Secularization and Religious Alternatives Flashcards
Who wrote “Black America Begins to Doubt”?
George S. Schuyler
What was “Black America Begins to Doubt”?
An essay in “The American Mercury”
What was “The American Mercury”?
A magazine founded by H.L. Mencken & George Jean Nathan
Who was George S. Schuyler?
- AA Author, journalist, and social commentator
- Socialist turned conservative
In “Black America Begins to Doubt”, what was on the decline?
The Church
According to “Black America Begins to Doubt”, what evidence was there that the Church was on the decline?
- Membership at a standstill
- Financial support withdrawn
- Prestige waned
- General criticism
In “Black America Begins to Doubt”, why is the rural negro church slowly dying?
- Ignorant & incompetent preachers
- Migration
- Extension of the rural school system
- Cheap & speedy transportation
- Fewer youthful recruits
According to “Black America Begins to Doubt”, what is the purpose of the Negro church?
Keep the negroes docile
What do preachers condemn, according to “Black America begins to doubt”?
Everything not precisely in accordance with the orthodoxy they preach
In “Black America Begins to Doubt”, how have newspapers aided the decline of the Church?
Dissemination of AA news
What do atheists demand, according to “Black America Begins to Doubt”?
Why Negroes should revere a God who permits them to be lynched, Jim-Crowed, and disenfranchised
Who will win over the atheists, warns “Black America Begins to Doubt”?
The communists
What was “Garveyism”?
- Movement led by Marcus Garvey
- Black nationalism
- Charismatic messianism
- Emotional commitment to vision of returning to Africa
What shipping company ran from 1919-1922?
Black Star Line
Who was prosecuted for Mail Fraud in 1923?
Marcus Garvey
Where was Marcus Garvey born and brought up?
Jamaica
When did Marcus Garvey emigrate from Jamaica to USA?
1916
According to Marcus Garvey, who were his main enemies in Jamaica?
The “Colored gentry”
According to Marcus Garvey, what event aroused racial consciousness in the West Indies?
The British army rejecting many black officers in WWI
What organisation did Marcus Garvey found?
The Universal Negro Improvement Association
What was the paper of the UNIA?
“The Negro World”
According to Marcus Garvey, what does he believe in the purity of?
Both races: dangerous to encourage miscegenation
What did Marcus Garvey believe that black people should have?
A country of their own
Who wrote “Organized Religion and the Cults”?
Miles Fischer
What was “Organized Religion and the Cults”?
An article in “The Crisis”
What was “The Crisis”?
The official magazine of the NAACP, founded in 1910
Who was Miles Fischer?
Professor of Church History at Shaw University and pastor of White Rock Baptist Church
What was the purpose of the “Organized Religion and the Cults” article?
Advocate for the inclusion of other religious movements to be included in the 1936 “Census of Religious Bodies”
According to “Organized Religion and the Cults”, what were cults?
Faith-healing groups and individual prophets
In “Organized Religion and the Cults”, who could not compete successfully with the cults?
The mainstream denominations
According to “Organized Religion and the Cults”, what could 3 things could the mainstream learn from the cults?
- Mixed congregations
- Simplicity & Intelligence
- Equality for women
Who wrote “Black Judaism in Harlem”?
Rabbi Matthew
What was “Commandment Keepers”?
Rabbi Matthew’s version of orthodox Judaism for blackd in 1919
Who did Rabbi Matthew try to connect with?
The Falashas of Ethiopia
According to Rabbi Matthew, what were black Jews?
The chosen people of God (White Jews were spurious)
What did Rabbi Matthew call the enthusiastic pentecostal worship style?
“Niggeritions”
In “Black Judaism in Harlem”, who were the two classes of men?
Sons of God and the sons of men
According to “Black Judaism in Harlem”, who created the Falashas?
Solomon married the Queen of Sheba
What details does “Black Judaism in Harlem” set out?
- Curriculum of the Ethiopian Hebrew Rabbinical College of the Royal Order of Ethiopian Hebrews and the Commandment Keepers Congregation of the Living God, Inc.
Who wrote “The Realness of God”?
Father Divine
What did Father Divine’s followers believe about him?
He was God incarnate in a human body, who never taught or represented a single race, but was father of one worldwide family
What event helped convince Father Divine’s followers of his divinity?
June 7 1932: Judge who sentenced him for disturbing the peace died of a hear attack
What did Father Divine put emphasis on?
- His powers of omnipotence
- Victory over death and sickness
- Virtues of a celibate life
In “The Realness of God”, what is the realness of God not confined to?
- One place geographically
- One apparent personality
In “The Realness of God”, what is essential for the realness of God?
