First of all, a bit of biographical information. My name is Luciano Gonzalez, and I am a Puerto Rican atheist. I am also a college student, studying history and Latin American studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. At my university I work as a “Kaleidoscope” which is a paid position in which we, the “Scopes” are trained in how to talk about and lead conversations centered around issues which might be controversial, such as identity, privilege, discrimination, intolerance, and more (the overwhelming majority of these fall into the umbrella term “social justice”). I am also a blogger with a bit of experience (and a track record for at least updating my blog at least weekly), as I’ve run a Tumblr blog for close to 3 years fairly consistently.
My pronouns are: He/His/Him.
I am an administrator over at the Secular Latino Alliance, a community designed for Latin@ free-thinkers, atheists, agnostics, wherein we can realize that we aren’t as alone as many of us once feared we might be. I also run the Facebook page “The Hispanic Atheist”. My intention on both of those pages, and on this blog, is to help create spaces where Latin@s who don’t fall into the mold (that even we Latin@s would like to apply to ourselves) can discuss what we believe and do not believe, this mold is that we’re collectively Christian, and collectively believe the same basic things even if we’re not 100% in when it comes to believing in God. There are all sorts of religious beliefs held by Latin@s, not just Christianity, and not just irreligion. I want to use this platform to discuss those beliefs, and the effects they have on Latin@s and Latin@s who do not believe in God, or are unsure of the possibility of God existing.
The idea that Latin@s are collectively religious is one that can be difficult to overcome without evidence. But it is an idea that can be defeated. As a Latin@ I am living proof that we are not collectively religious. And for further proof check out the following pages: Ateistas de Puerto Rico, Ateos de Honduras, Mundo Ateo, Soy Ateo Y Que, and Ateos de Panama. Latin American religious identity is complex. Latin American irreligion is also complex. But now there’s another space where these things can be discussed.
In the future this blog will be a place for friendly discussion. And frankly I hope you’re as excited as I am to be here. I am the Hispanic Atheist and I am extremely happy to meet you! If you have a topic you want me to discuss, leave a comment! Or email me. My email is: Lucianothewriter@gmail.com