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I've just discovered this post but felt inclined to provide some insight being that I fit the profile of a "black" atheist.
I was raised within a staunch Christian home (Mom was Baptist dad was CoC) and was forced to go to church on every occasion. I've study Christianity and later Islam (for about 4 years but never converted). My decision to pursue a life of atheism is based on many facts that include but aren't limited to: inaccuracies in both text, the way religion is institutionalized and ran as big business, my parents constant threat of damnation, and most notably how judgmental followers of religion can be (not all, my folks are great but we strongly disagree on religious views.)
It seems the reference to slaves being taught their "masters" religion is pretty spot on considering the teachings of Christianity would have proved quite difficult and lost in translation because of the language barrier. Slaves were inclined to believe whatever they were told so even if Christianity had been prevalent throughout Africa before slave ships arrived we cant assume there was a direct and accurate reteaching of what they knew as Christianity.
Not that it bothers me or that I'm much concerned but it has proven difficult to find minorities who are atheist as I have witnessed.
And if you have a Facebook account account, do you notice that many of your friends post religious scriptures and other religious material like it is nobody's business and if you post something contrary, they want to have a heart attack? lol
Since I started this thread almost 2 years ago, I still can say that it is still difficult to find many black atheists. During that time I signed up on Facebook and came in contact with lots of friends from school, from my old neighborhoods and my former church days. Some of these people were casual believers even then but now, 20 years later, they are MORE vocal about their beliefs in some god. Those who are not into the Christian god are into some other version of him or Islam, but nonetheless, they hold belief in some god.
Well you live in America and Religion is still an big role for most people lives over there, so I guess even if you were white you would probably say the same thing.
Anyway I live in Australia and religion does not play an big role for most people lives here. Infact there is an athiest prime minister here now. Anyway I grew up in an christian environment. Anyway my family is not religous now and I would not say I athiest but agonistic.
The entire premise of your post is obviously to bash Christianity, so I'm not sure anything I say at this point will change your crusade...
BUT I would like to point out that Christianity spread through Africa LONG before the slave ships arrived (as a footnote Islam also later spread into Africa long before the "slave ships" showed up too.) Over a thousand years in fact.
Many of those enslaved already had a Christian faith and to assume that they are ONLY following the religion of their masters is simply false.
You may continue on with your rant without interruption from us uneducated, fundamentalist, racist, bigots now.
I have no idea where you came up with this notion. I spent a year in W.Africa and yes there were missionaries there, one or two were actually useful, the majority were thieves who were attempting to steal art and historical objects for their own benefit. These lessons on the nature of christianity were not wasted on the locals, they did not trust missionaries much, .......smart people. When I returned to N.C. I saw posters from a missionary who falsely claimed to have been in the same area I was. I went to the meeting and he did a marvelous slide show of a catholic mission, while claiming it to be his own. To claim that christianity spread through Africa before the slave ships is an error, there are many readily accessable areas that are not christian, or any other western or mainstream religion.
I have no idea where you came up with this notion. I spent a year in W.Africa and yes there were missionaries there, one or two were actually useful, the majority were thieves who were attempting to steal art and historical objects for their own benefit. These lessons on the nature of christianity were not wasted on the locals, they did not trust missionaries much, .......smart people. When I returned to N.C. I saw posters from a missionary who falsely claimed to have been in the same area I was. I went to the meeting and he did a marvelous slide show of a catholic mission, while claiming it to be his own. To claim that christianity spread through Africa before the slave ships is an error, there are many readily accessable areas that are not christian, or any other western or mainstream religion.
Yeah, Jviello was one of my early rivals. I am not sure whatever happened to him.
I agree with you, however. Christianity did NOT 'spread' throughout Africa as he stated. If anything, it was primarily concentrated in northern and northeastern Africa and was swallowed up, in great part, by Islam long BEFORE West African slavery.
There are two more groups that have been around longer:
Black Atheists | Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=65832083488&ref=ts - broken link) Black Atheist Alliance | Facebook
Nice. Well, I'd welcome a few rolling up here. In fact I only knew one Black atheist poster NYJazz as in fact whether someone is brown or pink is a question I never think of asking. Somehow it seems unimportant.
The irreconcilable problem with Black people and Christianity is that Christianity tells the world that the color Black signifies Sin. And, there's no way that the collective black psychic can accept that kind of damnation confirmed by their God, and not end up having the pathetic and dismal conditions that black people find themselves in worldwide.
Christianity to Negro Blacks is like a serious addiction to crack cocaine or any other self-destructive drug. It was started to ease pains that nothing else was easing, but soon robbed one of his inate ability to see nonsense as nonsense and sense as sense.
Christianity's mind-numbing life-long addiction, is meant to control the masses of humanity, but by default MUST defile and degrade Negroes more than anyone else. It makes Negroes hate our Image, thus we'll forever be engaged in spending our last dime to copy the Image of everyone that looks closer to God's Chosen Race. It make us remain divided in order to strengthen every other group but our own.
Today Negro people's tithes worldwide I believe are the main thing keeping Christianity as powerful as it still is. And as soon as Negroes wake up to that reality, the imbalance in the world will instantly change. In which case those benefitting from Christianity's hold on humanity are right now reinforcing their malicious ways, to keep Negreos more addicted to our collective mind-defiling drug choice.
Well, I'm black. I'm from the south, and I don't worship any Gods. I also know of SEVERAL other black males and black females that are just like me. Honestly, few people that I am close with (white, black, or in between) really believe that "God" is real.
I am one (black male), but only because my parents forced me to go to church. No better way to make someone turn atheist than to force them to go to church and listen to scriptures at 7 am after a long night of drinking . At first I was just mad at religion, but when I actually reasoned with myself, I couldn't come to grips with accepting that bulls***. My sister is young, so I'm trying to turn her away from God before that mindset grows into her head. I always ask her rational questions about God, and ask her if our parents would still be Catholics has European missionaries never set trek across Africa. She started crying..... so it's a good start.
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. At first I was just mad at religion, but when I actually reasoned with myself, I couldn't come to grips with accepting that bulls***. My sister is young, so I'm trying to turn her away from God before that mindset grows into her head. I always ask her rational questions about God, and ask her if our parents would still be Catholics has European missionaries never set trek across Africa. She started crying..... so it's a good start.
