As an agnostic and a Unitarian I appreciate fellowships and churches. Very often times they serve as a wonderful support system for people. I've also noticed many African Americans are deeply religious. It's not easy being a minority. Perhaps the church offers the feeling of hope in a ,so often, hopeless world.

That's really not surprising. White Americans who immigrated from Europe still follow the religion that was forced on their ancestors as well, but they've been doing it for far longer.

I think is because most of us are scared they won't get into heaven and a lot of us don't have the courage to exercise our ability to think for ourselves expesialy when it goes against what has been taught to us since birth.I personally only know one other guy that is black and agnostic like myself everyone else is somewhat brainwashed .

Great discussion.
In Africa the situation is similar. Denizens were introduced to religion by colonial masters whose main pretense "La mission civilisatrice" (the civilization mission) disguised their real intent: plunder.
The reasons given for religion's grip over the Black community in earlier posts by more savvy members are all valid. I personally shunned religion out of laziness, but it was always there, waiting for me. I later went to church for the girls and when the fear of death became real, I quickly baptized. I became a good preacher, filling up church seats more than the pastor! A flimsy knowledge of psychology, some theater techniques, a clean appearance and voila!
Paradoxically, it was my constant search for meaning in the Bible that alienated me from the christian faith.
Maybe we have to approach this question from the perspective that religion is dangerous, especially in the case of Black Africa. The level of intolerance and condescension I go thru on a daily basis is unbelievable.
Religion does not have the same historical relevance in the African community as it does in the African American community, yet the effects are similar. I also don't think the more Blacks are educated the easier it will be to solve the problem.
I have also noticed that Latinos tend to exhibit the same attachment tendencies to religion as Blacks. Can anyone throw light on this?

Being black myself, I often wondered the same thing. Generations of indoctrination is the usual explanation, but after reading the passages in the bible about slavery, how can one not be disgusted? Whenever confronted with these passages from the bible I'm shocked to hear the ridiculous justifications.

This is a really good question, i often wonder this myself.
I think part of it is there in denial of what the book really say because they brainwashing since birth. One can also say that it was all they had after being release from slavery...
I would love to know the answer to this question.

I've always wondered that, and I can't come up w/an answer except for a deep indoctrination that goes back hundreds of years. I've actually asked this of my college students who are mostly black and Latino, and I never get a clear-cut answer from them, even when I stress the fact that the bible demeans people of color at every turn. They just choose not to see it because they've never been taught logical thinking, and they think evolution is made up. It's a sorry state of affairs in college classrooms these days.

First, why don't I see more answers from actual Black people?
Second, why does anyone do anything? Because they are taught.
Third, the Black Christian church served some incredibly important functions in the community for most of our history in this wonderful country. Churches are where we learned to read, traded information, made deals, found lovers and friends, and met with business associates. More than a house of worship, the traditional Black church is a community center.
Fourth, fear. White people are historically very talented at subjugating brown populations with fear. When my ancestors were forced to take the white man's gods above their own, they did it with a sword pressed against their necks. This fear was, naturally, passed down to their descendants through words, actions, and traumatic responses that I believe are passed down through genetic code. Add a dash of everlasting damnation, and it's hard to move on to different ideologies, even if they make more sense and are healthier for you.
I was raised by lip-service Christian parents. They didn't go to church or read the Bible, but they had been inculcated from the womb to praise Jesus in speech, if not in actions. From an early age, I found myself attracted to more animistic modes of thought. Ooooohhh the fights! The tears of holy sorrow my mother wept when she found the small altar I built in my bedroom closet. I was evil. I was possessed. I was stupid. I was just plain wrong. Even still, I eventually managed to break free of my need for a Great Sky Daddy. But it's tough, and I don't look down on my brethren who still need that. I understand the pain involved in rebirthing your spirituality from 400 years of darkness.

I believe the major reason the Black community still clings to religion is the lack of advanced education. The educational system in the US has aimed to keep black people out of higher institutions of learning starting by limiting their education in the public school system that only teaches you how to stay within the lines and conform rather than to think critically. Where is the encouragement to advance? If many families are working several jobs just to survive just paying the bills is a major effort. Where is the opportunity when there is no money? When they qualified for money to go to school the white community claimed discrimination because they claimed unfair treatment. WTF. Every step forward has two to three steps back. Conformity and staying subordinate is what minorities get so that that the majority can be maintained and stay in power.

