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You have inspired a real life trolling method that's great fun. Me and my friend, fellow Duke fan btw, we discovered a colleague of his who apparently pretends to be one with a ficus to witness "melanated freemasonry." In our case the freemasonry connection was the same Duke merch but prob not a football watcher. 😅 There was a recent whole peer researched study by some 🤓 from Queen Mary College in London, basically implying we have latent earthbending abilities.
Votes for Republicans or Democrats is a vote for Slavery an Dictatorship‼️ What should be obvious to anyone with a brain at this point is both of these 💩 parties the Democrats🤡 and the Republicans😈 have been working together to push this country into Dictatorship Fascist country by using the strategy of the republicans get in they push the whole country to the right the democrats get in and keep the status quo then the republicans get in once again and push the whole country to the right this has been happening for the past 40 years everyone do your research It's clear to see that this is the truth that no one is telling you. So any Trump supporters (especially Black&Brown ones) thinking that you won something you really just won modern day slavery where you work for slave wages for the Elites (like Elon, Jeff Bezos Big Banks etc) and you live in Low-income poverty for the rest of your life. If any of you think your lives are gonna get better under Trump your sally mistaken It should be pretty obvious to anyone that corporations and billionaires are gaining more wealth and power and the people are gaining less power, less rights, and less control that will continue under Trump to the point where you will be just like people in third world countries. So if you want freedom your going to have to fight for it because these Neocon Colonialists are not going to just hand you freedom so a revolution is going to have to be necessary because at this point people are too stupid to form a third party and vote only for independent candidates so get ready for the civil unrest an whole collapse of society.
I grew up playing a dented rental trumpet in church at like 14 even though I was a brat who would always quote the parts of the Bible you're not supposed to quote. When a friend finally forced me to attend one of those giant evangelical churches in high school, it kinda bummed me out how all the musicians were professionals with high end gear. I had never seen pedalboards that big before, even at the concerts of well known bands.
24:47 brahhhhhhhhhh my old pastor told my mom Pokémon cards are from the devil so I couldn’t play with those or even watch Harry Potter. Within the next year, he was found to have stolen $1.2 million from the church building and I can’t play with my damn Squirtle. Lefts a bad taste in my mouth foreal.
Bruh, I had this same experience at the last church I attended in Memphis before I broke west for college. Pastor was on the pulpit listing off the abilities of Alakazam from a Pokemon card and the congregation was having a rebuking fit 😂. 20+ years later and that memory still cracks me up
Without the Black Church most of us wouldn’t have made it out of Reconstruction. The Church was the foundation of the community and it held us down. Sadly as community oriented as it is it LOVES to pick on those they consider other or ‘sinners’ from a hypocritical pulpit. They taught me to hate myself before I even knew I was queer. They talked out the side of their neck about my single mom with three kids working in the ministry until she ultimately left. I loved the church but why didn’t it love us back.
Because the church is exclusively hypocritical, nearly entirely. I can recognize good in the church, especially for people of color but until they cut out their own hypocrisy the will never rise to the height it was once at for us. Even though it was mostly a necessity for us to survive, when you're getting hate from everywhere you need something to hold onto but that doesnt help queer individuals... I've never been introduced to or have been able to study a religion that gives ALL its people what is needed; Mother was raised Catholic, raised us Baptist, knew of the jewish faith because we have a big jewish community, went to Christian and Lutheran schools...ALL OF THEM! Not a single one can stand on their own morals with Queer individuals and youngs recognize that and call it out. I appreciate the young for that but I can agree that the loss of musical talent being cultivated is beyond sad. This is how so many groups steal from us even though we created nearly all forms of popular music that exists today. When you have a people divided its far easier to steal, abuse and divide people when they're weakened already from the struggle of surviving for hundreds of years under someone elses boot (and those boots are still close by trying to stomp out lifeforce to this very day) and infighting in the community...
One of my favourite stories in the bible is about the money lenders in the temple. The one time the prince of peace throws hand's. Don't understand how prosperity gospel miss this.
