelical x-tians trying to grab power in Washington, cracks in the Black church’s facade (the Eddie Long scandal for example), the decline of organized religion in the West, the rise of “Higher Criticism” of the Bible with archaeological evidence refuting Scripture, and the advent of the Internet and social media, Black Atheists and Freethinkers are coming out into the light and making their voices heard.

However, as many Black Atheists and Freethinkers state, they’re still “a minority within a minority”.  It’s still a challenge to come out with their beliefs (or lack thereof) due to the possibility of being ostracized by the community.  Also, many have close friends and family that are Theists (churchfolk for the rest of us) they’re afraid of hurting with such news.

Another challenge is that Fundagelical X-tianity has a such a strong grip on the Black community that any irreligious thought is anathema.  I liken it to the Catholic Church’s hold on Medieval Europe (without the Inquisition). Many Blacks put the church central in their lives and have a blind devotion to it.  For many Blacks, the church is also the only place where they can find validity in a society that still has yet to fully validate them-despite the fact that early Blacks were brought to the church via slavery and were subjected to hand-picked (and misquoted) Bible verses designed to subjugate and mollify them, many Blacks still find that validity.

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