Churches offer community, camaraderie, hope and family. You can go to church and be happy for a little while and maybe experience some joy. The more educated an ethnic group gets the more they tend to reject religion. All the churches around the world especially the catholic ones are full to overflowing of poor people. The church offers hope but of course at a huge price that they're willing to pay because they don't know any better.

I think it is true that many black people AND people who live in, or close to poverty, are more likely to stay with religion. They are the ones who buy the bulk of lottery tickets and for the same reason. The have to cling to something because there is so little opportunity to improve their economic situation so they cling to the hope that god will intervene on their behalf or that they will win the lottery and their prayers will all be answered.

Similarly, there are more atheists among college educated people. The ability to get an education and the opportunities to broaden one's perspective by education means people are more likely to exposed to people who think differently and who eschew the fantasy of god.

We have talked about why there are far fewer women in atheist groups. One theory was that they are home caring for children and we should provide babysitting services for them. As a feminist, I don't exactly buy that because father's can parent (they don't babysit their own children) and give the mom a chance to get out and socialize. But again, I think women have been held down for so long that they too often cling to the hope that a deity could provide for them and take care of them. I also think they (more than men until the last 50 years) feel the responsibility of teaching their children morals and values and what better place and way to do that than at church just as they were taught. Again, college educated women are less likely to turn to religion for those lessons and more likely to be atheists than not. Not that it's a tsunami of atheist--more like a gently rising tide.

I have a black friend ( one of many) who is an atheist who asks this question all the time. We have the same opinion. Generational Indoctrination

If true, how sad!

What "religion" would be appropriate with which to replace it? Of course, as a white American male I would have very little to offer of relevance. Good luck with your inquiry.

It is sort of 'stockholm syndrome' where the captors end up falling in love with or joining the group that captured them. The brain washing is so intense and the hope that religion offers up is so beguiling when life on earth for a slave was beyond shocking, that it allows the myth to persist and even flourish within the black community, somehow that Jesus and god even delivered them from slavery (oops, he was also the one to put you in it and even wrote at length about it in his guide to slavery - the bible). So it is hardly surprising the black community has a large muslim following, but even better if they got rid of all the BS and became atheists.

It is a matter of as their ancestors were forced to accept new beliefs, what was considered "normal" for blacks and their descendants changed. Add that to the concept that the nail that sticks out get hammered, and they developed a culture of conformity.

The native populations of Mexico and South America were converted at the point of a gun or canon, yet they cling to the religious beliefs of those who conquered them as well, for many of the same reasons. The sense of normality changed and those that didn't conform might have gotten killed.

habit and history. in the past the only social outlet accepted/allowed was church!

As an African American and an ex-Christian myself, The manipulation goes much deeper than you would think. Much of it isn't just wanting to cling to something much of it is fear. Christian wasn't taught friendly but it was beaten, burned and forced onto Africans. It was convert or die and not showing proper amounts of faith punishment was brought down onto them that was not only damaging to the victim but traumatizing for bystanders. Parents drilled it into children out of fear aand made it basically traditional to force it onto their children cause not being a Christian could result in death. They would rather beat christianity into their own kids rather than see them burned or hung for not being a christian. Long lasting effects of this type of trama didn't just disappear. It was literally mass manipulation. Generation after generation basically hypnotized under the idea the only and only mercy they were going to get in life was in death under God. This sort of mental stain isn't removed. This is part of the exact reason I let go of Christianity and the black atheist is becoming more common than you would think, slower than other populations maybe but it is growing.

I appreciate this question. I, too, wish African Americans would reject Christianity as it was the faith of their oppressors. But to your question itself -- I think they have held to it more strongly than we would wish because the Old Testament narrative of Exodus, the return from Babylonian Exile, and the divine promise of deliverance from oppression into heaven all spoke profoundly to the community while they were enslaved. So when some of those promises seemed to be coming true, then it would hardly be the time to abandon the faith.