There is a distinct problem with religion in this country. The churches of America have become racially divided, creating inequalities amongst our populace. Racial divisions run deep, and there is an undeniable relationship between religion and racism. Since the inception of this country, we have been racially divided. These divisions continued throughout the 20th century, and continue to this very day. These divisions often include, but are not limited to social and political values. Racism in America's religious institutions can be traced to the very roots of America. Original religious views on other races had little bearing in everyday life. White Christians `paid little attention to slaves' souls' (22), and often viewed them as less than human. In the early 1730's, evangelicalism began to gain strength amongst slave holders. It was believed that being Christian made the slaves better workers and obey their masters more fully. The movement to `Christianize' slaves was fully put forth by evangelist George Whitefield in 1740 (25). He traveled the countryside, `saving' slaves from all parts of the country, and Christianizing them to become better slaves. George Whitefield's main point in the Christianizing of slaves was simple, ."..God allowed slavery for larger purposes, including the Christianization and uplifting of the heathen Africans." (27). The Revolutionary War, starting in the 1770's, brought new life and conflict to the issues of slavery. By the late 1770's, many evangelicals had begun to denounce slavery as a sin, and a practice that `brings dishonor to the Christian name' (28). In 1808, a celebration for the abolition of slave trade was staged. Many prominent evangelicals of the time were on hand to speak. ... ... middle of paper ... ... It is imperative that white and black churches work together to continue to find solutions to closing the racial gap that has opened in the last forty years. White evangelicalism has been working to help increase racial diversity amongst religion. However, their efforts seem to be failing. It is becoming more and more apparent through history, social life, and politics, that white evangelicalism is not doing the right things to help desegregate the black evangelicals. "Despite devoting consid¬erable time and energy to solving the problem of racial division, white evangelicalism likely does more to perpetuate the racialized society than to reduce it" (170). Much more needs to be done in the coming decades to ensure that we can reduce racial inequalities in the church, and hopefully one day close the gap to nothing, creating an all inclusive Christian church.
This paper elaborates on the diverse contributions peoples of African descent have made to the pluralistic religious landscape of America and replicates various passages from our textbook. It focuses on the personal narratives of non-religious to religious leaders—exemplifying their influence on the African American religious movement during slavery and the reconstruction of America. Each section represents different historical periods, regional variations, and non-Christian expressions of African-American religion.
Roswell Street Baptist Church was once a slave plantation, but now seeks to reach intercultural, and intergenerational body of believers. Martin encourages not to be entrapped by nationalism, but to adopt the view Christ has which is His people, from all nationalities. Marin states, “Indeed, if all nations and all peoples would look to to God and acknowledge God as sovereign, there would be relative international order, harmony, and peace.” (Martin, 212, 2004) Roswell Street Baptist church has the history chains of being a “white supremacist” church that judged anyone: Latino, Muslims, and those with dark skin. Through the years their hearts have changed.
It always maintained that taking someone’s God given right of freedom was against the church preaching’s and beliefs. In addition, some of the first emigrants to the newly discovered land (North America) were slaves themselves and they were white. One of the main reasons they immigrated to North America was to escape religious persecution. The political situation did not help either; too much support to antislavery and the church could lose the much needed support of wealthy churchgoers. The institution stopped short of actively going against the problem of slavery, instead they focused their efforts in making slavery more “tolerable” for slaves. After all, most of the church goers in the south were white slave owners and/or in some way or another supported slavery and the economic factors in benefitted. In the North, the Presbyterian Church had deplored the issue of black and religion; they were never unable or unwilling to tackle the problem from its source. In the North the free blacks had more religious freedom and were allowed to participate in churches or form their own congregations. There was another phenomenon that affected the lives of slaves in the plantations. Most owners controlled all aspects of their slaves to include religion. The owners used the Gospel as a social control method to tell the slaves why they had to obey their masters (according to God) and inculcate and foster the belief of having to serve and be faithful to their
Montgomery, William. Under Their Own Vine and Fig Tree: The African-American Church in the South. Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press, 1993. Print.
