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Black Churches and the Pulpit

Opinion on Predominately Black Churches and the Leaders of the Masses

Anthony T. Feagin

SOWK 300 Section 1

J.L. McArthur

March 11, 2010

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Abstract

In America Black Churches and Religion was created based on a model that was set before our
ancestors as slaves under the oppression of White majority Protestant new settlers of the New
World. With this occurrence there have been themes and disparities passed down through
tradition in the churches mainly consisting of Blacks/African Americans. One of these themes is
a continuing thirst for money from a congregation that sometimes is not able to support the
leader and his family without being a hindrance on oneself. This survey will ask a simple
question about whether there is a theme of “Pimping” in the Black Church.
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The Survey Research Report

Introduction
I. Description of problem- In America Black Churches and Religion was created based
on a model that was set before our ancestors as slaves under the oppression of the
majority White Protestant settlers of the New World. With these circumstances there
have been themes and disparities passed down through the tradition of the churches
mainly consisting of Blacks/African Americans. One of these themes is a continuing
thirst for money from a congregation that sometimes is not able to support the leader
and his family without being a hindrance on oneself. Often times you can look upon a
congregation in of black church goers and notice that there are disparities in the living
standards among the pastor and his followers. This life style is usually facilitated by
the method of multiple and often time pressured offerings of money or (Passing the
Hat). This survey will ask a simple question about whether there is a theme of
“Pimping” in the Black Church.
II. Attributes to be measured- The attributes measured in this survey include Age,
Location, Gender, Education, Income, and Team. These were based using the Ask
500 People survey assist website. The respondents are anonymous and have the
ability to be a residence in any free internet participating society. Because of no hands
on administering of the survey the results will not be depth enough for the best
possible accuracy. There was a total of 28 respondents to the question presented.
III. Hypotheses, expectations, or research questions (Univariate, Bivariate,
Multivariate)-I believe that nationality and gender will affect the respondents
answer. I believe that education level and income can also elicit differing responses
on the question “Do you think that in Black churches there is a theme of Pimping
from the pulpit?” The Univariate tables will be yes and no answers from the overall
survey and also broken down into male and female responses. It is difficult to draw
expectations from the results of this particular survey because of the lack in
participation.
IV. Rationale- I believe that my hypotheses are accurate because within society men tend
to look at the institution of church can sometimes be seen as a hindrance on lifestyles
and an issue to take critique on life from a common man. Along with money and
education also comes a sense of enlightenment and often times the more money or
education a person has can reflect onto their beliefs in the importance of not only
religion but, the act of giving back to the church and the man placed there to lead the
congregation. It is difficult to draw expectations from the results of this particular
survey because of the lack in participation.
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Results
Univariate Tables- Here are four Univariate tables that show the frequencies of
answers provided by the 28 collected responses

Table 1
Table 2 Yes or No Response
Sex of the Respondents Response Frequency Percent
Sex Frequency Percent
Yes 11 39%
Male 21 75%
No 17 61%
Female 7 25%

Table 3 Table 4
Male Yes and No Female Yes and No
Response Frequency Percent Response Frequency Percent

Yes 11 52% Yes 0 0%

No 10 48% No 7 100%
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Lists of graphs- Here is a complete reference guide for all the graphs you will be viewing in this
survey.

List of Graphs
Univariate Graph 1 Gender of Respondent

Univariate Graph 2 Age of Respondent

Bivariate Graph 1 Income of Respondent

Bivariate Graph 2 Education of Respondent

Bivariate Graph 3 Country of Residency

Bivariate Graph 4 Team

Bivariate Graph 5 Overview

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Discussion

Out of the twenty eight surveyed people there was a overwhelming amount of males who
responded to the online survey. There were a total of twenty one males and seven females
constituting 75% and 25% respectively of the survey. My guess for there being a big difference
in the participant is that maybe the source that the questionnaire was given was more in
accordance with a males usage of the computer. I also think that there were not many responses
because of the question content and maybe the unfamiliarity or disregard as this issue being a
true threat to the Black population.
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In this survey there are not very many respondents and their also seems to be adjusted figures in
the amount of responses on this age categorical chart. There were six votes for YES and there is
a respondent in every age category except for older than 65. In the NO response section there
seems to be two respondents in the 18-25, 36-45, and older than 65 category, there is one in the
56-65 range three in the 46-55 range and 4 in the 26-35 range. I think that the 26-35 range having
the highest percentage of the survey is telling to the fact that this generation typically does have
the capability to use computers more readily and efficiently.

