When it comes to hateful ideological movements, religion has always provided hateful tyranny a helping hand. As James Madison observed, Rulers who wished to subvert the public liberty, may have found an established Clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just Government instituted to secure & perpetuate it needs them not.
This is true for religions role in slavery and segregation and the subjugation of women and terrorism and LGBTQ rights and on and on. This list is incredibly long, but a few recent examples ought to suffice. Martin Luther King, Jr.s wonderful Letter from the Birmingham Jaila piece I reread every few monthswas written to his fellow clergymen, specifically, the white ministers, priests and rabbis of the South.King took to task the white churchmen [who] stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities amid the mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice.
Bob Jones, the televangelist and founder of an eponymous religious school, infamously declared that segregation was scriptural in his 1960 Easter sermon: If you are against segregation and against racial separation, then you are against God . . . . Bob Jones University enjoyed tax exemption, a privilege. But the IRS revoked the tax exemption because the school discriminated on the basis of race. In the 1980s, BJU sued the government, arguing that its religious beliefs required the discrimination and that the government could not remove its privilege because of its religion. Fortunately, the Supreme Court disagreed and backed up the IRS.
Jones was not a lone Christian minister fighting for segregation in his gods name. Many other churchmen joined him. The KKK is itself an explicitly Christian organization. Hell, Klansmen began burning crosses to spread the light of Jesus into the countryside. The unconstitutional anti-miscegenation law struck down by the Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia, was religious, Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.
Even now, as CEOs, business leaders, and politicians scramble to distance themselves from Trumps toxicity, his evangelical councilmade up self-proclaimed moral leadersis standing by their man and defending Trumps Tuesday bigotry.
If recent reports are to be believed, the clarity of this history is getting murky. In a recent NPR story, George Hawley, a professor at the University of Alabama and author of Making Sense of the Alt-Right explained, based on interviews he conducted, who makes up the Alt-Right.
AUDIE CORNISH: Youve interviewed many people who consider themselves part of the alt-right. Can you give us a profile? Who does this ideology appeal to?
HAWLEY: I would say it is definitely a young movement. Id say that it is predominantly white millennial men. It is not sort of stereotypically conservative in its profile. Id say that probably it is a more secular population than the country overall. That is, there are a lot of agnostics and atheists or people who are just generally indifferent to religion. And I think that it is a fairly well-educated movement on average, that as I think that probably the model alt-right member has at least some college education.
Peter Beinart wrote an article for the Atlanticon this topic and was also interviewed by NPR (NPR does great work). Beinart spoke with a bit more nuance than Hawley and addressed the bigger question, why?: [W]hat Im trying to suggest in my piece is there seems to be some evidence that as culturally conservative people disengage from religious institutions, they redraw the boundaries of us versus them from religious and moral terms to a divide over race and nation.
Beinart also suggests that the Black Lives Matter movement is to some degree the flip side of this coin: African-Americans remain more tied to church than do white Americans. And yet, you see this same divide generational divide where younger African-Americans are substantially more likely to be disengaged from religious affiliation. I suggest in the piece that the Black Lives Matter movement is to some degree a product of that.
Should data back up the anecdotal interviews about nonbelievers in the Alt-Right, there will be an overflow of religious commentators who will try to paint all atheists, agnostics, and other freethinkers as racist bigots. But such data would no more show that the racists were motivated by their atheism than it would show that they were motivated by their college education, especially since the younger demographic is uniformly more nonreligious anyway.
As FFRF pointed out in our statement on Charlottesville, Raw racism does not spring from religion or irreligion. It is a harmful xenophobic tribalistic instinct that manifests itself in a certain subpopulation of our species. Religion has been a justification for racism, but it does not follow that religion is the cause. Nor would it follow that atheism is the cause.
Absolutely true. But one thing is clear: Ideas have consequences. Believing that one raceyour raceis superior dehumanizes those of other races. This idea has consequences. When others are made less than human it is easier to hate them, discriminate against them, marginalize them, and even murder them. This is why Nazis denigrated Jews as cockroaches and rats. Its why the Hutus called the Tutsis cockroaches, as well. It is sadly straightforward to treat animals like animals. Ironically, genetics prove that thereis only one race, the human race.
