the non-religious community

heres a link to a blog i frequent. they have really interesting stories and videos that i like to see. however, the comment sections on these blogs reiterate the exclusivity i feel within the non-religious community.

i am finding it more and more difficult to be a part of this "non-religious" community. i am non-religious and have been for some time now. however, as i learn more about the past of people of color, of women, of any group of oppressed people and am coming to want more kinship with colored communities, the more exclusive the non-religious community seems to be.

most (probably 95%) of non-religious individuals are western, white, upper/middle class males; basically the most privileged group of people of the planet. besides sharing thoughts on theology and some concerning some religions...i have nothing in common with these people.

you'll see on this blog, the only time someone of color is featured in a clip (with the exception of Ayaan Hirsi Ali....who is becoming more and more euro-centric everyday) is when they're ironing their daughter's breasts down with hot stones (which, by the way, has nothing to do with religion or non-religion....why it's on the website is highly questionable)or chanting in some remote jungle....while the readers respond saying someone needs to go help these people (someone- i.e. white and western with no connection with the cause, but feels the need to help them because they can't possibly help themselves. help- i.e. be taught that their ways are barbarous and shown the "right" ways one should live).

most of these non-religious individuals have rejected Christianity, and assume that most other theistic religions are close to or similar to Christianity. which is not really the case (Islam and Judaism are Abrahamic religions as Christianity is, but they have many many MANY differences from their text to their cultures to their histories) and thats among Abrahamic religions-Hinduism, Shinto, Baha'i, to name a few, have even fewer similarities. so when they see some random traditional African religion.....instead of realizing that there is MUCH to learn about any/all traditional religions, they categorize it with Christian zealots and apply the same criticism to them both. as if religions and cultures should all be held in comparison to western standards. in addition, they think they know all there is to know about the religion of some indigenous society from some youtube snippet of a small group of a denomination of a religion practiced by .0001% of the population of this one country!

i am so over euro-centrism.

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