Comments on: Interview with Mike Estes

By: A. Kwame Lazarus

A. Kwame Lazarus — Tue, 05 May 2009 04:24:50 +0000

I have come to believe that religious indoctrination begins in childhood with the introduction of fairy tales. An innocent child is fed stories of good and bad characters that play roles in determining the outcome of situations they encounter daily.Their definition of right and wrong is carefully formulated at this delicate stage of development. This constant bombardment ultimately leads to a belief in an unseen force or foces that judge peoples behavior. If you think about it there is correlation between how a child views; say santa claus, and how adults view god and jesus. Neither sees them physically but in their heads (minds), however those who believe in their existence tailor their lives around how they think their lives will be affected (rewarded or punished). The child wants to please santa; the adult wants to please jesus (god). Two fairy tales tailor-made to program and control the gullible mind.

By: Atheists on the Radio, June 22th | Tangled Up in Blue Guy

Atheists on the Radio, June 22th | Tangled Up in Blue Guy — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 02:27:03 +0000

[...] blog, Dark Illumination • Movie: “Bondage and the Bible,” by Eric Harmon • Hemant Mehta of FriendlyAtheist.com interviews Michael Estes • African Americans for Humanism • “Black Culture and Atheism: An interview with the host [...]

By: Bijan C. Bayne

Bijan C. Bayne — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 14:45:54 +0000

There’s a rich tradition- off the top of my head, Paul Robeson, Richard Wright, Angela Davis, and The Black Panther Party come to mind.

By: Katie Molnar

Katie Molnar — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 22:28:37 +0000

As a fellow double, or maybe even triple minority (gay female atheist), I know I can relate somewhat to feeling like the battle is worse than simply uphill. =)

Reading the interview with Mike, I agree completely that our struggle could do well to learn from that of the civil rights movement – let’s not lose sight of the fact that our movement is part of that continuing movement. It isn’t that once we fought for rights for minority race groups, and then we fought for rights for women, and now we fight for rights for atheists…

Rather, and forgive me a moment of idealism, we have always fought, and will continue to fight for the rights of all people, everywhere, to live in peace without fear of persecution and to foster understanding and cooperation.

We’re all stuck on this rock together (for the time being), so it’s basically a choice between cooperation and self-destruction.

By: Ellen Brown

Ellen Brown — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:16:58 +0000

The Atheist movement can learn great lessons from the civil rights movement and would do well to heed those lessons. The bravery exhibited by myriad American blacks (among my personal heroes are Benjamin O. Davis (Sr. and Jr.), A. Philip Randolph, Daniel “Chappie” James, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, The Little Rock Nine, Dr. Charles Drew, W.E.B. DuBois and Emmitt Till, to name a few) and their role in bringing about both tangible and philosophical change in our nation, must be related to every new generation. I’d like also to acknowledge the millions of other black Americans whose names we many not remember, but who also rose to challenges most of us will never comprehend.

It’s hard to be a minority in America– and getting harder every day. My hat’s off to black Americans who are out about their Atheism. I suspect that countless more African-Americans would come forward within the Atheist community if they felt safe, and welcome, in doing so. There is no doubt that the movement would be greatly enriched by their participation.

My thanks to Mr. Estes for giving everyone in the Atheist community a fresh viewpoint and lots of food for thought.

By: Mriana

Mriana — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 13:03:02 +0000

You know I see so many superstitious African-Americans, and I do mean superstitious as in even White Christians can see the superstition, because the ones I know speak of ghosts, black cats being evil (my ex is a prime example of this and scared of my black cat) and alike, that I wonder just how they function in this world. It’s refreshing to me to find that there are some who are not superstitious. And no, I’ve taken an African American history class, for my sons, and they don’t talk about the non-religious, except for this one poet of the 60s. I’ll have to look up his name.

There is one on the bus that I think is an atheist, but he hasn’t come out and said it. What makes me say this? He openly criticisize the Bible, the Religious Reich, superstition, and talks about thinking for oneself. He even gets on a soapbox about the Religious Reich, much like I do. The religious Black people suddenly get quiet when he speaks that you wonder what is going on in their heads. However, I find him very refreshing to talk to and very intelligent as though he managed to get a really good education. Unfortunately, this man is old enough to be my father and his grandson goes to school with my son.

Now the religious Black people, as I said some speak of ghosts and alike, but they also get scared when people aren’t religious and ask how can you live life without a higher power. Some seem to be off the deep end with superstition. I even have to laugh at my ex and say, “That’s a strange comment from a Black man to say about another “Black person”" everytime he stiffens up when he sees Scarlette (my black cat) and makes dumb comments about them being evil or goes into this story about a man having a heart attack after he got a black cat. Sorry, but it probably would have happened anyway, even without the cat. Superstition is so bad sometimes among the Black Community, that you wonder where they get their education.

Anyway, long story short, I find Mike Estes very refreshing and I would love to hear him speak sometime. Too bad his powerpoint presentation is not online. I’d love to see it.