From: barnhart@ddsw1.mcs.com (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: Re: BLACK ATHEISM
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 00:08:58 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

This is in reply to Ralph Dumain <rdumain@igc.apc.org>, who wrote:
:
:>What do you want to know?
: 
:It would be presumptious of me to tell you what you want to tell 
:me, but here are some thoughts that have come up during discussion
:of this topic with others.

: 
:(1) Do you keep your attitude toward religion strictly to yourself
:and a few confidantes, or do you feel free to mention it openly?
:(2) Have you experienced or do you fear ostracism because of your
:non- or antireligious [evangelical] orientation?
:(3) Do your family members accept your attitude to religion, or 
:are they hostile, especially female family members [dad, who
never goes to church] ?

Brackets supplied by me to note the kinship between anti-religionists
and conservative evangelicals.

:(4) Were you brought up with religion?  What made you reject it,
:or did it just never stick?
:(5) Do you feel that blacks are more die-hard religionists than 
:other groups, or do you think the degree of religiosity is 
:comparable to others in the same region of the country or with 
:a similar educational level?

Well, even Eric Lincoln, who is very sympathetic toward black
religion, will tell you it's more diehard.

:(6) How do you feel about the power and prevalence of clergymen 
:as leaders in the black community?
:(7) Do you feel that religion has impeded the black community, 
:and in what way?
:(8) What connection do you see if any between black religion and
:politics and the quality of today's leaders?
:(9) Do you think there is a connection between religiosity (or 
:lack thereof) and hatred towards other groups (Jews, Koreans, 
:Hispanics, etc.)?  Or for that matter a propensity toward 
:conspiracy theories?
:(10) How prevalent do you think paranormal, occult, and pseudo-
:scientific beliefs (voodoo, astrology, dream books, etc.) are in
:the black community, and do they bother you?
:(11) Are there any particular negative experiences regarding
:religion that you have had?

See nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 already.  This one's a repeat.

:(12) Do you have close friendships outside of your own racial/
:ethnic group, and do you think your atheism/skepticism is somehow
:a contributing factor?
:(13) If you are male, do you know any female black atheists?
:(14) Do you know of famous black historical figures who are/were
:atheists/freethinkers?  Do you know of any that we do not?  Does
:it matter to you one way or the other?
:

Other than coming perilously close to stereotyping black women as
gullible proto-fascists for the mere fact of dominating all religion
in its demographic makeup (oddly, the same can't be said of crime
and other social statistics), these last questions have some genuine
merit.  A black liberal, particularly, could build quite a case
against the church for perpetuating ethnic division, conservatism,
and indifference to social progress.

But I personally would suggest stripping away the condescending,
categorizing, and faintly misogynist in your agenda before going
further.  After all, even St. Paul, the ol' patriarch himself,
encouraged thinking about pure and good things (which by the way
would exclude a great deal of his own theology, but hey).  There's
some of that in your postings, but not enough to get me excited
about what you're doing.

Aaron

Newsgroups: soc.culture.african.american