That it is received
Who wrote “Elder Lucy Smith”?
Herbert Morrison Smith
Who was Elder Lucy Smith?
- A pentecostal fait healer in Chicago
- Pastor of All Nations Pentecostal Church
- Conducted Weekly Radio Broadcasts
What was “Elder Lucy Smith”?
Essay part of a thesis presented to the Divinity School at the University of Chicago
What are the five sections of “Elder Lucy Smith”?
- Environment
- The Building
- The Congregation
- The Service
- Pastor Portrait
In “Elder Lucy Smith”, what is the congregation divided into?
2 groups: saints and sinners
Who wrote “Self-Government in the New World”?
Wallace Muhammad
Who established the Lost-Found Nation of Islam in Detroit in 1930?
Wallace Fard
Who identified Wallace Fard with Allah after his disappearance in 1934?
Elijah Muhammad
What 2 groups opposed Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam?
- Orthodox Muslims- against racial heresies
2. Black Civil Rights Organizations- opposed his separatist philosophy
Who was Wallace Muhammad?
- 5th son of Elijah Muhammad
2. Took over Nation of Islam after Elijah’s dath in 1975
In an attempt to conform doctrinally, what did Wallace Muhammad demythologise?
The Yakub story
In “Self-Government in the New World”, what did Wallace Fard say about the Church?
It was a failure in the Black community
- As Black people hated their black skin and any connection with Africa
In “Self- Government in the New World”, what is claimed about Wallace Fard?
Still alive
According to “Self-Government in the New World”, what did Wallace Fard recognise about the black race?
Too spiritual- wrapped up in the bible
Ignorant of material worth
In “Self-Government in the New World”, what needed to happen first of all?
Need to teach the black community to be alive in the social and spiritual reality
What was “Darrow’s Speech Divides Harlem”?
A newspaper report in the Baltimore Afro-American
Who was Clarence Darrow?
- Lawyer & member of the ACLU
- 1625 Scopes “Monkey Trial”
According to “Darrow’s Speech Divides Harlem”, what 2 sides did the crowd divide into?
- People who would support him no matter what, due to his defence in the Scope trial
- Others thought him an infidel
What is the message of the speech in “Darrow’s Speech Divides Harlem”?
Negroes need to stop relying on the church and get busy themselves
Who wrote “Observations”?
Kelly Miller
What was “Observations”?
An article in the “Chicago Defender”
Who was Kelly Miller?
- “Bard of the Potomac”
- Mathematician, sociologist, essayist, newspaper columnist, and author
Where did Kelly Miller stand in the industrial education debate?
In between the Niagara Movement and Booker T. Washington
Who does “Observations” call out?
White and Black religious hypocrites
According to “Observations”, what would happen if Christ came back as a black man?
He would be denied membership of his own church
What does “Observations” call for?
The Negro to take the opportunity of white hypocrisy and take up the cross
Where was “A Discussion: The Religion of the American Negro” published?
The Crisis
Who were the two people in “A Discussion: The Religion of the American Negro”?
- Clarence Darrow
2. Bishop R. E. Jones
According to Clarence Darrow in “A Discussion”, what made the AA religious?
Bondage: Church taught “servants. obey your master”
According to Clarence Darrow in “A Discussion”, which is the only church that doesn’t discriminate?
The Catholic Church
According to Clarence Darrow in “A Discussion”, what could never be conceived of?
That God was black
According to Bishop Jones in “A Discussion”, why is it easy to find fault in the church?
It is a man-made institution
According to Bishop Jones in “A Discussion”, what the church has been what in racial uplift?
The most dominant, persistent, and successful
According to Clarence Darrow in “A Discussion”, what does the Negro spend too much of his money on?
The Church
According to Bishop Jones in “A Discussion”, the Negro has gotten more from the Church than what?
Politics
Who has given Negroes only ‘empty resolutions’, according to Bishop Jones in “A Discussion”?
The Republican Party
What 6 things has Christianity given the Negro, according to Bishop Jones in “A Discussion”?
- A start in education
- The technique of organisation
- Developed leaders
- Influenced Negro financial life (influence on business enterprises)
- Power of co-operative effort
- Source of political strength
Who wrote “Things Nobody Believes”?
William Pickens
Where was “Things Nobody Believes” published?
The Messenger
Who was William Pickens?
- AA author, educator, journalist, and essayist
- Methodist
What did intelligent people no longer believe in “Things Nobody Believes”?
1/2 of what an “orthodox” preacher says
Who does Pickens call an idiot in “Things Nobody Believes”?
A man who believes anything simply because someone believed it 2/3 thousand years ago
What are 6 examples in “Things Nobody Believes”?
