Black Atheists And The Values Wars

NEW BOOK ON
BLACK ATHEISTS
AND THE VALUES WARS
Press Release For Immediate Release
Infidel Books Announces:


AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE THE POOREST AND THE MOST RELIGIOUS GROUP IN THE NATION

87% OF BLACK WOMEN ARE REGULAR CHURCHGOERS

THE BIBLE IS THE MOST READ BOOK IN BLACK AMERICA

IS THE BLACK CHURCH MORALLY CORRUPT?

DOES ORGANIZED RELIGION BETRAY BLACK WOMEN?

DOES BLACK AMERICA'S BIBLE OBSESSION HURT BLACK ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT?


MORAL COMBAT: BLACK ATHEISTS, GENDER POLITICS, AND THE VALUES WARS
By Sikivu Hutchinson


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 examinesthe 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. As the first African American woman to publish a book on atheism, she places this tradition within the broader context of public morality and offers a far-reaching vision for critically conscious humanism.

RELIGION DISPATCHES INTERVIEW WITH SIKIVU HUTCHINSON
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 has published fiction, essays and critical theory in Social Text, California English, Black Agenda Report, Free Inquiry and American Atheist Magazine. She is the editor of blackfemlens.org and a senior fellow for the Institute for Humanist Studies.

NOW AVAILABLE AT CREATESPACE.COM

Sikivu Hutchinson is available for interviews and speaking engagements, contact: shutch2396@aol.com

SPRING BOOKSIGNINGS & APPEARANCES: MARCH 3, INTERFAITH VOICES; MARCH 20, CENTER FOR INQUIRY, LOS ANGELES & COSTA MESA; MARCH 23, USC, LIFESTYLE & DESIGN CENTER; APRIL 3, REVOLUTION BOOKS, L.A.; APRIL 16, IHS, NYC; APRIL 28, UNIV. OF S. ALABAMA; MAY 13, ESO WON BOOKS, L.A.;