<P> When asked to lead public prayers, Du Bois would refuse . In his autobiography, Du Bois wrote: </P> <P> "When I became head of a department at Atlanta, the engagement was held up because again I balked at leading in prayer (...) I flatly refused again to join any church or sign any church creed . (...) I think the greatest gift of the Soviet Union to modern civilization was the dethronement of the clergy and the refusal to let religion be taught in the public schools ." </P> <P> Du Bois accused American churches of being the most discriminatory of all institutions . He also provocatively linked African - American Christianity to indigenous African religions . Du Bois occasionally acknowledged the beneficial role religion played in African - American life--as the "basic rock" which served as an anchor for African - American communities--but in general disparaged African - American churches and clergy because he felt they did not support the goals of racial equality and hindered activists' efforts . </P> <P> Although Du Bois was not personally religious, he infused his writings with religious symbology, and many contemporaries viewed him as a prophet . His 1904 prose poem, "Credo", was written in the style of a religious creed and widely read by the African - American community . Moreover, Du Bois, both in his own fiction and in stories published in The Crisis, often analogized lynchings of African Americans to Christ's crucifixion . Between 1920 and 1940, Du Bois shifted from overt black messiah symbolism to more subtle messianic language . </P>

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