In late December I traveled to Atlanta to speak at the 2012 Eastern Division Annual meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA). While there, I met with members of the Black Nonbelievers of Atlanta, and with author and documentary filmmaker Jeremiah Camara.
I went to dinner with members of the Black Nonbelievers of Atlanta. We had a fascinating dinner discussion. One point that was raised is that, though large numbers of African Americans from the North are returning to live in the South, some of them find the stifling religiosity of the South oppressive, and wish to return to the North.
Black filmmaker Tyler Perry has his studios in Atlanta. Some of those at the dinner remarked that Perry’s films are formulaic and insulting to the intelligence of his audience. Perry delivers simplistic religious platitudes, and many of his characters, particularly the women, are excessively religious. Many complain that Perry deals in racial stereotypes and does not accurately reflect the depth and complexity of African American life and culture.
Comedian Steve Harvey also came in for strong criticism from some at the dinner. Harvey, author of the book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man(the film upon which the book is based is simply titled Think Like a Man), strongly condemns atheists and contends that atheists have no moral foundation. He teaches single women looking for heterosexual love and romance to steer clear of atheists. Moreover, he points to the existence of stars, planets, etc. to argue that the universe is too majestic not to have been created by God. Some at the dinner considered Harvey to be ill-informed and hypocritical, as well as shamelessly opportunistic. Like Perry, Harvey uses simplistic messages to deal with what can be complicated human problems.
Over the past two or three years, there has been a major explosion of news stories about Black non- believers in major media. The New York Times, Ebony, The Huffington Post and many other major media outlets have featured stories on Black non-believers. Indeed, in the April 30, 2012 (p. 26) issue of JET, Mandisa Thomas, who attended the dinner in Atlanta, was featured as the founder of the group (officially known as Black Nonbelievers Inc.)
When I appeared on the Black Nonbelievers pod cast early last year, I said that I hoped that this groundswell of activism among Black nonbelievers is not just a fad. Thomas voiced the same hope at the dinner. It is important that we keep the interest going.
It is especially great to see that more Black women such as Thomas are taking leading roles in activism among Black nonbelievers. Other Black women taking such leadership roles are Ayanna Watson of the Black Atheists of America and Sikivu Hutchinson, author and leader of the Black Skeptics of Los Angeles.
Jeremiah Camara is making a fascinating documentary focusing largely on African American nonbelievers and religion. This will not be the first documentary of its kind. A few years ago, African American filmmaker D. Eric Harmon made a film called “Bondage and the Bible.” However, Camara takes an international perspective and deals with the Philippines, Europe, and other parts of the world.
Camara interviewed me for the documentary. One of the questions he raised was on the claim that nonbelievers do not give charity. I gave some examples to counter that claim, although it is true that some studies suggest that religionists are more generous than nonbelievers. (Other studies have suggested that nonbelievers are more generous than theists.) However, I do contend that religionists tend to be more neighborly and hospitable than do nonbelievers.
Camara also brought up the topic of free will. I dealt with the subject from many viewpoints. As I see it, the problem of evil is not mitigated by the free will defense. Theists say that moral evil exists because we have free will. If it is true that we can only commit evil as a result of the “gift” of free will from God, that simply means that God is ultimately responsible for evil. For without his gift of free will, we could not commit evil acts. (Yet evil cannot come from that which is perfectly good, that is to say, God. Therefore, if free will comes from God, then God cannot be perfectly good.)
Even if we have free will, most theists believe that God often thwarts the free will of many, if not all, of us. Theists believe that God stops bullets, moves children out of the way of speeding vehicles, determines the outcomes of sporting events, wars, surgery, etc. (After all, didn’t God thwart the free will of Pharaoh and other alleged enemies of the supposed Chosen People?) Indeed, nine out of ten prayers seem to be geared toward asking God to thwart free will of some kind.
If all of this is true, it simply raises questions such as where was God during the Middle Passage, the Holocaust, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, etc.? That is to say, why does God only occasionally thwart free will to do good, if he is, indeed, all-knowing and perfectly good? Moreover, why does he only choose to thwart free will to save certain people, though he supposedly loves us all equally? Why are only some of us “highly favored?”
I dealt with many other fascinating topics in my interview with Camara. From what I have seen of his film so far, it should be a real eye opener and a great contribution to the freethought movement.