Religious ideas have consequences too. As I write this, we are finding out about the attack in Barcelona that left 13 dead on one of my favorite streets, Las Ramblas. No claim of responsibility yet, but ISIS is already celebrating. The parallels to Charlottesville are haunting: An attack in which an ideologically twisted individual drove a car through crowds of innocent people, different only in body count and, in all likelihood, motivating ideology.
If you believe your religion is superior to all others, that makes you special and everyone else lesser. If you believe that you are righteous and everyone else is wicked, that idea has consequences. The bible itself is inherently racist as FFRF Co-President Dan Barker has shownin his new book. FFRFs new website catalogs the racist verses and the verses in which god himself is a slavemonger Go have a look.
Religion is an idea or, more properly, a set of ideas like any other. However, religious ideas differ in two important ways. First, their authority supposedly derives from divine fiat. People who believe they have a divine sanction tend to have the worst ideas. (This makes sense; the ideas are not standing or falling on their merits, but on the basis of authority alone). Secondly, religious ideas are explicitly and deliberately held on the basis of faith. That is, they are knowingly held without evidence or in spite of evidence. As a result, religious ideas are significantly more tenacious. But every mind possessed of these bad ideas is capable of changing. There are plenty of atheists who were once preachers and reverends and Muslims. There is hope. There is hope because good ideas will eventually and inevitably triumph over bad ideas.
By Andrew L. Seidel Constitutional Attorney, Director of Strategic Response Freedom From Religion Foundation
FFRF is a national nonprofit dedicated to keeping state and church separate and educating about nontheism. We depend on member support, pleasejoin today.
Read more here:
Religion and racism, atheism and the Alt-Right - Patheos (blog)
- Chapel Hill police: Parking dispute may have led to triple shooting - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Chapel Hill killings shine light on particular tensions between Islam and atheism - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism and obesity - Main Page - Conservapedia - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Demographics of atheism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism - Main Page - Conservapedia - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- science against atheism - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Conversations Regarding Atheism & Theism - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- My Journey to Atheism - Part 5: Faith in God as an Adult - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Russell Brand Rips Stephen Fry's Atheism - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Book about Jaclyn Glenn @jaclynglenn #freespeech #atheism #freethought - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Response to Atheism Episode 6 - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Atheist Analysis S04 E07: Interview With Peter Boghossian/ Street Epistemology /Atheism Evangelism - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism Unleashed Presents.. 5 Stupid Questions... - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Follow-up to "Defining Atheism" - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism Implodes Hard - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- God, Science & the Big Questions: Leading Christian Thinkers Respond to the New Atheism - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Does Atheism Lead To A Bad Society? - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism vs India Revisited 9 - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Robert Richert 'Communicating Atheism' - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- John Lennox exposes Peter Atkins and the truth of his Atheism - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- My Testimony - from Atheism to Biblical Christian - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- How to Convert a Theist to Atheism - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Materialism begets atheism removing inherent spiritualistic realization *Nouman Ali Khan* - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Creation,Evolution, Christianity and Atheism - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism, World Religions 1 - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- How I Got Saved From Evolution/Atheism To Christ - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism - Why Atheists Are Atheists - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism Not Belief - War on Easter - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- A Christian defines Atheism - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Atheist