Free From the Slavery of Religion

From Divine Irony:

Black atheists in this country take double the grief the white ones do. Not just because of the strong religious tradition in the black community, but because of the prejudice that tradition arouses in white atheists. "Religion is just too important to African-Americans," they say. "They'll never abandon it."

Bullshit. Also, racism.

In her book Godless Americana, atheist of color Sikivu Hutchinson explains how religion is a rational, logical response to a society that devalues nonwhites and the poor and treats them as less than human.

Contrary to what some atheists believe, the need for religion will not simply evaporate when the masses get a steady diet of reason, science and logic. Religious belief will not recede by lecturing people of color or working-class whites about how ignorant they are to believe. Unless structural inequality is radically redressed, religious belief among disenfranchised people peoples, both globally and within the U.S., will continue to thrive.

The most religion-free societies on earth are also the societies with the least poverty and inequality. That's not a coincidence.