Black Protestants Attitudes Towards Homosexuality
Introduction (no slide)
And I quote, “Without increased recognition of the broadening of identities through which people exist in and understand the world, traditional black leaders and scholars may end up so out of touch with the differing experiences of multiple segments of black communities that they fill no real function in their communities and thus are left to talk to themselves.” Cathy Cohen on homosexuality, AIDS, and the boundaries of blackness.
Slide 1
A negative attitude toward same-sex/same-gender attraction and orientation and a view that engaging in homosexual acts is morally unacceptable and ultimately punishable in the spiritual sense are some mainstream Christian biblical interpretations regarding homosexuality. In this presentation, …show more content…
However, black Protestants have grown to become somewhat more accepting of same-sex marriage over the last decade. The data gives us a better glimpse of the intersection between black religiosity and attitudes toward homosexuality, where we can start to probe further into why we’re seeing more accepting attitudes toward homosexuality as time progress but not at the higher rates of other Protestant denominations. One question we are led to ask to better piece things together is how the black Protestants who have negative attitudes toward homosexuality frame homosexuality in a religious …show more content…
According to many scholars, homophobia in the Black Church is said to be related to “literalist theological views.” Thus, what would seem to be a literal interpretation of scripture is consequently regarded with a particularly strong authority. Elijah Ward, a scholar in black history studies, states, “Scripture is often the cornerstone of homophobia in the black community and why black people's use of the Bible to condemn homosexuality is understandable in the context of their historical experience, as enslaved blacks sought refuge and found freedom in the literalness of Scripture.” Historical sexual exploitation is another line of thought that attempts to connect homophobia in the Black Church mainly with the history of white exploitation of black sexuality during slavery and beyond. Black faith communities and churches have historically avoided addressing the fundamental issues of sexuality for fear that it’d confirm the stereotypes of black sexuality like “deviant sexuality,” which would include things like being hypersexual or homosexual, that whites have long held. Some scholars believe that the social construct of masculinity has and continues to rely on hypermasculine performances, such as conflating gender and sexuality, to the extent that, to be perceived as masculine, you need to be male and heterosexual. In part, the
And I quote, “Without increased recognition of the broadening of identities through which people exist in and understand the world, traditional black leaders and scholars may end up so out of touch with the differing experiences of multiple segments of black communities that they fill no real function in their communities and thus are left to talk to themselves.” Cathy Cohen on homosexuality, AIDS, and the boundaries of blackness.
Slide 1
A negative attitude toward same-sex/same-gender attraction and orientation and a view that engaging in homosexual acts is morally unacceptable and ultimately punishable in the spiritual sense are some mainstream Christian biblical interpretations regarding homosexuality. In this presentation, …show more content…
However, black Protestants have grown to become somewhat more accepting of same-sex marriage over the last decade. The data gives us a better glimpse of the intersection between black religiosity and attitudes toward homosexuality, where we can start to probe further into why we’re seeing more accepting attitudes toward homosexuality as time progress but not at the higher rates of other Protestant denominations. One question we are led to ask to better piece things together is how the black Protestants who have negative attitudes toward homosexuality frame homosexuality in a religious …show more content…
According to many scholars, homophobia in the Black Church is said to be related to “literalist theological views.” Thus, what would seem to be a literal interpretation of scripture is consequently regarded with a particularly strong authority. Elijah Ward, a scholar in black history studies, states, “Scripture is often the cornerstone of homophobia in the black community and why black people's use of the Bible to condemn homosexuality is understandable in the context of their historical experience, as enslaved blacks sought refuge and found freedom in the literalness of Scripture.” Historical sexual exploitation is another line of thought that attempts to connect homophobia in the Black Church mainly with the history of white exploitation of black sexuality during slavery and beyond. Black faith communities and churches have historically avoided addressing the fundamental issues of sexuality for fear that it’d confirm the stereotypes of black sexuality like “deviant sexuality,” which would include things like being hypersexual or homosexual, that whites have long held. Some scholars believe that the social construct of masculinity has and continues to rely on hypermasculine performances, such as conflating gender and sexuality, to the extent that, to be perceived as masculine, you need to be male and heterosexual. In part, the