You’d be surprised how easily it is to manipulate impoverished members/communities who have no hope left in their lives to donate what little they have left to a charismatic figure. Oh and that same group of people also don’t read their bibles which they have and just solely rely on whatever their local figure/church say in regards to interpretation. And you think it’s bad in America? Think this, but multiply by 100x in Africa. I’ve talked with some mainline missionaries who travel there for volunteering in food bank programs from their church org. Or small housing programs they fund alongside other local churches, and it’s real bad. You’ll have villages whose elders literally DIE due to putting their money on some prosperity gospel figures who blatantly tell them they’ll be healed if they give them all their money rather than trusting their local clinic or Pharmacy to buy basic treatment or medicine for their illness or need. Once, a SBC pastor who travelled down in for housing efforts in Kenya and surrounding nations told me he met a lady who would refuse to go to a hospital or clinic to get her illness checked out (I forget what it was). And it wasn’t a terminal illness either. This could easily be address and fully be cured within a month. Of course, because of her old age, it was only a matter of time before it would worsen and become life threatening. Yet, she refused the help because her faith was placed on one of the biggest prosperity gospel preachers of the time in Kenya that she would be healed should she just donate all her money and stay at home watching his sermons. She passed away within 4 weeks and the pastor nor family or local community could ever convince her to leave her bed. Even in her last moments, rather than praying, she still had hope that the preacher would still come through with his miracle promises at the time. I’ve never seen a pastor’s face get so contorted out of anger just from recounting a story. The thing is, it’s quite a common and recurring story you’ll hear down in those communities and even those mainline organizations have essentially 0 power to stop or deter it. That 100x worse than America is no exaggeration, I truly mean that.
Any institution that gets overly monopolized gets worse, so when local churches became mega Churches, they became less about community connection and more about making profits.
Small churches do the same. It's just a different business model. And they do monopolize. They monopolize art, they monopilize culture, they monopolize phylosophy, they monopolize identity, they monopolize the community, they monopolize time given, they monopolize quiet places to be... they monopolize everything they can the same way businesses do, even if the coin of exchange for work and time isn't money, but shallow promises of the afterlife, faith, and a sense of community.
This is the bottom line. Also, the “mega church” model has been subscribed to and adopted by many small, local church leaders. So, even though there isn’t a good 100 people total in the congregation, the damage is just as if not more severe because the mentality and game is the same, but with worse effects because the people don’t realize or expect it.
I remember as a pre-teen, I told my Aunty, after telling me I shouldn't be reading Harry Potter, "If heaven is filled with them people from church, then heaven sounds like hell".. She was speechless. And church attendance become optional for me but I still had to go to bible study on Wednesdays.
47:34 😮💨😒The amount of times the church I went to and my school (attached to the church) called sh1t "demonic" was insane brahh! Like, whoa!! I actually believed I was doomed to hell as a kid because I liked to watch X-Men! Trying to wear an X-Men costume but being chastised because it's demonic is diabolical niqqa!! A few years ago I directed an art gallery exhibition in Chicago and was excited when some blk folk came thru! But then the dudes came up and asked, "You do this demonic stuff all the time?" 🤯niqqa I got so sad for my ppl!!! How is abstract photography and experimental concept fashion devil worshipping⁉️
Same here, especially as I went to school down south. It was staggering how everything and anyone was condemned but themselves. Hated every minute of it
I'm curious to know what type of art you displayed. I too feel disappointed when I hear people just say something is "demonic" because it makes them feel uncomfortable, or they don't understand it.
They lost me when I realized people will be preaching about how the devil makes kids gay but won’t ever mention the rampant pedophilia and abuse within their own institution. Mfs lost the plot a long time ago :/
Because pedophila only matters when it's gay to Christian's. They will swear up and down and try and make you understand and justify why it was okay for Moses to be raped by his own little girls for proof why it's okay to fuck your cousins or fuck anything under 18 because it's in the Bible and the Bible can do no wrong. I remebe my own dad saying he would kill me if he found out I had any feelings towards anyone the same sex as me. Like any emotion lmao. Hell my grandma called the pastor and the police on me calling me a demon for eating medium steak. She went to shoal Creek mental hospital in Austin the next day.
