{"id":15792,"date":"2022-02-11T14:34:48","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T14:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion"},"modified":"2022-02-11T14:52:28","modified_gmt":"2022-02-11T14:52:28","slug":"in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion","title":{"rendered":"In Search of African Women Who Question Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Malawi. <\/strong><\/span>She is from Zimbabwe in Southern Africa but currently lives in Canada. Rudo, 30 is a skeptic with a mission, a salient \u2018silent\u2019 mission to foster skeptical rationality among African women. She describes her home country Zimbabwe as a place where \u2018the religious rhetoric is deafening\u2019 and she is committed to providing a counter narrative. Recently I chatted with Rudo and she told me how she became a skeptic. We discussed her initiative to support and provide a sense of community to skeptically minded African women.<\/p>\n

Discover Your True Abilities Using This Secret Ancient Code And Enjoy A \u201cSecond Chance At Life\u201d\u2026WITHOUT Leaving Home Rudo informed me that she started questioning her faith when she was 21. \u201cWhen I went to college in the US I took a class in English. We learnt about Greek Mythology and I started to question Biblical stories. I had not been exposed to any other faiths when I was in Zimbabwe so when I moved to the states I realized that there were many other faiths. I could no longer be sure which faith would lead one to eternal life\u201d. Hold on Rudo. Were you sure that there was something like eternal life in the first place?<\/p>\n

Well, Rudo considers herself an agnostic because she is not certain about the existence or non-existence of God: \u201cI continued to question, but I did not let go of my faith because I was afraid to do so. About 7 years ago I finally realized that I did not believe in the Bible anymore. I had grown tired of trying to justify the unbelievable stories. One day I came across the term agnostic and that described me at that point. I was not sure if there was a god or not. But I was pretty sure that the God of the bible was not for me\u201d. Other scriptural Gods \u2013 God of the Torah, God of the Quran, God-of-that-name-it holy book may not be for you too.<\/p>\n

Rudo started a \u2018secret group\u2019 for female skeptics and has been reaching out to other doubters, questers and inquirers \u201cWe just need to know that there are other female skeptics out there. It\u2019s easier to come out when we are aware that there are others like us. When I started the group I knew only two others like myself but there are now 20 women in the group. They are so grateful to find other black women who question\u201d.<\/p>\n

Indeed it is usually a great feeling to know that one is not alone and that there are others who entertain doubts and who question the questionable teachings of religions.<\/p>\n

Rudo acknowledges that it is more challenging for African women than men to express their doubts about religion: \u201cIt is difficult for female skeptics to admit that they no longer believe in their religion. But it is easier for men to come out as atheists. For African women it is not that easy. We are afraid of being judged and being called satanists. It\u2019s not that I fear judgement from my peers. It\u2019s judgement from family. I have in-laws who are deeply spiritual and they would not be happy to hear that I am a skeptic\u201d.<\/p>\n

African women who question Religion<\/b><\/p>\n

Due to fear of persecution from family members, many African women who are skeptics, agnostics or atheists remain in the closet. They cannot express themselves freely. African women who question religion cannot do so openly and publicly. However, Rudo was fortunate. At least she has the support of her partner. The husband used to be a religious believer but later \u2018repented\u2019. \u201cYes, my husband is a non-believer. He took a little longer to lose his faith. He is an agnostic too\u201d.<\/p>\n

Even at that, Rudo is hesitant about embracing full blown skeptical activism. \u201cI don\u2019t think I am ready to be actively involved in the skeptics movement. Maybe in the future when I am more comfortable\u201d. The group which Rudo manages is exclusively a social and support facility for black women who are questioning their faith. She said: \u201cA lot of black women do not realize that questioning faith is an option, so they question in silence\u201d. Rudo thinks that organizing African female skeptics could serve a useful purpose. It would enable women who are skeptics to muster the courage to go open with their doubts, break the wall of dogmatic silence and question aloud.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Malawi<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Malawi. She is from Zimbabwe in Southern Africa but currently lives in Canada. Rudo, 30 is a skeptic with a mission, a salient \u2018silent\u2019 mission to foster skeptical rationality among African women. She describes her home country Zimbabwe as a place where \u2018the religious rhetoric is deafening\u2019 and she is committed to providing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":15791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,8],"tags":[233,371,234],"class_list":["post-15792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-malawi","tag-malawi"],"yoast_head":"\nIn Search of African Women Who Question Religion - Malawi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"She is from Zimbabwe in Southern Africa but currently lives in Canada. Rudo, 30 is a skeptic with a mission, a salient \u2018 ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In Search of African Women Who Question Religion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"She is from Zimbabwe in Southern Africa but currently lives in Canada. Rudo, 30 is a skeptic with a mission, a salient \u2018 ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Malawi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-11T14:34:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-11T14:52:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2022\/02\/img-62067815a9d1c.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"405\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"In Search of African Women Who Question Religion\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-11T14:34:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-11T14:52:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion\"},\"wordCount\":755,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2022\/02\/img-62067815a9d1c.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Malawi\",\"Malawi\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion\",\"name\":\"In Search of African Women Who Question Religion - Malawi\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2022\/02\/img-62067815a9d1c.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-11T14:34:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-11T14:52:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"She is from Zimbabwe in Southern Africa but currently lives in Canada. Rudo, 30 is a skeptic with a mission, a salient \u2018 ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2022\/02\/img-62067815a9d1c.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2022\/02\/img-62067815a9d1c.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":405,\"caption\":\"In Search of African Women Who Question Religion\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"In Search of African Women Who Question Religion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/\",\"name\":\"Malawi\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"In Search of African Women Who Question Religion - Malawi","description":"She is from Zimbabwe in Southern Africa but currently lives in Canada. Rudo, 30 is a skeptic with a mission, a salient \u2018 ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"In Search of African Women Who Question Religion","og_description":"She is from Zimbabwe in Southern Africa but currently lives in Canada. Rudo, 30 is a skeptic with a mission, a salient \u2018 ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion","og_site_name":"Malawi","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2022-02-11T14:34:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-02-11T14:52:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":405,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2022\/02\/img-62067815a9d1c.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"In Search of African Women Who Question Religion","datePublished":"2022-02-11T14:34:48+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-11T14:52:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion"},"wordCount":755,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2022\/02\/img-62067815a9d1c.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Malawi","Malawi"],"articleSection":["all news","files","homepage-english"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion","name":"In Search of African Women Who Question Religion - Malawi","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2022\/02\/img-62067815a9d1c.jpg","datePublished":"2022-02-11T14:34:48+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-11T14:52:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"She is from Zimbabwe in Southern Africa but currently lives in Canada. Rudo, 30 is a skeptic with a mission, a salient \u2018 ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2022\/02\/img-62067815a9d1c.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2022\/02\/img-62067815a9d1c.jpg","width":720,"height":405,"caption":"In Search of African Women Who Question Religion"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/in-search-of-african-women-who-question-religion#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"In Search of African Women Who Question Religion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/","name":"Malawi","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}