Christopher Hitchens on Mother Teresa revisited

By Frederick Sparks

This was the first Hitchens piece I read, and it blew me away. Who was this man with the intellectual courage to challenge the popular conception of Mother Teresa? It was seminal in inspiring me to develop and enhance my critical thinking skills. From there I discovered his previous contributions, which were intimidatingly impressive in their depth and breath and substance.

 

I didn’t always agree with him (the Iraq War for instance), but I always admired his honesty and intellect. I’m glad he was here.

Christopher Hitchens on Mother Teresa revisited
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The New York Times: Unbelievable!

By Naima Washington

I’ve spent several days thinking about Emily Brennan’s recent article on African American ‘unbelievers.’  As I understand it, the research for her article which ran on Sunday, November 27, 2011, began in 2010. I contacted Ms. Brennan but decided that I couldn’t really contribute to her work since she indicated that she was interested in interviewing African American non-theists who primarily network via Facebook and other social media outlets. I am amongst the eight or so human beings on earth who really doesn’t ‘book, ‘blog, ‘tweet, or ‘text.  I do communicate via e-mail with people I’ve also taken the trouble to meet face-to-face.  Nevertheless, I was happy to learn that someone would write an article which explores secularism and focus on African American religious dissidents.

Dissension—holding, and more importantly, voicing an opinion that differs greatly from the status quo—is probably as old as humankind itself, and is certainly not a new phenomenon to African Americans. James Baldwin, Harry Belafonte, Frederick Douglass, Angela Davis, W.E.B. DuBois, Morgan Freeman, Hubert H. Harrison; Flo Kennedy, Butterfly McQueen, Paul Roberson, Nella Larson; A. Phillip Randolph, Manning Marable, Bayard Rustin, J.A. Rogers, and Richard Wright represent only a few African Americans who have interrogated religious beliefs, some doing so during those times when any critique of religion would be met with serious repercussions. Our contemporaries who now question theism can more openly state their opinions, more readily access materials exploring religious beliefs through a critical lens.

Dr. Anthony Pinn, author and scholar at Rice University has been adamant in his assertion that dissent, atheism, and religious criticism are not new trends in African American communities.  One of his books, By These Hands: A Documentary History of African American Humanism, chronicles dissent, particularly religious dissent, as a factual part of social and intellectual African American experience.

In 2009, Houston-based engineer Donald R. Wright wrote, The Only Prayer I’ll Ever Pray: Let My People Go. His life experiences as a former Baptist Deacon reveal what everyone who questions their own religious views wants to know: how and why a believer becomes an atheist. He has grounded his atheism in activism as the Vice President of the Humanists of Houston (a chapter of the American Humanist Association); founded the Radical Forum of Houston, and initiated the African American Non-theist Day of Solidarity [email protected] celebrated on the last Sunday in February.

In her latest book, Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics, and the Values Wars, scholar and activist, Dr. Sikivu Hutchinson offers unique and thorough examinations of race, gender, glass, and religion as they impact on the communities of African Americans and other people of color while critiquing the roles and responsibilities of white secularists.  As a social critic, she’s written articles for many publications, is the founder of Black Skeptics Los Angeles and mentors young women of color.

Recently, Ms. AJ Johnson was appointed as the new Director of Development for American Atheists as that organization continues to promote secular values and attempts to concretely address diversity within its ranks. Raised in the ‘Bible Belt,’ AJ has studied and taught abroad and brings a unique perspective to her appointment along with her interest in issues concerning religion’s impact on gays, women, and slaves. Continue reading “The New York Times: Unbelievable!”

The New York Times: Unbelievable!

Damn Tim Tebow…

I got texts from 3 different disgruntled non-believing friends when that game went final.

Now of course we know we have the better argument : “You want me to believe in a god that allows 29,000 children to starve to death in a three month period is somehow intervening in Tim Tebow’s success on the football field?” And so on….

Still, it’s annoying to have to endure the knuckleheads’ preening until Denver finally plays a real team and loses to the….Packers in the Super Bowl?  We’ll be able to smugly say “What happened to Jesus?” then.

But will the apologetic be “We’ll he wouldn’t have even gotten that far were it not for THE LORD.”?

