Remember JJ's "Lucky Black Jesus"?!
"African-American Atheism and the Appeal to Culture"
By Frances Parker, Black American Atheist
"First, let me state that African-American atheists are no different from atheists of any other racial or ethnic background. Most African-American atheists have read, studied, pondered and debated every angle concerning the existence of God. We have consciously decided to live without the counsel of bishops, reverends, evangelists, and deacons. To live in a culture that has a fondness for mysticism and considers critical thinking tools of Satan, can be a trial.
Second, anyone who lives without religion will undoubtedly, from time to time, come up against hostility and religious bigotry, which is almost always fueled by ignorance and misinformation.
...Imagine the events of the New Testament taking place instead, in the Jim Crow-era Deep South. Imagine, if you will, a young, 30-something Black man who speaks out against the injustices being suffered by his people. He is arrested by the authorities, questioned, beaten, and nailed to a piece of wood and left to hang until dead. I wonder if this could in fact the real cause of why some within the community have resisted portraying Jesus as a Black man in their churches. Would portraying the bloodied, beaten body of a Black man suffering on the cross finally reveal to Christians how truly vicious Christianity really is? The cognitive dissonance alone would probably force many to make unwelcome parallels between the plight of Jesus and the long, painful history of segregation."