Pedophilia is rampant in the "Catholic" Church, of course founded by the Romans/free masons who rewrote the Bible to suit their own ideologies, inspired by Satan. Hence why the great majority of them idolize the pope, and why he publicly proclaimed "all roads (religions) lead to Christ.
I grew up in a Pentecostal church and baaaaaaby, we couldn't do anything. Couldn't read a newspaper, couldn't watch television, couldn't wear makeup, couldn't color or cut our hair, couldn't wear jeans. Looking back, a part of me deep down felt like we were in a cult.
I enjoyed the video. You mentioned most great black came up in the church and that the current decline in RnB music could be attributed to a decline in church attendance. There's a video on TH-cam that addresses the state of RnB music and why most of these new singers can't sing. The video covers the black church but also the government invested in music programs from the 1930s-1980s. Thus, kids learned music theory and how to sing. Therefore, a girl growing up in the 50s practiced with the church choir and practiced at school, getting hours of practice each week. That's how the great singers came up. However, once public funding of music programs declined, that leads to fewer kids getting a music education. When you couple that with the lack of church attendance, it follows you'll have fewer singers, let alone good singers.
I'm 50 years old and you are correct I grew up in jersey and from kindergarten to 8th grade I was in chorus and band...we even traveled to compete with our peers in middle school. Not to mention my Mom had us in church at least 3 times per week. Plus singing with you own siblings. What a time. I so wish i knew how good I used to hav
As a white, millennial woman, I’ve spent the past several years reading and dissecting how white, US evangelicalism grew into the facist-nationalist movement it’s fully become. This essay on the history of the black US church intersects so painfully with my own decomposing tradition. This was a hard watch! Thank you. I also appreciated the dark comic moments immensely. Laugh or cry, right?! Seriously, though. Big thanks, sir. New subscriber out of me.
My mom didn't raise me and my siblings around or with religion, so I never felt the type of connection many black people have with church/god, and up until highschool I viewed religion as like... a fandom? Like I didn't know until I got to talking about religion with other kids that people really believed all that stuff in a real way. Im 24 now and I've never felt a draw or a need for religion in my life, and it has made me feel so incredibly unblack when I talk to other black people.
It makes me feel like I'll never be connected to my people in any meaningful way, because religion means so much to black people and seemingly connects with something deep inside them, and I just don't have it.
I've been nursing a pet theory that fandom, cults, and organized religion are all on a continuum of the same thing for years. Coming from a religious person
it's almost synonymous to be black and Christian. which 5 crazy cuz this was never our god to behing with but somehow we believe after all these years he's answering the prayers of the oppressed and the oppressors
I grew up in the Church, but I kinda hate it nowadays. It feels like everyone is too concerned with pretending to be pure. Showing off for the congregation. Everyone has all the answers, and no one cares to ask questions. And those answers are all to let go of who you are and obey THEIR interpretation of the scripture. As someone who’s queer and a bit bookish, who feels unblack just for existing, it’s hostile, unfair, and INCREDIBLY disrespectful. Not all churches are the same, but God’s gonna have to forgive me for keeping my guard up till I find one that doesn’t hate me.
My Baptist paternal Grandmother's 17 out of the 23 grandchildren were Muslim. She never tried to convert us, but this Woman was a true believer!!!! In Islam, when we speak of "The people of the Book," They are judged by the Book in which they believe...My grandmother lived modestly, loved unconditionally, disciplined us with lessons, and fed EVERYONE...Although I am not Christian, I have an affinity for FBA Churchgoing Grandmothers, and I'd sit at their feet every chance. But I wonder that this humility was sometimes to their detriment, not earning enough "Heaven Points" to let their bodies rest.. never allowing themselves to be selfish a little.., and putting themselves first in their life..."In service" was not just the Sunday meeting at the house of worship. I miss my Grandmother, and now I am 51; I know the pain of just being older, and then add Husband, Children, Grands, Greats, Job, Community, and Congregation ...Phew, Grandma, I know you were tired as hell!