I give up.  I guess if iron chariots were too much for the Almighty to handle, Aaron Rodgers is an insurmountable challenge.

Damn Tim Tebow…

2011: Year of the Black Atheists

By Frederick Sparks

OK, the title may be a tad hyperbolic, but in 2011, we have seen increased media coverage of black nonbelievers.

Sikivu Hutchinson’s must-read Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics and the Values War was published in February, garnering rave reviews and enhancing the demand for the author as a speaker on the topics of race, feminism, sexual orientation, and politics as brought to bear on the secular movement.

In July, long time black publication Ebony magazine featured a piece by Alix Jules, director of the Fellowship of Freethought in Dallas, TX.  Jules emphasized that freethought involves taking full accountability for one’s life.

But the last few weeks saw a rush of articles, starting with a New York Times piece on black nonbelievers in late November.  Following the Times article, The Root, an African American focused online magazine conceived by Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and Facebook chairman Donald Graham, commenced a series (to the chagrin of some of their regular readers) on black atheists.   And finally, CNN’s religion blog posted a radio interview and accompanying write-up concerning the experience of Black atheists in the American south.

The exposure, incremental though it may be, has an impact.   The Black Atheist Facebook group (discussed in the NY Times article) has seen a 25% increase in membership over the past few weeks. And as I noted in a previous post, fictional depictions of black atheists help to normalize the experience of black nonbelievers .  It follows that the presentation of real life black atheist experience is even more useful.

But none of this exposure would have taken place without the hard work of many people over the past several years. A well deserved thanks goes to the local group organizers, writers, lecturers, online group organizers and administrators, and others who provide a space for black atheists to connect, share ideas and be active.  Let’s keep it going!

2011: Year of the Black Atheists

Faith Pimps, Secular Conspiracies

By Sikivu Hutchinson

In American politics, patriotism, race-baiting and faith-based pandering are the last refuge of a scoundrel.  And this political season militant GOP appeals to white Christian evangelicals have veered into neo-Cold War hysteria. One of the most powerful scenes in Orwell’s 1984 was when Party member O’Brien succeeds in brainwashing protagonist Winston Smith into believing that 2+2 equals 5.  The Religious Right has been practically virtuosic in its 2+2=5 mass doublespeak; convincing mainstream America that Christians are the new minority and that commie pinko “secular progressives” (Bill O’Reilly’s preferred “smear”) are at the helm of a socialist conspiracy.  The latest salvo in right wing doublespeak comes from Rick Perry, playing the Christian victim card in a desperate bid to remain relevant in the hinterlands.  Primed for the Iowa caucus, Perry’s new campaign ad opens with an alpha male declaration that he is not “ashamed” to say he is a Christian. The ad then blasts the very Christian-identified Obama’s “war” on religion, the indecency of allowing gays to serve openly in the military and the prohibition on prayer in schools. 

When Newt Gingrich coined the term “secular socialist conspiracy” to flog his new book in 2011 he was just another overpaid neo-con on the rubber chicken circuit.  In the years since he was forced out of the House in disgrace, he sleazed up to evangelicals with a Ted Bundy-esque conversion/redemption line—“humbly” laying his sins as a serial philanderer and ethics violator at the feet of God.  Now his rise as frontrunner in the GOP race ensures that Glock force culture war rhetoric, diverting attention from the GOP’s war on the working class, will continue to command center stage.  Good Christians know that poor children, who, according to Gingrich, never see anyone working in their crack-ridden, pimp-patrolled, drive-by riddled urban jungles, should rightfully be shoveling the shit of the bootstrapped middle class.  This is what God intended.  Poverty doesn’t speak the language of hard work, thrift and enterprise and poor children mean lazy Blacks and Latinos, shuffling from classrooms to prison cells.  In a rigidly segregated downwardly mobile society the GOP’s moral assault on workers’ human rights and protections for poor children is the perfect template for a fascist Christian nationalism.    

