Farthest Back in the Closet
(continued)

In college, Goddard was a representative of Black Freethinkers, and says she thinks Black conformity needs to be retired. "Blacks identified with Christianity and it was an important part of Black identity. Atheism was seen as part of a Western paradigm because it's blacker to be spiritual. But one true to Black liberation would throw off the white man's shackles of (forced and then later accepted)Christianity."

Laura Paris is the 37 year old mother of an 18 year old Born Again Christian daughter. Her eight and five year olds sing in church when they attend with their non-custodial father. And that's just as well with Paris. "It's fine for them to go to church, but they know that I don't believe what they hear there. I teach my children to be critical. Ask questions. Don't accept everything on the first go-round. Be critical and be tolerant of other people and their beliefs."

Paris says she wants to raise her children to be good people who think. And that dedication to knowledge is why Paris says she doesn't mind telling pushy people when they ask about her religious background that she is an Atheist. "It's not a dirty word. We should take the time to learn something different from how the other thinks."

Long after I hung up the phone from the college professor who is too afraid to say that she is an Atheist, I continued to get e-mails and phone calls from other women interested in being interviewed. And I'm not fuming anymore. I realize that as twice a day, a broken clock is right, a scripture passage can rightly be applied to make me feel better. Luke 6:37 "Judge not, lest ye be judged."

Just because I would like an intelligent and educated advocate to inspire other women, particularly other women like me, to stand up and step forward into the light of reason, I can't demand it of her. As my parents and parochial school teachers could not beat the devil out of me, nor the light of Jesus Christ into me, I can't ask for conviction that isn't true. I understand that the Atheist closet still has throngs of brown women in the back. Yet, I decided and so did the women I interviewed, to break free and come out. And we will be out here waiting for those others, free of judgement. Because truth doesn't change. It will be here when she's ready to accept it. And she will then acknowledge what she knows by answering, "Yes, I am an African-American female who calls myself an Atheist."

Jamila Bey-Greenhouse is a writer who does not believe in God in Washington, DC. And she'll tell you as much should you inquire.

< 1 2 3 4