I am very racially aware, not in the slightest bit racist and I'm still thinking, "Do I give a shit?"

I just don't see that the issue of whether a racist is black is of any importance whatsoever ... it just strikes me as much the same kind of crap that you get when it's bad that you can't form a white mans club (and trust me the idea of one sounds fucking awful) but you can form a black mans one. Both ideas are inherently wrong.

Kyu

True I thought it was the OP's words at first. My bad.

I disagree it is not racist just because a member of a race is discussing members of their race. Is it racist if I say "Mexicans are inherently more lazy than white folk."? Would it now be not racist if a mexican said mexicans are inherently more lazy than white folk?

I do not buy that black folk are inherently more religious than (insert race of choice here) just because a black woman said so. Is it not racist of me to say white folk are more hard-working and cleaner than (other race) just because I, as a white man, am saying it? And I'm speaking about the white race here, a white man talking about white people, so it's not racist right? AmIdoinitrite?

So no, it makes no never-mind that a black woman said it, remove the word "black" and it makes no differance in the points of the article. "Coming out" as an Atheist, no matter the race is no more or less "wrong" in the eyes of their community based on nothing more than the color of their skins.

Perhaps a reason black Americans might respond so negatively to black atheists is because they believe they are somehow a god's chosen people. Maybe they feel their enslavement (well, the enslavement of their ancestors) was so great that it was similar to what allegedly happened to the Jewish people in Egypt. A similar reason is maybe they have to think what happened to them happened for some higher and better reason than slaveholders simply being greedy, lazy, and oppressive.

Sounds reasonable lrh9. Perhaps a reason Americans might respond so negatively to atheists is because they believe they are somehow a god's chosen people, is also a reasonable statement.

(June 1, 2009 at 7:18 pm)Dotard Wrote: So no, it makes no never-mind that a black woman said it, remove the word "black" and it makes no differance in the points of the article. "Coming out" as an Atheist, no matter the race is no more or less "wrong" in the eyes of their community based on nothing more than the color of their skins.

Sorry, but I cannot see how taking the word "black" out of the article does not make a difference to the point of the article, which was coming out as an atheist in the black community.

It's like writing an article about coming out as an atheist in Turkey (which is very Islamic) and then saying "If you took the word "Turkey" out it wouldn't change the point of the article". According to you, every community is the same??? That's just plain ridiculous.

Now you're talking about religious communities.

The Hispanic community in which I live is highly religious.
Therefore all hispanic communities are inherently highly religious.
Therefore coming out as an atheist in hispanic communities is more detrimental than coming out as an atheist in white/black/asian/other communities.

See what I did there? According to the article all black communities are the same, not according to me. I maintain all communities are the same in regards to the common beliefs of the people within. Some are religious, some are not, some like beans and tortillas, some do not.


Coming out as an asian who is NOT mathematicly inclined in an asian community reaps a more severe backlash from the asian community than a white woman doing the same in a white community. Right? Because we all know asians are inherently more mathematicly inclined than white women.


Coming out as a non-pickup truck driving non-rifle totin' white texan is more detrimental to me than it would be to a black man because white texans are inherently more prone to tote a rifle and drive pickup trucks.

Since I am a white texan speaking of white texans then this, according to you, is not a racist statement. AmIdoinitrite?

(June 2, 2009 at 10:12 pm)Dotard Wrote: Sounds reasonable lrh9. Perhaps a reason Americans might respond so negatively to atheists is because they believe they are somehow a god's chosen people, is also a reasonable statement.

True. Many Christians believe the words "Christian" and "American" are synonymous. They believe that America is a "Christian Nation" and that those who do not believe in a higher power are somehow less American than those who are Christian. They believe that "faith" somehow equates to "morally superior" and there's a deep seated distrust of atheists. I used to run with that crowd I know how they think.

You can still be black if you are a pimp, a whore, a drug dealer, or Islamic terrorist....but an atheist- that is really bad.