Dr. Wimberly also spoke about how slavery caused tremendous pain in the black church. The word “wholeness,” he wrote, mea...
Moreover, many owners later came to feel that Christianity may actually have encouraged rebellion (all those stories of Moses and the Israelites in Egypt, after all, talked about the liberation of the slaves), and so they began to discourage Christian missionaries from preaching to the slaves. African Americans have taken their own spiritual, religious journey. God was looked upon as a source of peace and encouragement. The community of enslave Africans were able to use religion and spirituality as a way of overcoming the mental anguish of slavery on a daily basis. To a slave, religion was the most important aspect of their life. Nothing could come between their relationship with god. It was their rock, the only reason why they could wake up in the morning, the only way that they endured this most turbulent time in our history.
As I have touched on earlier in this paper, there has been a direct correlation between the black church and social activism and social issues. No doubt the church has and remains a staple in in the black community. The question that challenges us is
In April of 1963 the Southern Christian Leaders Conference (SCLC) organized a campaign against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. African Americans in Birmingham in part with the SCLC arrang...
Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press. Print. The. 2003 Roberts, Deotis J. Black Theology in Dialogue. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press. Print.
Cotton Mather and John Woolman were two men who had very passionate ideas for the slaves. “Negro Christianized” written by Cotton Mather was an appeal to the slave owners to convert their slaves to Christianity. He primarily focuses on the idea that slaveholders should treat the slaves with dignity and respect along with converting them to Christianity. In John Woolman’s work “Some Considerations On Keeping of Negroes,” he talks about how slavery was detrimental to the slaves and the slave holder. He illustrated through his own conduct the principles of compassion and good will that formed the central message of his itinerant ministry.
In the first chapter of Nathan Hatch’s book, The Democratization of American Christianity, he immediately states his central theme: democratization is central to understanding the development of American Christianity. In proving the significance of his thesis, he examines five distinct traditions of Christianity that developed in the nineteenth century: the Christian movement, Methodists, Baptists, Mormons and black churches. Despite these groups having diverse structural organization and theological demeanor, they all shared the commonality of the primacy of the individual conscience.
This is something that seemed tabo during the 60’s, where America was still racist and segregated. Jim Jones and The Peoples Temple helped to break mant social barriers. “He helped to integrate churches, hospitals, restaurants and theaters…was one of harmony and equality rooted in communism” (Latson). The church had blacks, whites, Asians, etc; they wanted a “rainbow” family. They loved and welcomed all people into their community.
In reviewing this book, I found one dominant sentence that will sum up all of the research and information presented. That theme is this – “all churches if possible, should be multiracial.” While this is idealistic and at the true core is the purest form of Christianity, the question remains on whether congregations want to be multiracial or not. The United States of America is no longer country dominated by one race. The author research in census data says that “the United States has well over 35 million more people of color in 2000 than it did in 1980.” Statistically these numbers will continue to rise to form an even more racially diverse nation. Racially diversity has its challenges even today in this post-modern era. Schools, offices,
The Black Church has played many roles in the black community and their struggle for freedom. During the Black Power era which spanned from the mid 1960’s to the late 1970’s, questions raised about the Black Church’s role in the Black Power Movement. What was its role in the movement, and was it helping to further one of the main goals of the movement to get self-determination for blacks? The Black Church during the Black Power movement helped the black people by providing the black communities with a welcoming, open space, uniting black communities throughout the United States and focusing the communities on one common goal of getting self-determination.
C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiya, The Black Church in the African American Experience (Durham: Duke University Press, 1990), 352. Lindsay A. Arscott, "Black Theology," Evangelical Review of Theology 10 (April-June 1986):137. James H. Cone, "Black Theology in American Religion," Theology Today 43 (April 1986):13. James H. Cone, "Black Theology and Black Liberation," in Black Theology: The South African Voice, ed. Basil Moore (London: C. Hurst & Co., 1973), 92, 96.