I made a comment on a black atheist board which was responded to, with, my feeling, that members of the African American community want to hold on to black is beautiful and want respect. It’s time for a paradigm change. But first I have to say that the papal decision of 1452, Dum Diversas, was not a friendly bull. It was atrocious; and it’s obviously one of the things that indirectly led to the creation of that board aside from the great pain endured by humanity.
But immediately, from the board’s creed of promoting freethinking, it becomes a “filter bubble” and sets a tone of exclusivity; something that can be divisive; and one that inhibits speech for fear of insulting the members. Freethinking cannot exist without unshackling the chains of religious dogma. Freethinking is blind to skin color. As long as the tone is civil, free thinking should be uninhibited.
Atheists aren't the only ones trying to arrest the tide of crazies possessed by the dogma of an ancient sect of people that has only grown out of fear, threatened disenfranchisement and bodily harm. Don’t lose sight of that. I understand that “black atheists” wishing to share their commonality becomes a voting bloc; but there are still many more, with this common bond, regardless of skin color, who feel the same repulsion that we should cower from sanity and let the inmates run the asylum. Change cannot be done from within the closet (unless you have a laptop?). Join forces with all of the same beliefs without the filter; communicate with those with different beliefs. Take down the clubby barriers; because we are all of the same genetic composition. Black atheists are simply darker skinned humans not believing in all the gods and demons stuff and shouldn't believe they have to relegate themselves to a closet.
The concept that black is beautiful is old school. Black is only an appearance of a different skin shade brought on by environmental conditions and endogamy. It has no bearing on race; because, as we all know (right?) there is no such thing as race.
Based on the new scientific findings of The Human Genome Project indicating that there are greater genetic differences within ethnicities than across; and consequently, there are no subspecies of the human race, it’s new school to realize that nature has been blending alleles for the last 100,000 years since modern man emerged from Africa; and with man’s increased mobility, is now accelerating that blurring of the ethnic lines. So there’s been no true white or black except for man’s relatively recent social constructs. It’s not like the scientific findings were that there ARE differences. On the contrary, we are all equal under the skin. What’s on the surface is only a result of geography and culturally produced endogamy. Black is beautiful just as yellow, red, white, or any color in between. So crying that mantra is from the days of Stokely Carmichael when many were truly convinced of the inferior race agenda and blacks asserted their “identity”. Science now gives all discriminated against people, the authority to say that we are all, truly, equal.
It’s a courageous quantum leap of thought to realize that man created gods and demons, particularly when we swim against the tide. But the same folks that created the current gods and demons also created the black box that “minorities” want to escape from because they really are just a part of the human race box. Sorry, we all got the same gifts. So there’s one more leap necessary to understand that all of our distinguishing features are only surface deep; and should, one day, not be thought of like differentiating people by their weight, height, skin shade, eye shape, number of functional limbs, poor, rich, believers or nonbelievers, etc.; which falls into the manmade trap of labeling, different boxes, and is divisive in its own right.
If some want to erect a heritage museum to humanity’s accomplishments in spite of his Footprints of Hate, I’ll vote for that. There’s a choice to be made. It’s a conundrum and it’s not just a black thing; because all of humanity has been and continues to be affected by discrimination. People of color discrimination has plenty of company with Jews, Irish Catholics, Chinese, Native American Indian, Latinos, Muslims; and all the other miscreants du jour according to the religiously based white supremacists. And for the record, all whites are not supremacists; just the way Al Qaida doesn’t speak for Islam and Zionists don’t speak for Jews.
The problem is that in today’s world of easy telecommunications and mobility, everybody looking for their own place in the sun along with its divisive fear and hate is becoming a potential powder keg; when more understanding is needed as to who we really are, and tolerance as to who we’ve been molded into. Either jeopardize or delay a goal of equality and respect by accentuating the divisive old school of black or race canard, or assimilate into the multicolored humanity that we are all a part of. But to maintain an identity based on blurring ethnic lines will become history. The loftier ideals of free expression of ideas and thoughts, unencumbered by ideology, dogma and baggage, should be the goal. Respect comes from being a human being and the ideas that come forth; not because of skin color.
With respect,
And after successfully digesting the above, then please answer the following: How can a community continue to support the very vehicle (religion) that enabled the greatest human atrocities of oppression and apartheid against it? I understand how it happened, conversion under threat of duress, and old habits (brainwashing) are hard to break; but there are religiously conservative organizations that count on the black community’s faithful voting bloc which actually aids and perpetuates the discrimination, and refrains from giving the recognition of equality that is necessary and demanded. The paradox or catch-22 lives on. That’s the message I would also try to get out. They can believe in all the Disney fantasy they want, but when one leaves the theme park, you can’t make goofy policy from it.
No Flies !
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