Race
More African-Americans leaving religious faiths
African-Americans are significantly more religious compared to the rest of the U.S. population, but a growing community of black atheists, like the Black Skeptics of Los Angeles, are steadily increasing each year. The American Religious Identification Survey of 2008 found that from 1990 to 2008 the number of blacks without any religious affiliation nearly doubled [...]
Civil rights tour relives struggle for equality
The civil rights movement was a heroic episode in American history. It aimed to give African-Americans the same citizenship rights that whites took for granted. It was a war waged on many fronts. In the 1960s it achieved impressive judicial and legislative victories against discrimination in public accommodations and voting. From Montgomery to Memphis, the [...]
Journey for racial justice is not over
In our national conversation about race and other forms of inequality, presidential candidates and the media have fostered a consensus that the civil rights movement is finished. The February groundbreaking for the National Museum of African American History and Culture, for example, celebrated the “history” of racial injustice. Republican candidate Mitt Romney noted that month [...]
Across country, black pastors weigh in on Obama’s same-sex marriage support
Addressing his large, mostly black congregation on Sunday morning, the Rev. Wallace Charles Smith did not mince words about where he stood on President Barack Obama’s newly announced support for same-sex marriage: The church is against it, he said, prompting shouts of “Amen!” from the pews. And yet Smith hardly issued a full condemnation of [...]
Is the black church guilty of spiritual hypocrisy in same-sex marriage debate?
Some people wonder if the black church will punish President Barack Obama for announcing support for same-sex marriage. Here’s another question: Why would the black church cite scripture to exclude gays when a similar approach to the Bible was used to enslave their ancestors? “It’s so unfortunate,” says James Cone, one the nation’s most influential [...]