Foundational black Americans. Essentially black descendants of American slavery. Unless you knew that, an was just disappointed in her referencing it. @@papi_sativa
Me and my husband loved this movie so much. I thought Regina Hall deserved an Oscar nod for that mime scene alone. I feel like it’s so rare to see a Black movie that has that kind of dry, offbeat, dark humor that trusts its audiences intelligence without spelling everything out but also be grounded in Black culture. When that little girl said “I love theater” it took me out. So nice to see someone analyze it and the nuances of Black church culture.
I ended up watching Honk For Jesus shortly after watching this video. Great recommendation. I think initially it kinda threw me off because the trailer (which I watched in the middle of watching this video once you mentioned it) gives comedy, but it gets a lot darker. However, I appreciate how dark the movie gets. I think what's most interesting is the focus on Trin and her role in the church. Seeing her and Lee-Curtis's slowly go more and more insane was the best part for me. Also just seeing how Trin will never put any accountability on Lee-Curtis (even going as far as blaming the crew), was heartbreaking. Also great performance from Regina Hall. Highly appreciative of this recommendation and this video essay.
I remember going to church with Tonex and thinking it was so sad that he couldn't just be how he was. People would love watching him perform but at same time give him the side eye and laughed at him. It gave me the ick and as a queer kid I stopped going as soon as I could.
Tonex was so good and I loved him. I can recall when he came out and the reactions he got and I remember being so scared bc I already knew I was queer by that point. It made me hate myself and caused a lot of trauma and is at least part of the reason my skin starts to crawl whenever someone tries to invite me to church. It's like why would I go somewhere that I know I'm not wanted?
Honk For Jesus, Save Your Soul was easily one of my favorite movies in 2022b it deserved so much more attention than it got. i really eeally happy to see you dropped an essay about it and i’m gonna watch the fuck out of this video
I agree! I remember watching that movie the day it came out in a theater with about 10 people in it. I was like, "ooh wee! This movie is going to piss off a lot of church going black folks!" As Lil' Bill referenced, I grew up COGIC (my mother is a pastor), but I have been agnostic for almost 15 years.
Man, I went into the theatre at like 10:30 at night to see it, completely crossfaded with some friends. We go up to the highest row and there was a homeless man just sleeping in that mf bc no one was seeing it. He ended up just moving to the lowest row and I don't think he was too happy about it. But he certainly stayed after the show was over. Good movie tho
I saw this movie in theaters with my wife. It was completely empty except for the worker who checks for pirates. It was phenomenal and I picked up on every cultural reference. I grew up in the Bible belt and have been in cali the past 10 years tho. That movie unlocked memories I forgot I had
Never thought about how the response to Eddie Long would have been different had the victims been girls. The homophobia definitely played a role in how swiftly they got Long out of there.
@@happygucci5094 True. Exactly that. The implications behind why our community responds the way it does, based on who is doing the abusing and who is abused is shameful. Our children deserve so much better.
@ THIS PART‼️ I am watching and hearing the conversations around Diddy and also ( at least for me) the larger implications of this Rap Battle/ what Kendrick stands for and WHO he stands for- we need some serious critical analysis of what our community needs to not just heal - but thrive and that means standing on business and standing FOR something. And it’s reading like we don’t want to stand on the things that require personal sacrifice and discipline- so many of the Diddy and Drake defenders are the very ones that engage in the same behavior and I am sick to death of it- our young people deserve better. Period. And to circle it back- people are more disturbed at the prospect of Diddy being bisexual than a pedo abuser of young boys and assaulter of women and alleged murderer... It’s disgusting. The system is going to be what it is- it wasn’t written for us and it is perfectly designed to continue to get the results that we currently have to exist in- these are InHouse, Within Community issues- and lines must be drawn.
Exactly, because if the victims were girls, folks would probably be quick to protect Long and quick to accuse the girls of “being fast” or of trying to “seduce” him. Since the victims were boys, of course, the victims are the same-sex as Long, and we all know what that means. He’s gay, and that’s frowned on in church.