- Adam made of nothing, Eve made from Adam’s rib
- Mohammed anything more than a strong. energetic, and far from faultless man
- Whale swallowed Jonah and he survived
- Materialistic heaven somewhere in space
- Hell of fire & brimstone
- Red sea parted & there was a gigantic flood
Who wrote “The God of an Eternal Penitentiary”?
E. Ethelred Brown
What was “The God of an Eternal Penitentiary”?
An article in The Messenger
Who was E. Ethelred Brown?
- Jamaican Unitarian
- Formed the Negro Progressive Association & Secretary for the Jamaican Progressive League
- 1921: Formed the Harlem Community Church
Where does the title of “The God of an Eternal Penitentiary” come from?
Robert G. Ingersoll
In “The God of an Eternal Penitentiary”, what is God ignorant of?
The idea that the punishment must fit the crime
According to “The God of an Eternal Penitentiary”, what does not exist?
Hell as a real deep pit filled with fire
Who wrote “Who is Friend of Negro: God or Darrow”?
Rev. A Wendell Ross
What was ‘Who is Friend of Negro: God or Darrow”?
A newspaper article in the Pittsburgh Courier
Who was Rev. A Wendell Ross?
Pastor at the Mt. Calvary Baptist Church
In “Who is Friend of Negro: God or Darrow”, whose ideas is Rev. A Wendell Ross refuting?
J. Louis Clarke, who has taken up the ideas of Darrow
According to “Who is Friend of Negro: God or Darrow”, what % of Negro businesses had clerical help?
75%
According to “Who is Friend of Negro: God or Darrow”, who is a dangerous enemy?
Anyone who gets the Negro to turn from the Church, regardless of any other work they do
In “Who is Friend of Negro: God or Darrow”, what happens when you start businesses without God?
Prostitute the soul to the use of the body
In “Who is Friend of Negro: God or Darrow”, what 2 things are in danger of being crowded out by the modern world?
- God
2. The Soul
What is “R. R. Wright Scores Mencken’s Attack on Ministry”?
A newspaper article in the Pittsburgh Courier
In “R. R. Wright Scores Mencken’s Attack on Ministry”, what does Wright call Mencken?
Clever, but no thinker
In “R. R. Wright Scores Mencken’s Attack on Ministry”, what is Mencken’s claim?
That Negroes have been impoverished because of the Church
In “R. R. Wright Scores Mencken’s Attack on Ministry”, what does Wright claim that the church has done?
The Church has inspired Negroes to economic independence
In “R. R. Wright Scores Mencken’s Attack on Ministry”, what does Wright claim is unique about the Church?
The only organisation of Negroes that has tried to save the race as a whole
What is “White Minister Quits”?
A newspaper article in the “Afro American”
Who is the minister in “White Minister Quits”?
Adelbert Helm, minister at Bethel Evangelical Church, Detroit
Who founded the Bethel Evangelical Church, Detroit?
Reinhold Niebuhr
In “White Minister Quits”, why did he quit?
As a protest against the refusal of the white membership to receive two colored candidates who sought admission to the Christmas class
In “White Minister Quits”, why does Helm claim the church doesn’t belong to its members?
It is either God’s church or a a convenient city club
In “White Minister Quits”, what would Jesus say if he returned?
Would call it a city club
According to “White Minister Quits”, what is the way to fix the situation?
Honest leaders
What was “The Christian Religion”?
A debate in the North American Review between Robert G. Ingersoll and Jeremiah Black
What was the North American Review?
1st literary magazine in the USA, founded in 1815
Who was Robert G. Ingersoll?
- “The Great Agnostic”
- Radical views on religion, slavery, & women’s suffrage
- Advocated Freethought and Humanism
- Attacked the Doctrine of Hell
Who was Jeremiah Black?
Attorney General & Secretary of State
In “The Christian Religion”, who does Ingersoll claim are trying to set themselves above the pulpit?
The pews
In “The Christian Religion”, what are three of the fundamental truths of the gospel that Ingersoll set out?
- There is a personal God, the creator of the material universe
- Man created & turned out of the Garden of Eden
- Drowned all his children except 8
In “The Christian Religion”, who does Ingersoll claim the Old Testament is a product of?
A Barbarous People
In “The Christian Religion”, what does Ingersoll claim every believer in the bible must declare?
That there was a time when slavery was right
According to Ingersoll in “The Christian Religion”, what 2 problems are there with the idea that there was no general atonement till Christ?
- Shedding of innocent animal blood
2. No heaven before atonement: all those who died before Christ went to Hell
What is the problem of eternal damnation, according to Ingersoll in “The Christian Religion”?
