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Debate Breaks Out Among Atheists Over Role Of Religion In Black Liberation: Here Are The Highlights

Debate Breaks Out Among Atheists Over Role Of Religion In Black Liberation: Here Are The Highlights

Religion

Debate Breaks Out Among Atheists Over Role Of Religion In Black Liberation: Here Are The Highlights. Photo: A member of the ancient Samaritan community holds up a Torah scroll during the Passover pilgrimage at Mt. Gerizim, near the West Bank town of Nablus, May 2, 2021. Samaritans descended from the ancient Israelite tribes of Menashe and Efraim but broke away from mainstream Judaism 2,800 years ago. Today, the remaining 810 Samaritans live in the Palestinian city of Nablus in the West Bank and the Israeli seaside town of Holon, south of Tel Aviv. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Some Twitter users found out how a discussion on religion can escalate when a remark erupted into a Twitter tiff full of back-and-forth posts.

The debate took place between atheists over the role of religion in the Black liberation movement. 

There aren’t many Black atheists in the U.S. Even among those Black Americans who do not align with any religion, the vast majority believe in God, according to a Pew Research Center survey. Still, the Black church remains strong in the community, a hub of information that often has thrust itself into political battles, especially during the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist preacher, and Malcolm X was a leader within the Nation of Islam.

During the pandemic, the government had used the Black church to encourage vaccinations, while some Black religious leaders have done the opposite, such as NOI leader Minister Louis Farrakhan, who has been accused of spreading vaccine skepticism

A post about anti-vaxxer NBA player Kyrie Irving and his religious beliefs seems to have set off the Twitter battle of words. Irving is Muslim. He applied to the NBA for a vaccine exemption based on his religious beliefs, but was denied.

When Irving’s team, the Brooklyn Nets, informed him he could not play in New York unless he was vaccinated, Irving wouldn’t back down, insisting it was not about the money. He said his decision against being vaccinated was a “personal choice” made without political motivations. Irving stands to lose more than $17 million from sitting out games in New York.

“You think I want to give up my livelihood because of a mandate? Because I don’t have accommodations? Because I’m unvaccinated? Come on. I’m not going to be used as a person in this agenda,” Irving said on Instagram, New York Daily News reported. “It’s not about the Nets. It’s not about the organization. It’s not about the NBA. It’s not politics. It’s not any one thing that I’m pinpointing. It’s just about the freedom of what I want to do.”

Some in the Twitter debate claimed religion played no role in Black Liberation while others argued that religion was the most important factor in Black liberation.

Great House @xspotsdamark tweeted, “Why hasn’t religion radicalized the over 1 billion Black Christians & Muslims then? Y’all keep mentioning the same few names over & over, those are the exceptions, not the rule. The overwhelming majority of Black People globally have been neutered by religion.”

He continued, “Europeans conspired amongst themselves to use religion to exploit, dominate & neutralize Black People. Most Black people are aware of this, yet they wake up everyday & defend the same religion. The same ideas used to enslave you cannot free you. Abolish all superstition .”

Religion didn’t stop Nation of Islam members from snubbing Malcolm X when he left the NOI, tweeted Christopher Marshall, co-founder and director of research of the Omni-African Collective. The Omni-African Collective describes itself as a “revolutionary organization dedicated to the liberation of all Black people” on its Instagram page.

Marshall tweeted, “If religion will make Ali betray Malcolm for a cult that was taking 50% of Ali’s purse. It just shows you religion is worse than drugs because at least an addict is trying to get high, but a religious person will throw away their family and friends for a cult leader.”

He continued with a quote from Malcolm X about religion, “Because if it hasn’t done anything more for you than it has, you need to forget it anyway.”

Marshall added, “It hasn’t done anything for us, so its time to forget it, man I’m spiritual as fuck listening to my ancestors.”

Marshall’s thread continued, “They don’t realize how weak this is. It just shows you how people were willing to dispose of Malcolm X for a cult that practices a religion that enslaves us to this very hour. If a nigga will betray Malcolm X, why the fuck should I believe in God?”

Marshall continued his thread, “I’m not advocating for atheism as much as I’m advocating for African people to develop solutions based on our research, our experiments, our education, training, and development. Prioritizing our time,energy, and resources towards the most effective path towards liberation.”

Marshall then asked, “If a Black man is nothing without god, what the fuck is Black Self-Determination?”

PanAfrikanStudent @Afrogamer4 replied. “What kind of question is this? New Era promotes unity & community outreach, the New Black Panther Party is armed resistance, BPM is also there, EFF also talks about unity, are being obtuse on purpose or what, cuz you know very well Afrikans don’t center spirituality in their org.”

Marshal responded, “I’m asking for specific examples pf Afrikan spirituality being used in revolutionary struggle in the last 50 years to support the claim that Afrikan spirituality is a major part of our liberation.”

PanAfrikanStudent pointed out, “Afrikan spirituality is not a religion. The Haitian revolution won’t have taken place nor succeed without the Afrikan spirituality being practiced. Afrikan spirituality is always been present with Afrikan people and cultures, can’t accept one and reject the other.”

Marshall replied, “Then why doesn’t African spirituality replicate the Haitian Revolution, if there’s no separation between theology and science in African spirituality, what happened to the Revolutionary part? One time in 200 years ain’t something we can rely on.”

Marshall continued, “If African religion was the sole reason why the Haitians won, then why didn’t African religion free Africa? It was the Haitian people that won, it was the African military tradition that defeated the French. God is fake, but the Haitian people are real”

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