Black Atheists: "We Don't Need God!"

Black Atheists: “We Don’t Need God!”

If you are black and atheist, do you feel comfortable sharing your disbelief in God with friends and family?

Many black nonbelievers do not. The New York Times reports that, while most black Americans overwhelmingly believe in God to some degree, those who do not find it nearly impossible to discuss their beliefs with loved ones.

RONNELLE ADAMS came out to his mother twice, first about his homosexuality, then about his atheism.

“My mother is very devout,” said Mr. Adams, 30, a Washington resident who has published an atheist children’s book, “Aching and Praying,” but who in high school considered becoming a Baptist preacher. “She started telling me her issues with homosexuality, which were, of course, Biblical,” he said. “ ‘I just don’t care what the Bible says about that,’ I told her, and she asked why. ‘I don’t believe that stuff anymore.’ It got silent. She was distraught. She told me she was more bothered by that than the revelation I was gay.”

Another black atheist says to be black and not believe in God is something of an oxymoron.

Jamila Bey, a 35-year-old journalist, said, “To be black and atheist, in a lot of circles, is to not be black.” She said the story the nation tells of African-Americans’ struggle for civil rights is a Christian one, so African-Americans who reject religion are seen as turning their backs on their history.

What do you think? Is hard being black and not believing in God in America?

See the full story at The New York Times

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