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Professor Christopher Cameron

The Freethought Society (FS) is pleased to host Professor Christopher Cameron on SaturdayAugust 12020 at 3:00 PM (EDT)/Noon (PDT) for an online Zoom presentation  entitled “Black Freethought from Slavery to Civil Rights.” His talk is based on his book,  Black Freethinkers: A History of African American Secularism.

Learn how you can obtain the Zoom link by registering as a member of the FS Meetup.

Cameron’s talk will explore the origins of black freethought among 19th century slaves, many of whom could not reconcile notions of a loving God with their condition on Earth. The talk will then examine freethought in the 20th  century as well as cultural and political movements such as the Harlem Renaissance, radical leftist politics, and the Black Power movement. Cameron argues that religious skepticism was prevalent among some of the most prominent voices in African American history, including Frederick DouglassRichard WrightJames BaldwinLorraine HansberryHuey Newton, and Alice Walker

Cameron is a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with research and teaching interests in African American and early American history, including slavery, the antislavery movement, religious and intellectual history. His first book, To Plead Our Own Cause: African Americans in Massachusetts and the Making of the Antislavery Movement, explored the relationship between Puritan theology and the rise of black abolitionism, arguing throughout the work that African Americans were central to the development of the antislavery movement in America.

Dinner and a Movie:

Bondage in the Bible

FS’s “Dinner and a Movie” event format is back by popular demand.

Please bring your own dinner to the Norristown Library Community Room on February 21, 2012 to view Bondage and the Bible. The address of the library is 1001 Powell Street, Norristown, Pennsylvania. For information about public transportation please see the following website: http://www.septa.org/stations/rail/norristown.html

The movie will start at 6:00 PM. Attendees are encouraged to arrive between 5:30 and 5:45 PM to socialize and set up their dinner tables. FS will provide bottled water, napkins and paper plates.

Bondage and the Bible is a 60 minute independent film by Eric Harmon. This film includes the critical analysis of the Bible’s endorsement of  slavery and examines the inconsistent message in the New Testament, which supports slavery and inequality.

Synopsis

Bondage and the Bible tackles the controversial subject of African Americans who follow the bible as “the word of god” despite glaring passages that support and condone the institution of slavery.  The film examines how Old Testament curses and commandments legitimizes slavery and how New Testament scriptures urge slaves to obey even the cruelest of masters.  In addition, the film evaluates the psychological damage that ensues when African American people worship iconic images of a white god.  Using actual bible scriptures and interviews with people ranging from biblical scholars to ordinary citizens, the film offers a diverse look at how the bible’s support of slavery allowed U.S. slave owners to pass on a religion to African Americans that guaranteed an inferior relationship to all things divine.

View the trailer at: http://bondageandthebible.blogspot.com

Genres: Documentary // African American Heritage      Influences: The History Channel’s Mysteries of the Bible // Jesus Camp

Please RSVP using our Meetup page:  http://www.meetup.com/Freethought-Society-Meetup/events/49602002/

or our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/events/268988663166890/