Faith Pimps, Secular Conspiracies

Black Scholarship, Non-Theism and Radical Politics

By Sikivu Hutchinson

When I began researching my book Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics and the Values Wars in 2009 I was interested in discovering what other Black writers had published on the intersection of non-theism, feminism, and Black liberation.  Historically, Black writers and scholars have been marginalized by what might be dubbed the To Kill a Mockingbird or The Help effect, i.e., that all-American phenomenon wherein a white writer playing cultural anthropologist on domestic safari travels to the ‘‘hood” to capture some aspect of Black lived experience and garners international acclaim and legitimacy denied Black writers publishing on similar topics.  Commenting on this theme in her book Talking Back, bell hooks’ contends that, “Until the work of Black writers and scholars is given respect and serious consideration, this overvaluation of work done by whites, which usually exists in a context wherein work done by Blacks is devalued, helps maintain racism and white-supremacist attitudes.”

While scholarship on Black non-theist traditions is not as extensive as it is in other areas of Black cultural production, a robust, if still emergent, body of work does exist. Early on in my research I read and was enlightened by the work of Anthony Pinn, Norm Allen, and Donald Barbera.  Pinn and Allen framed their scholarship within the context of early-to-late twentieth century African American humanist social thought; Barbera assailed the hypocrisy of the Black Church vis-à-vis contemporary mores. Pinn and Allen delineated the rich heritage of Black humanist literature and criticism espoused by thinkers like James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Frederick Douglass, Nella Larsen, Hubert Harrison, James Forman, and Zora Neale Hurston.  These writers challenged the racist, sexist, classist foundations of American democracy, citizenship, and human rights. A majority adopted radical postures on Black humanist thought, connecting it to a tradition of Black liberation struggle against white supremacy.  Critical inquiry into non-belief and humanist intellectual discourse was positioned as a vital part of Black identity, culture, and political resistance.

So honoring radical Black scholarship in marginalized areas of Black cultural production is important because the dominant culture and mainstream media often act as though Black intellectual traditions don’t exist.  Continue reading “Black Scholarship, Non-Theism and Radical Politics”

Black Scholarship, Non-Theism and Radical Politics

‘No More Excuses’: Review of Moral Combat

From The Monster’s Ink by Alyson Miers

Dr. Hutchinson’s book takes place at a very different degree of sociological difficulty. She places herself between the black church, the larger white-supremacist and patriarchal society, and the developing atheist movement, and she schools them all. There are few people left uncriticized by her scholarship, only some largely invisible and unheard slivers of society left uninstructed to unpack some invisible baggage.

When it is finished, there are no more excuses. None. There should be no more hand-waving away the need for a wider range of voices in the freethinking movement, no more man-splaining and white-splaining about what issues should “really” be the focus of skepticism and atheism, and no more clueless hand-wringing over why there aren’t more women or more people of color involved in outspoken atheism. There are no more excuses for failure to comprehend these concerns, no more assuming that skepticism begins with the Big Bang and ends with Bigfoot. More @http://alysonmiers.wordpress.com/2011/12/03/review-moral-combat/

‘No More Excuses’: Review of Moral Combat

World AIDS Day & Gender Justice Education

From The Feminist Wire on World AIDS Day activism

What will need to happen to achieve the goal of eliminating new HIV infections, AIDS related deaths, and discrimination? What can we do, collectively, to get to zero?

By Sikivu Hutchinson

Young women of color are at the epicenter of this crisis.  My Women’s Leadership Project students are currently working on two days of World AIDS Day peer education.  So as an educator who mentors teenaged girls in South Los Angeles schools, I believe preventive education has to begin with breaking down the myths and stereotypes associated with heterosexist relationships, misogynist media images and patriarchal gender norms that undermine young women’s right to self-determination. Increasingly, working class African American and Latina women are being indoctrinated into a decidedly misogynist, anti-feminist view of womanhood and sexuality that has both a secular and faith-based tenor.  Coming from highly religious households, many of my students have been socialized to believe that their “authentic” destinies lie in getting and pleasing a man.  They struggle with the challenge of developing their own voices, preparing for college, careers and intellectual pursuits whilst battling the insidious tide of a so-called post-feminist universe where hypersexuality is conflated with liberated femininity.  Young men of color are also imperiled by heterosexist, masculinist gender norms that promote hard thugged-out male identities at the expense of women’s human rights as well as loving/respectful homo-social, heterosexual and same-sex relationships and families.  Getting AIDS cases down to zero must involve a revolution of mind and deed; a transformation of the way masculinity, femininity, and sexuality are perceived in the U.S.  MORE @http://thefeministwire.com/2011/12/collective-responses-to-the-hivaids-challenge/

