The Black Church: How Black Churches Keep African American Women Single and Lonely
Black women have an inordinate amount of faith in both Black men and Black churches. My position is that such blind and unwavering faith in either is misplaced. It is my belief that the Black church, structured around traditional gender roles which makes women submissive to and inferior to men, greatly limits females. Single Black women sitting in church every Sunday are being subtly brainwashed, soothed and placated into waiting without demand for what they want to magically come to them. Who is doing this to Black women? The male standing at the front of the Church in the role of spiritual leader, that’s who!
Black women should abandon Black churches and focus more on themselves, their needs and those of their children than those of Black men or a religion which Black men use to castigate and control an entire race of women.
Single Black Females in Church
Black females have long been considered the backbone of the Black community and the cornerstone of their families and churches. But what is the real price Black women have paid to wear this crown of fool’s gold?
An examination of any congregation of the average Black church shows that single Black females fill the pews. Results of a recent study “African Americans and Religion” by the PEW Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life found that “African Americans are markedly more religious on a variety of measures than the U.S. population as a whole.”
Almost 90% of Black Americans express “absolutely certain belief in God” compared to just over 70% of the total U.S. population. Two other important statistics gleaned from this survey: (1) 80% of Black Americans report that religion is “very important” in their lives as compared to 57% of the general U.S. population; and (2) 55% of Black Americans report that they “interpret scripture literally” as compared to 32% of the general U.S. population.
The PEW study also reported that “Men are significantly more likely than women to claim no religious affiliation. Nearly one-in-five men say they have no formal religious affiliation, compared with roughly 13% of women.”
The survey shows a distinct correlation between religion and social attitudes amongst African Americans. “African Americans who are more religiously observant (as defined by frequency of worship service attendance and the importance of religion in their lives), are more likely to oppose abortion and homosexuality, and more likely to report higher levels of conservative ideology.”
This full text of this article has been removed from the website. Deborrah’s book on the Black church: “The Black Church: Where Women Pray and Men Prey” delves much deeper into the politics and practices of the Black Church, and its negative impact on African American women.
For more information about the book’s content, please click the graphic at left. Be sure to sign up for our mailing list to receive notification of when the book will be available for purchase in April 2012.
The 24 Types of Suckas to Avoid is advice columnist Deborrah Cooper’s latest release. Women – learn how to fine tune your dating strategy and stop dating the wrong men! Men – if you want to improve your ability to interact with women, you can read this book and learn what NOT to do! The 24 Types of Suckas to Avoid contains the tools every single woman tired of short-term relationships with losers needs to know.
Change what you seek in a partner and how you look for it, quickly eliminating those will do nothing but waste your time in yet another dead-end relationship. Available in both trade paperback and downloadable EBook formats for Nook, Kindle, iPad, and Android tablets as well.
Category: The Black Church














What a load of hogwash. The church is not to blame for women (or men for that matter) remaining single or lonely. Whomever wrote this article clearly does not understand the true purpose of the church (regardless of race.) The church is NOT a singles bar. There is one reason and one reason only for attending: worship and spiritual guidance. These attacks on the church are not only rude but ridiculous. If one is having problems finding a mate, they need to take personal responsibility and quit blaming other people and entitites. Besides, this article pretty much purports that there is something inherently wrong with being single when it isn't. Better for the Black woman to be in the church than out barhopping or desperately chasing men. If they are doing it in a church setting then they need to stop it. It's that simple.
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