Dan Barker proves Atheism is madness - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- St. Athanasius & Why Atheism in on the Rise - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- LIVE Multi-Topic Hangout. Atheism, Christianity, My Personal Life With Sarah - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- The Deceit Of Atheism - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism-is-Unstoppable-2: What a moronic video! - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Cool People in Heaven Song #freespeech #atheism - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism-is-Unstoppable-2 is a douche. - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism - Man's Biggest Delusion - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism Unleashed Presents.. The Animated Atheist. - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Atheism is Irrational - Crazy Atheists Compilation - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Response to Atheism Episode 5 - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Neil deGrasse Tyson Talk Science Religion Morality and atheism. - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Is Atheism of the Devil? - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Is Atheism a "Man Thing"? - The Stats (+ muslims) - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Fr. Barron on Atheism and Philosophy - Video - February 12th, 2015 [February 12th, 2015]
- Part 1 Election: Jacob and Esau; Atheism & Agnosticism Debunked - Video - February 14th, 2015 [February 14th, 2015]
- A Short Talk About Christianity VS Atheism - Video - February 14th, 2015 [February 14th, 2015]
- The Rules Of Atheism - Video - February 14th, 2015 [February 14th, 2015]
- A few current events relevant to atheism - Video - February 14th, 2015 [February 14th, 2015]
- Finish Drive Into City Of Lancaster, PA 2/11/15, Atheism Is An Ideology - Video - February 14th, 2015 [February 14th, 2015]
- 'The Atheist Experience' Responds To Me - Video - February 14th, 2015 [February 14th, 2015]
- Atheist Psychologist Admits Atheism is Unscientific - Video - February 14th, 2015 [February 14th, 2015]
- Understanding Atheism | Session 1 | Asadullah Ali - Video - February 14th, 2015 [February 14th, 2015]
- Atheism: No Good, No Evil, No Hope | Big Objections | Andrew Wilson - Video - February 14th, 2015 [February 14th, 2015]
- Atheism vs India Revisited 9a - Video - February 14th, 2015 [February 14th, 2015]
- Atheism is... - Video - February 14th, 2015 [February 14th, 2015]
- Hamza Tzortzis vs Lawrence Krauss - Islam or Atheism which one makes more sense? The Big Debate - Video - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Stupid Anti-Vaxxers - Eric Hovid on How Atheism Causes Suicide - Stupid Ads - DPP #83 - Video - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Theism vs Atheism with Christjahn Beck - Video - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Session 1|| Understanding Atheism|| Asadullah Ali - Video - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- New Atheism and a Meaningless Universe | William Lane Craig, PhD - Video - February 15th, 2015 [February 15th, 2015]
- Richard Dawkins slams video that claims to 'destroy atheism' - February 16th, 2015 [February 16th, 2015]
- Atheism - New World Encyclopedia - Info:Main Page - New ... - February 16th, 2015 [February 16th, 2015]
- Does Atheism Exist? - Video - February 16th, 2015 [February 16th, 2015]
- Understanding Atheism | Session 5 | Asadullah Ali - Video - February 16th, 2015 [February 16th, 2015]
- Understanding Atheism | Session 3 | Asadullah Ali - Video - February 16th, 2015 [February 16th, 2015]
- Meeting of the Minds: Eve Reele - Moderate vs. Extreme Atheism 2/3/15 - Video - February 16th, 2015 [February 16th, 2015]
- Understanding Atheism | Session 2 | Asadullah Ali - Video - February 16th, 2015 [February 16th, 2015]
- Don't blame Atheism. - Video - February 17th, 2015 [February 17th, 2015]
- Bibles atheism moms why me? - Video - February 17th, 2015 [February 17th, 2015]
- A C Grayling - Atheism, Theism and Proof - Video - February 17th, 2015 [February 17th, 2015]
- 2 reasons why it's a bad week to be an atheist - February 18th, 2015 [February 18th, 2015]
- North Carolina shootings do not represent Atheism - February 18th, 2015 [February 18th, 2015]
- Godless Voices Podcast 2/10/2015: Atheism is a Suicide Risk - Video - February 18th, 2015 [February 18th, 2015]
- Religious Atheism - Video - February 19th, 2015 [February 19th, 2015]
- Session 3|| Understanding Atheism|| Asadullah Ali - Video - February 19th, 2015 [February 19th, 2015]
- Muslims targeted in the US - February 20th, 2015 [February 20th, 2015]
- Atheism can't CAUSE anything - Video - February 20th, 2015 [February 20th, 2015]
- Atheism is a Terrible Motivator - Video - February 20th, 2015 [February 20th, 2015]
- Oh No Is Atheism Destroyed - Video - February 21st, 2015 [February 21st, 2015]