10:11 I love Rosetta Tharpe. There is just something about her music, I cant describe it. She is rock and roll. Like that one performance of "Didnt it rain children" is one of the godliest things ive ever seen.
i don't believe in any higher powers because i simply have no need to. i don't respect chrstianity because it's become nothing but a collection of symbols of hate towards me and all the people i hold dear. i also feel that there isn't nearly enough empathy for people like me who grew up in a conservative (and black in my case) christian household, and all i ever got for trying to be understanding of the religion was trauma and abuse. the church was always meaningless and boring from the start because i was never taught that the church was any safe place for me, all i ever saw my parents do was go there to wish for things they could gain by simply being better people. the best i can think of the religion and the church is that it's interesting art and fantasy to take inspiration from, as you can probably tell by my name. unfortunately, i feel like the entire institution is rotten from the inside out, but i will still give credit where i see real good being done by it, rare as that may be.
This was so good and helpful to me. Mom chose to raise us kids outside Black Church, in a non-evangelical tradition, so there's this big void in my first-hand knowledge of Black American culture. It's a lot!
As an apostolic Pk, who has distanced himself from the church (hold for when they pay me to play…) I knew you were one of us! 😂😂😂 holiness, Pentecostal, Apostolic babies carry a certain zeal for study and a disdain and frustration of holy-rolling upbringing.
33:33 "...it's one thing to cheat, hell it's expected to some degree...I mean ya know the jezebels in the soprano section and all that." You definitely grew up Apostolic.💀😂
I went to highschool with Eddie Long's daughter during the scandal, I hope Taylor's still doing alright it was like two straight years of bs from everything and everyone around her.
Bro thanks for making this. I too am a Christian. I didn’t come to faith until I was In my 30s. Since then (2017) following Christ has become the most important thing in my life. That being said, I also feel like I’m losing my mind half the time with the American church. So many of the aspects of the modern church, have almost no connection to the way of Jesus. Large swaths of the church sound anti-Christ in their words and priorities. I’m like man I know I am late to the party, but either the evangelicals have lost their minds or I have. It can be very discouraging. Great to see that I’m not the only one who feels this way.
Capitalism has trained all of us, to think through our wallets first. And our Christian church has almost complete capture by the capitalistic mindstate I've been blessed enough to find a great church that doesn't love money. It's the love that's the problem right? The Bible recognizes the need to pay taxes, be good stewards of finances and leave something for our kids. An actual biblical view of money is actually good guidance...the problem is most churches aren't biblical, so there's that....and a lot of the issues u outline here go back to that lack of biblical direction
@maxsmart9116 nah...it's not Biblical at all. Homophobia from the Christian Church is stupid. The Bible has very logical reasons to dislike homosexuality...and as Christians that doesn't equal hate.
My Dad wasn't a Christian, but he often volunteered at the mostly white church my mom attended. One day, someone told him that the whole family should be more involved with the service (I think as a ploy to get him to come to regular services). My Dad said "sure!" And choreographed an entire dance routine to this end credit song. It even had a fake out ending where we pretended to return to our seats, just to rush back and do the rest of the song. I've never seen so many confused Christians in one room. NGL, just hearing it made me drop what I was doing and almost do the dance routine. I didn't even realize I could still do it.
the way i STOOD UP from my chair when you mentioned branham -- and his wack-ass grand imperial wizard mentor Roy E Davis -- the very walls of my home rattled
I was raised in an historical black Catholic parish, not the traditional black church, so I kinda feel left out. For what it's worth, Rev. Cone was instrumental in black Catholics creating a black liturgy.
Same. I grew up in an historical black Episcopal parish and we didn't see the sort of issues that others within the traditional black church had to encounter. We certainly had our issues. Classism/Elitism was big but it was mostly directed towards those outside the parish walls rather than those inside. The good majority of our parish was uniformly well-to-do which may have accounted for that. So much so, I remember a parishioner remarking that the prosperity gospel was a crude low class theology that didn't have any relevancy within our parish. We were liturgical anyway so there was no possibility of that type of teaching being introduced anyway. Our biggest issue has been our inability to attract younger parishioners. High Anglican/Episcopal liturgy is just not the flavor of the day and the old heads refuse to low church our worship. Its what attracts them to the parish in the first place. However, membership is dwindling as the older parishioners are dying out so there will be some sort of reckoning I predict very soon.
