atheism amongst black Americans

[CapnAwesome]

Where is BrokenQuill to answer this?

It is somewhat difficult to understand what you are talking about, maybe because of a language barrier or your unfamiliarity with American race relations or something but I'm going to attempt to answer your question as best as I can.

First off I think statistics have shown that Atheism is more common amongst Whites and Asians than amongst Black and Hispanics in the United States. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic...ted_States This could be because of the educational discrepancies between those groups and/or because of the extremely strong hold that religion has in those communities. I've only met a few black Atheists in my life, but then again I don't really live or travel in very black areas. I've met lots of Hispanic Atheists actually, normally younger people.

Once I was hitchhiking in Louisiana and was picked up by a black guy who brought up that he was an Atheist and talked about being literally the only Atheist in his family that was otherwise a very religious Southern Christian family. It was a pretty fascinating conversation and he didn't really seem to have a problem being an open Atheist in the south, although he also seemed like a very self confident individual so that probably helped.

As for the thing about gang violence, I don't really think that has much to do with Atheism or religion in general. I think a lot of those gangster or want to be gangsters are Christians or believers. I have a friend who used to sell pot and got involved with some other slightly sketchier drug deals who happened to be black. He said that the one time he went and bought a large quantity of pot with them that they asked God to bless their drug deal first. Ha. Overall though I doubt that a connection between religion and gang violence in the Black community has really been studied though and I doubt that any of the mostly white members of this forum really have much insight into what you are asking.

[DramaQueen]

Where is BrokenQuill to answer this?

It is somewhat difficult to understand what you are talking about, maybe because of a language barrier or your unfamiliarity with American race relations or something but I'm going to attempt to answer your question as best as I can.

First off I think statistics have shown that Atheism is more common amongst Whites and Asians than amongst Black and Hispanics in the United States. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic...ted_States This could be because of the educational discrepancies between those groups and/or because of the extremely strong hold that religion has in those communities. I've only met a few black Atheists in my life, but then again I don't really live or travel in very black areas. I've met lots of Hispanic Atheists actually, normally younger people.

Once I was hitchhiking in Louisiana and was picked up by a black guy who brought up that he was an Atheist and talked about being literally the only Atheist in his family that was otherwise a very religious Southern Christian family. It was a pretty fascinating conversation and he didn't really seem to have a problem being an open Atheist in the south, although he also seemed like a very self confident individual so that probably helped.

As for the thing about gang violence, I don't really think that has much to do with Atheism or religion in general. I think a lot of those gangster or want to be gangsters are Christians or believers. I have a friend who used to sell pot and got involved with some other slightly sketchier drug deals who happened to be black. He said that the one time he went and bought a large quantity of pot with them that they asked God to bless their drug deal first. Ha. Overall though I doubt that a connection between religion and gang violence in the Black community has really been studied though and I doubt that any of the mostly white members of this forum really have much insight into what you are asking.

Thanks, I don't know much about the US other than Bush and Palin.

[vodkafan]

OP, it seems as if you are making huge assumptions about Black Americans. I could not even begin to answer you, as I have known only a couple of Americans in my lifetime.

[Goosebump]

I believe CapnAwesome to be correct when he says:

This could be because of the educational discrepancies between those groups and/or because of the extremely strong hold that religion has in those communities.

Education has a lot to do with how capable of critical thinking a person is.

[BrokenQuill92]

Um hi so I'm probably not going to be help. I came from a wealthy upper middle class background. I'm new to this poor stuff! But from my experience the more money and status you have the less likely you are to believe in god(s). In America a large majority of PoC simply don't have money or resources. As for gang violence, you've lost me on that!

[stonedape]

How common and different is it from the whites? How hypocritical are the black theists? And then there's the gang culture.

1-You haven't walked in their shoes, so I doubt you'll understand it.
2-Afro-Americans had their culture stolen from them, along with their freedom and they are struggling to recover what was stolen.
3-The foundation of the culture is haunted by segregation and discrimination.
4-Crime is the only option when nobody will hire you. Gangs always have and will provide a support structure for those that do not have legitimate means available.
5-The church is a moral refuge from the brutal reality. It's a healthy catalyst for community bonding.

I actually knew a black agnostic-atheist that went to church regularly, just because of responsibility to the community. I actually went once and it was awkwardly impressive. They all treated each other like family. They could all tell I was an atheist and didn't care. They treated me like they knew me my whole life.

[DramaQueen]

Point 4 partly explains Libya.

[Polaris]

How common and different is it from the whites? How hypocritical are the black theists? And then there's the gang culture.

Black atheists don't shove it down your throat as much and don't act like faux victims because of their atheism as far as I observed. Maybe that's because they get less loons patting them on the back for being an atheist due to the previous comments on demographics.

[Losty]

How common and different is it from the whites? How hypocritical are the black theists? And then there's the gang culture.

Black atheists don't shove it down your throat as much and don't act like faux victims because of their atheism as far as I observed. Maybe that's because they get less loons patting them on the back for being an atheist.

If what you mean is that black atheists pretend to be Christians more often. I will say I have had the same experience. The ones I know person all say it's because it's the only connection they have to their community. My friend Samara even told me it's because without Christianity her skin color would be the only thing that makes her black. I guess I kinda sorta get that. Though, I mean, to me her skin color is the only thing that makes her black with or without religion, but hey I don't know.

Who are these white atheists that shove it down people's throats? I have a very short list of people who know me outside of the forums that know I'm atheist. In that list, there is not a single person I have discussed my atheism at length with. They simply know I don't believe and we never talk about it.

Do you mind me asking where you are from?
Why do you have such a negative view of atheists?

[DramaQueen]

Christianity makes you black.
¿Why does race matter, I can't understand.

---

And there's a saying in Libya.

Ly-ksád jcallym ly-fsád
Boredom teaches corruption