Africana Religions beyond Belief

Abstract:The authors attend to understudied Africana nonbeliever postures—including humanist, atheist, freethought, and nontheist—calling the field of Africana religions to study this quantitatively small, yet significant life orientation. The article includes a survey of Africana nonbeliever organizations and voices in the West, an overview of atheism and irreligious affiliation in certain African countries, and an argument that a critical methodological approach, augmented by a concern for hermeneutical variation, provides a platform for further research into Africana nonbelief.