World AIDS Day & Gender Justice Education

Black Non-Believers of Chicago: Interview with Kimberly Veal

Kimberly Veal is the Co-Host of Black FreeThinkers Radio and President of
Black Non-Believers of Chicago.  Kimberly is focused on community outreach and scholarship.

BS: What led you to create the Black
Non-Believers of Chicago group?  What are
some of the initiatives the group has undertaken and what has been the response
of the local community?

KV: I created the Black Non-Believers of Chicago
group because there is a lack of representation in the local community.  In order to combat negative stereotypes about
non-believers, it is imperative that we become solutions based and
visible.  BNOC will officially launch January 2012.  There has been interest
and we want to make sure that we utilize all resources available.  We would like to pioneer some programs and
support national programs that need local representation.  Some of the initiatives that will be undertaken
are working with organizations that focus on support, HIV/AIDS outreach, food
distribution, technology training, education, and scholarship.  We anticipate the initial response to be one
of curiosity.

BS: What are some of the unique challenges that you personally have encountered as a black female non-believer?

KV: One of the unique challenges that I have personally encountered with believers is not being accepted as a non-believer,
because it is expected that I conform to the stereotypical image of a black woman.  This stereotype includes me being
a faithful and dedicated member of some church with pleadings to God & Jesus coming out of my mouth every other sentence. One of the unique challenges that I have personally encountered with non-believers is being constantly asked why we have ‘black’ as a part of our name.  I would
like to believe that the freethought community, as a whole, would be more supportive of minority freethinkers/non-believers and encourage our growth.

BS: Some of the most outspoken black atheist humanist activists and thinkers are female. What do you think accounts for this
dynamic?

KV: This dynamic seems to be prevalent in many areas.  I am not quite sure why there isn’t more male
representation.  However, I would encourage them to speak up and make their presence known.  Continue reading “Black Non-Believers of Chicago: Interview with Kimberly Veal”

Black Non-Believers of Chicago: Interview with Kimberly Veal

Black Non-Believers of Atlanta: Interview with Mandisa L. Thomas

Mandisa Thomas is a co-founder and current President of the Black
Nonbelievers of Atlanta
.  Although never formally indoctrinated into belief, Mandisa was heavily exposed to Christianity, Black
Nationalism and a bit of Islam. As a child she loved reading, and enjoyed
various tales of Gods from different cultures, including Greek and Ghanaian.
“Through reading these stories and being taught about other cultures at an
early age, I quickly noticed that there were similarities and differences
between those deities and the God of the Christian Bible. I couldn’t help but wonder
what made this God so special that he warrants such prevalence in today’s
society.” she recalls. She has been a guest on programs including The Critical Eye, Ask
an Atheist and the Black Freethinkers blogtalk radio show (of which she is now
a co-host with Kimberly Veal of the Black Non-Believers of Chicago).

BS: What led you to create the Black
Non-Believers of Atlanta group?  What are
some of the initiatives the group has undertaken and what has been the response
of the local community?

Mandisa: Benjamin Burchall and I founded
Black Nonbelievers of Atlanta to reach other African Americans who are either
questioning their religious beliefs, or whom are nonbelievers that are still in
the closet. Because religion is so prevalent in the lives of many in our
communities, we understood how difficult it could be to express an opposing
view. We also realized that there are serious consequences for many that do so,
(including ostracism from many social circles) and we knew that there needed to
be a support system created. The initiatives we’ve taken include conducting
General Meetings once a month, sponsoring a Recovering from Religion support
group, and participating in community cleanup projects.

BS: Atlanta seems to be a relative hub of
black non-theist activity. Why do you think that is? Continue reading “Black Non-Believers of Atlanta: Interview with Mandisa L. Thomas”

Black Non-Believers of Atlanta: Interview with Mandisa L. Thomas