Episode 155: Happy Holidays and Religious Discussions

For today’s episode, Tyrell and Daphne discuss religion and spirituality in the Black community. After catching up on life (00:30), they begin the conversation by discussing their own experiences in the Black church (9:50) and the history of the church as an institution for Black liberation (25:38). Next, they explore the current role of the Black church in leading progressive conversations (31:25), racial trends related to religious practice in the United States (37:15), spirituality and mental health (42:42), and atheism and agnosticism in the Black community and abroad (45:15). They close the episode by discussing the relationship between politics and religion (52:28) and whether the Black church—as an institution— should be changed or abolished (59:15). 

Resources 

• The History of the Black Church – https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/godinamerica-black-church/ 
• 5 facts about the religious lives of African Americans – https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/02/07/5-facts-about-the-religious-lives-of-african-americans/ 
• Religious composition of blacks – https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/racial-and-ethnic-composition/
• Three Decades Ago, America Lost Its Religion. Why? – https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/atheism-fastest-growing-religion-us/598843/
• Religion in Everyday Life – https://www.pewforum.org/2016/04/12/religion-in-everyday-life/ 
• Religiously unaffiliated people more likely than those with a religion to lean left, accept homosexuality – https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/09/28/religiously-unaffiliated-people-more-likely-than-those-with-a-religion-to-lean-left-accept-homosexuality/ 
• What the 2020 electorate looks like by party, race and ethnicity, age, education and religion – https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/10/26/what-the-2020-electorate-looks-like-by-party-race-and-ethnicity-age-education-and-religion/ 
• Racial and ethnic composition by religious group – https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/racial-and-ethnic-composition/