Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics, and the Values Wars [Paperback]

Sikivu Hutchinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 16, 2011

The word atheism elicits shock, dread, anger, and revulsion among most African Americans. They view atheism as “amoral,” heresy, and race betrayal. Historically, the Black Church was a leading force in the fight for racial justice. Today, many black religious leaders have aligned themselves with the Religious Right. While black communities suffer economically, the Black Church is socially conservative on women’s rights, abortion, same sex marriage, and church/state separation. These religious “values wars” have further solidified institutional sexism and homophobia in black communities. Yet, drawing on a rich tradition of African American free thought, a growing number of progressive African American non-believers are openly questioning black religious and social orthodoxies. Moral Combat provides a provocative analysis of the political and religious battle for America’s soul. It examines the hijacking of civil rights by Christian fascism; the humanist imperative of feminism and social justice; the connection between K-12 education and humanism; and the insidious backlash of Tea Party-style religious fundamentalism against progressive social welfare public policy. Moral Combat also reveals how atheists of color are challenging the whiteness of “New Atheism” and its singular emphasis on science at the expense of social and economic justice. In Moral Combat, Sikivu Hutchinson highlights the cultural influence of African American humanist and atheist social thought in America. She places this tradition within the broader context of public morality and offers a far-reaching vision for critically conscious humanism

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Infidel Books (February 16, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 057807186X
• ISBN-13: 978-0578071862
• Product Dimensions: 0.6 x 8.9 x 5.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #488,439 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sikivu Hutchinson is a writer and senior intergroup specialist for the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission. She received a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from New York University and has taught women's studies, cultural studies, urban studies and education at UCLA, the California Institute of the Arts and Western Washington University. She is the author of Imagining Transit: Race, Gender, and Transportation Politics in Los Angeles (Lang, 2003) and Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics, and the Values Wars (Infidel Books, 2011), Godless Americana: Race and Religious Rebels (Infidel Books, 2013) and has published fiction, essays and critical theory in Social Text, California English, Black Agenda Report, Free Inquiry and the Humanist Magazine. She is the editor of blackfemlens.org and a senior fellow for the Institute for Humanist Studies.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly informative! March 29, 2011

By Dan Barker

Format:Paperback

I was one of the first to buy Hutchinson's new book, and after reading it, we interviewed her on Freethought Radio. It is a wonderful book! Well, if I can use the word "wonderful" to describe a sometimes disturbing deep-and-wide look at how religion (especially Christianity) has harmed the African-American community, as well as a look at how to rise above such harm.

Sikivu is an amazing scholar and writer, with the courage to "betray her culture" (as some would see it) by renouncing the religion that gives so much comfort and identity to so many people. But she does it with grace, inviting readers to escape dogmatic dependency and embrace reason, science, and humanistic morality.

And she challenged me, one of the "leaders" in the freethought community (although every freethinker is a leader), to be more sensitive to the concerns of minorities. (I am a "minority" myself, as a member of the Delaware Tribe of Indians, but you can barely tell by looking. And although my tribe suffered tremendous upheaval, discrimination and persecution by the European Christian invaders, my current life is not affected to the same degree that the lives of the descendants of African-American slaves are still being affected.) Reading Hutchinson, I realize we need to be more concerned with the socio-economic issues with which people are struggling, not just the intellectual and state-church issues.

When I bought Moral Combat, I was expecting a nice treatise by a nice humanist woman, and I got that -- but so much more! Hutchinson is truly a scholar, well-read, portraying the broad historical and social landscape, illustrated with up-close tales of store-front churches and brave activism.

Dan Barker
Co-President of the Freedom From Religion Foundation
Co-host of Freethought Radio
author of Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Moral Combat:Black Atheists, Gender Politics and the Values Wars March 4, 2011

By carol p.

Format:Paperback

Ms. Hutchinson clarifies how black women and children are particularly impacted by the insistance of their families and communities that they conform to belief in God and religious dogma, how black atheists are villified and the negative effects of such attitudes on any black person who dares to question the efficacy of religious beliefs. Ms. Hutchinson is unapologetic about her views. An enlightening read.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Literary Jolt March 24, 2011

By Donald R. Wright

Format:Paperback

Informative. Inspirational. Politically relevant. A thorough intellectual critique of American culture, especially religion in the black community. It presents humanism as a vital means to our existence. Some books are a must read but this one goes beyond that requirement.