Here we have the income distribution of votes again it has been adjusted down ten responses for
unknown reasons but, when u look at the chart you can see that the 4 YES votes landed in the
income range of $80k-99k and over $100k supporting my hypotheses that as R’s tend to make
more money their views on the church and the money/economic structure is detrimental to the
church and its body of members. In the NO category the majority of the votes belonged to R’s
who were in the $20K or less category then sparsely landing on other Income categories.
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Again you can see that as you go to the right towards the higher levels of achievement the YES
votes majority lay within the Master’s and Doctorate categories. While the majority of the NO
votes lay in the High School range this falls hand in hand with the income graph also because
typically the higher level of education you have enables you to secure a higher income for you
throughout your career compared to high school only graduates. I also believe that as the R’s
education increased along with income they begin to view practices in the church as
inappropriate or unneeded.
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When looking at this Chart you can see that the majority of the voters are residents of the United
States which can explain why most of the NO responses are from America. I think this simply
shows that other countries might not be knowledgeable about the plight that goes on in African
American Churches and that there is a major issue at hand can assume that it might be hard for
someone in another country identify with Americas struggle with its past and the environment
that it created for enslaved Africans and the impact it still has on Blacks in today’s times.

To be completely honest I am not sure exactly what the breakdown into Pirates, Ninjas, and
Cowboys is referring to. With that being said you can in the Pirates category the NO votes out
weight the YES votes by a large percentage. In the Ninja category the YES and NO votes were
exactly the same. In the last and final category the Cowboys the NO slightly lead the YES votes.
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Overall you can see that out of the 28 Respondents there were eleven who responded YES to
question and seventeen who responded NO to the question with respective percentages of 39%
and 61%. It is difficult to draw expectations from the results of this particular survey because of
the lack in participation. Under different circumstances I would have preferred to have more
hands on control of my survey question for a better turnout and information that is acceptable
with the standards typical for this class.
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Summary
In America Black Churches and Religion was created based on a model that was set before our
ancestors as slaves under the oppression of White majority Protestant new settlers of the New
World. With this occurrence there have been themes and disparities passed down through
tradition in the churches mainly consisting of Blacks/African Americans. One of these themes is
a continuing thirst for money from a congregation that sometimes is not able to support the
leader and his family without being a hindrance on oneself. This survey asked a simple question
about whether there is a theme of “Pimping” in the Black Church.

This theme is a continuing thirst for money from a congregation that sometimes is not able to
support the leader and his family without being a hindrance on oneself. Often times you can look
upon a congregation in of black church goers and notice that there are disparities in the living
standards among the pastor and his followers. This life style is usually facilitated by the method
of multiple and often time pressured offerings of money or (Passing the Hat).

I believed that nationality and gender would affect the respondents answer. I believed that
education level and income would also elicit differing responses on the question “Do you think
that in Black churches there is a theme of Pimping from the pulpit?” The Univariate tables were
yes and no answers from the overall survey and also broken down into male and female
responses. It is difficult to draw expectations from the results of this particular survey because of
the lack in participation.

My hypotheses are accurate because within society men tend to look at the institution of church
can sometimes be seen as a hindrance on lifestyles and an issue to take critique on life from a
common man. Along with money and education also comes a sense of enlightenment and often
times the more money or education a person has can reflect onto their beliefs in the importance
of not only religion but, the act of giving back to the church and the man placed there to lead the
congregation. Again it is difficult to draw expectations from the results of this particular survey
because of the lack in participation.
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References
Feagin, Anthony (2010). Do you think that in Black churches there is a theme of Pimping from
the pulpit. Ask 500 People: http://www.ask500people.com/questions/do-you-think-that-
in-black-churches-there-is-a-theme-of-pimping-from-the-pulpit
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Appendix
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