A finite being can neither commit an infinite sin nor a sin against the infinite
According to Black in “The Christian Religion”, why is he responding to Ingersoll?
Priests have no time: like a policeman silencing a rude disturber
What claim of Ingersoll’s about the church does Black refute in “The Christian Religion”?
That the church is declining
According to Black in “The Christian Religion”, what has changed, if the church is not declining?
A change in the methods of attack by people hostile to religion
According to Black in “The Christian Religion”, what would happen if you gave Christianity a common trial?
The court would rule in its favour
Why are we poor critics of God, according to Black in “The Christian Religion”?
We have neither the jurisdiction nor the capacity to judge him
According to Black in “The Christian Religion”, what is the fundamental problem with Ingersoll’s claim that hell is not just?
Justice is obedience to the rule of God, and Ingersoll does not believe in God
How does Black refute Ingersoll’s claims about innocent animals in “The Christian Religion”?
Ingersoll eats meat
According to Black in “The Christian Religion”, what is there no reason to doubt?
That the statements of the evangelists are not genuine
According to Black in “The Christian Religion”, why can we never understand the spiritual world?
All our conceptions of the spiritual world are derived from an analogy to material things
Who wrote “Treatise on the Gods”?
H. L. Mencken
What was the purpose of “Treatise on the Gods”?
Survey of the history and philosophy of religion (companion to “Treatise on Right & Wrong”)
In “Treatise on the Gods”, what did ancient people not bother with?
State of their souls after death
In “Treatise on the Gods”, what has modified Christianity?
Priestly embellishment
According to “Treatise on the Gods”, why were the gospels altered and edited?
To bring them into harmony with the developing theology of the infant church
In “Treatise on the Gods”, why has there been an attack on the primary assumptions of religion?
- Rapid accumulation of scientific knowledge since 1859
- Proliferation of democracy
In “Treatise on the Gods”, who does Mencken call cowards?
Scientists who try to prove that they are not at odds with theology
What evidence does Mencken cite in “Treatise on the Gods” that the Church supports bad things?
Former apologist for slavery
According to “Treatise on the Gods”, the idea that science does not concern itself with what is wrong?
Origins and causes
In “Treatise on the Gods”, what does not necessarily make men better citizens?
Religion
Who wrote “Postscript”?
W. E. B. DuBois
What was “Postscript”?
The Postscript in The Crisis
What does DuBois lament in “Postscript”?
The attitude of black ministers in DC towards Darrow
According to DuBois in “Postscript”, what are ministers most interested in?
Mouthing of creeds and the orthodoxy of men’s beliefs than in the christianity and unselfishness of their deeds
According to “Postscript”, why should the ministers accept Darrow?
Should accept his inevitable criticism, as they are spending too much on church edifices, and too little on social uplift
Who wrote “Intelligent Christianity: Not the Fear of Hell”?
William Pickens
What was “Intelligent Christianity: Not the Fear of Hell”?
An article in The Messenger
What is the purpose of “Intelligent Christianity: Not the Fear of Hell”?
Answer the preachers who attacked “Things Nobody Believes”
According to “Intelligent Christianity: Not the Fear of Hell”, what view do intelligent ministers take?
A spiritual view of the ideas set out in “Things Nobody Believes”
What does “Intelligent Christianity: Not the Fear of Hell”, call on the young to do?
Must not swallow dogmas uncritically
Who wrote “Negro Folk Expressions”?
Sterling Brown
Who was Sterling Brown?
- Professor at Howard University: studied Southern black culture
- Poet: influenced by content, form, and cadence of AA music
- Part of the Harlem Renaissance
In “Negro Folk Expressions”, what elements of religious songs are mocked in slave seculars?
Otherworldiness and bible stories
According to “Negro Folk Expressions”, what songs expressed pure Negro bitterness?
Work songs & social protest songs
In “Negro Folk Expressions”, what 3 things are contributing to the breakup of Negro folk culture?
- Newspapers (sense of belonging to a wider world)
- Migration
- Changing industry
Who wrote “The Negro’s God as Reflected in his Literature’?
Benjamin Mays
According to “The Negro’s God Reflected in his Literature”, what 2 things lead to people abandoning God?
- Cannot rationalize God and the changing social situation
2. Cast aside the white man’s God
In “The Negro’s God Reflected in his Literature”, who does James Weldon Johnson have little patience for?
Atheist convertors: some people need religion
In “The Negro’s God Reflected in his Literature”, who is George S. Schuyler critical of, and who is he not critical of?
- Not critical of those who need religion
- Critical of institutionalised religion