@@edMagnus1 black Episcopalians had their own civil rights organization within that denomination during the CRM. We finally got a black priest in 1970. He had converted from the Episcopalian church to the Catholic church before being ordained. At least he led us to believe this. Were your parents/grandparents part of that movement? Perhaps black Catholics should have taken some pointers from our Episcopalian brothers and sisters. Pretty sure Episcopalians participated in the CRM before most white Catholics. However, white Episcopalians weren't targeted by Nixon's Northern Strategy like white Catholics were. And laissez-faire, white Christian nationalist William Buckley who was the father of modern conservatism was Catholic. I have to give you props for not telling black Catholics we were going to hell because we weren't Protestant in the 1980s and 1990s given how many black Catholics were part of the CRM. My mother wasn't among the "closeted" black Catholics. She was part of the Black Catholic Movement and worked as an administrator at the same HBCU where Dr. Cone taught.
Me, too, a parish deep in the hood. Glad I was spared the drama from the preachers and their tribal formations. I could handle the priests, but those pastors were pimps.
You have introduced me to the word pewbaby. My mom went into labor with me coming up the steps of Body of Christ COGIC Church for Wednesday night bible study so I guess I too am a pewbaby
Getting your wife to say that is hilarious at the beginning. I was laughing so hard. Get job on getting sponsorships. This video was great. I enjoy your mixture of seriousness, sarcasm, and humor. I liked the short film Honk for Jesus more than the full length film because it conveyed more with less (if that makes sense).
Your church videos help me a lot. I’m a Christian anarchist, and there isn’t a lot of cool guys like out here who’s theology informs the cool shit they say. So anyway thanks Lil Bill!
my mom is genx and I remember us trying out diff churches for years and then we just stopped when I was around maybe 10 becuase she didnt fuck with any of them fr and she grew up going to our pawpaw's church which only had old people from what I remember. My mom would always say it used to have more people back in the day lol
Phenomenal companion piece video to Ka's final album 'The Thief Next To Jesus' (probably one of the best albums of 2024 in its exploration of the Black church). Incredibly interesting and poignant.
Love more discussion on this film. I was kinda expecting something different when I saw it and feel like maybe it didn’t hit for me because I’m not immersed in the same tradition. I personally got mixed to negative feelings on the church experience and its relationship to blackness, so appreciate your thoughts on religion to challenge me 🙏🏾
You mentioned something that has been my entire issue with this Diddy thing. Everyone’s like no Diddy when it’s regarding something that may sound gay or homosexual everyone’s forgetting the fact that the gay things probably were one of the few consensual acts that went on with this man Sexual assault and possible human trafficking, being overlooked because the interaction was of a gay nature is absolutely insane
I loved this movie. I think one of the big reasons I left church was because there was no way out. You give your life to the church? Well once you’re old and have dementia they shut you out! Move to a different type of church (Pentecostal to baptist) all of a sudden you’re in a big tv church trying to compete with another tv church up the street! And ya know I’m too many identities for Christianity to like me, but it’s so hard to think back on the holiest people in the church who raised you and they were/are the most hateful fuxking people! Just mean! “You’re too dark” “your nose is too big” “why is your hair so nappy?” “Why don’t you come to church no more?” “Why are you dressed like a slut” Lol I ofc can always go on and this is why I keep to myself at this point
When I was a teen, my church in South Florida took a bunch of us kids up to Eddie Long's church for a like week long camp thing. It culminated in a whole program called "The Boyfriend/Girlfriend Thang" where we were all shamed into committing to abstinence until marriage and a TON of kids felt pressured to "get saved" by the end.
