The Disbelief That Dare Not Speak Its Name...

Ronnelle Adams with fellow atheist and journalist Jamila Bey

The New York Times has a very interesting article about the rise of black atheists. One of those interviewed, 30-year-old Ronnelle Adams, talked about coming out to his devoutly religious mother twice--once for being gay, and again for being an atheist.

“My mother is very devout,” said Mr. Adams, 30, a Washington resident who has published an atheist children’s book, “Aching and Praying,” but who in high school considered becoming a Baptist preacher. “She started telling me her issues with homosexuality, which were, of course, Biblical,” he said. “ ‘I just don’t care what the Bible says about that,’ I told her, and she asked why. ‘I don’t believe that stuff anymore.’ It got silent. She was distraught. She told me she was more bothered by that than the revelation I was gay.”


The NYT piece also touches on the isolation many black non-believers feel both from the larger black community and white atheist organizations as well as how social media have helped black atheists connect..

Read it HERE.