I, Black
Atheist, proclaim that G-d does not exist to me and never has. You read that
right, and I make no apologies to those who may be offended. The idea of a
'higher power" causes me just as much cognitive dissonance as a believer
who might be reading my words regarding what they believe in. I do not live to
disavow or disprove the existence of G-d, I simply do not care to attack one's
beliefs and I, Black Atheist demand that you not question my existence or my
humanity. I most definitely see religion and deity as separate, and in my view
religion is a means of social control and domination for those who are in
control of governments and other institutions that are used to govern the
masses.
The truth is
that I have to be harder and more expressive because of a myth that persists
within the Atheist and Black communities. The myth is that Black Atheists
represent a small, but growing segment of American atheist movement. The truth
is that Blacks, we hide our status as Atheist, we attend churches, mosques,
synagogues, and other various places of worship. We are often exposed to the
constant barrage of G-d talk on in all mediums of daily life, on a level that
anything other than being Christian is bad.
"We are
forced fed to believe in God even if some of us know in our hearts that
Christianity is not what we truly believe in." - Ashton P. Woods
Society at
large is problematic when it comes to religious privilege of various kinds.
Therefore, a closet exists, a closet where Black Atheists dwell until they have
the capacity and strength to stand their ground. I, Black Atheist will continue
to speak out for those very reasons, until the closet is destroyed, until we
get to a place where we don't have worry about someone flexing their religious
privilege. Where responding with chastisement about how THEIR G-d is the real
deal and that we need to accept said G-d for our very survival will be frowned
upon. When the time comes, we will no longer stand for being forced into a
prayer circle or saying grace at a dinner. Mark my words, a time will come when
religious privilege will cease to exist.
Atheism
- is the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.In a narrower
sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.Most
inclusively, atheism is the absence of belief that any deities exist. Atheism
is contrasted with theism, which, in its most general form, is the belief that
at least one deity exists.
We hide to
avoid the questions of morality, we hide to avoid answering the questions about
whether or not we have a moral compass. Yes, being an Atheist does bring bring
about a line of questioning where folks like to challenge one on his or her
morality. Do we know right from wrong? Yes, we do. we don't need some figure to
guide us down a path of righteousness. Let me be clear, I, Black Atheist know
my know right from wrong. Doing the right thing should not come with the idea
or promise of reward from some non existent being for good deeds. We are not fully
comfortable with being an Atheist as a collective within the diaspora of
Blackness.We are not comfortable as a collective for the reasons listed above,
But I, Black Atheist am comfortable enough to do what needs to get done and say
what needs to be said. I, Black Atheist am still Black and I still experience
the plight that comes with the birthright of Black skin in a racist society. I,
Black Atheist will speak out because WE EXIST.
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