Lemme know if I'm way off here but it seems outside lookin in that modern christianity us just Paradise Lost, Inferno and the Last Stand by Sabaton. I do not hear much reference to actual scripture other than to boost tye absolute fkn sprint back towards "Devil is red scary dude behind everything I hate and you should hate it too"
Man that credit song! Kirk Franklin and Fred Hammond were my favorites growing up in the 90’s-00’s. The crispiness of the bass on that song! I’m not religious anymore, but I grew up as the daughter of a ministers/youth leader and deacon. Now I’m about to bump a Fred Hammond essentials playlist!
would you ever consider uploading audio versions of your vids to Spotify? i love your content as i almost always walk away with some new perspective in some form but i cant work my shift looking at videos so audio is my preferred way to take in media nowadays.
The way I have known about Rosetta Tharpe for years because I've been looking into cultural appropriation in music and building my and theory on how mainstream American culture has been a water downed white washed and comidified version of other cultures but mainly Black culture and mainly specifically Black Queer culture from since at least the early 1900s idk about before then but yeah. ...amd I myself am *bisexual* .... but I did not know that *she* was bisexual, let alone openly , until now ... Bi sexual erasure is real y'all.. Queer erasure is real. (As is Black and ethnic erasure hence why I'm trying to learn about it but yeah, Bi people in general and especially any and all Bi people with multiple intersectionalities of marginalization in their identifies are even more erased from history, well not erased entirely, clearly ,but hidden and we need to uncover them) Because : And we're real. We exist. 🌌
I've seen black women in church in particular "first ladies", become terrors to the women in the church bc they are partners in crime with their pastor/husband while being oppressed themselves. I went through HELL as 1 of only 3 licensed women ministers in a fairly large church in Columbia, SC BC OF THE "FIRST LADY". Needless to say, I left that church and the church after that experience. First Ladies have just as much to lose and just as much responsibility in the role of the oppression and hypocrisy of how the church treats Black women. Regina Hall PLAYED that role to the TEE!
I'm a white atheist in recovery from many years of being a dumbass on the internet so if I'm missing the point here please let me know. I come here to learn. What I think you're kind of getting at in the last few minutes actually hit pretty hard for me. Obviously I have no experience of consequence with black church(or white church frankly), but I have watched other institutions have their fangs removed by capitalism. I've watched people complain about it. I COMPLETELY understand feeling helpless in the face of capitalism and its forces. At the same time, many of the people I see lament the deradicalization of these organizations are the same people NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT. Unions might be the example I see most. Complaining that they don't work like they should or they aren't radical enough. IT'S AN ORGANIZATION THAT REQUIRES PARTICIPATION, DUMMY. Anyway I loved this video and the subject has always interested me as someone basically looking in from outside.
The fact that the black church went from being a place of hope, peace and a sanctuary during the reconstruction and jim era and birth some of the greatest black activist of all time to now being a place where pastors are ministering to their congregation and using the bible to lead them to vote for Trump. I remember visiting my mom's old church once and that man got up there talking about Beyonce is the devil, game consoles is a portal to hell and unleashes demons onto our youth and more. Only to run away with their tithes money a month later smh
There shouldn’t even be a “black church” in the first place, I’ve held this opinion all my life since realizing Sunday school was absolute bullsht at a young age. Our ancestors never embraced or participated in such things.
Although I’m an apostate, Christianity and the black church will always be a part of my identity. I still appreciate videos like this and religious videos in general bc it plays such a huge part in people’s lives both directly and tacitly to extents that many people may be unaware of
When this was titled something about the most overlooked black movie I added it to my watch later, when I saw how the black church lost its soul I clicked immediately. So i guess good marketing choice 😂
The couple sound like characters in J California Cooper’s book In Search of Satisfaction…in the end we are all in search of satisfaction confronted with the questions “how much will I do to get it, to keep it, how much will I abandon myself for that particular “satisfaction”.
AHHH I'm happy you got manscaped!! I love manscaped and it's coming time for me to upgrade!! But I only ever purchase when there's a discount from a TH-camr, I'm happy to be able to support your link, finally!!!
21:27 FACTS! The church I went to had less than 100 in the congregation, and we still managed to put together a bunch of money to get a van to go down to megafest in Atlanta. That shit was crazy. I had never seen church turn into burning man in life n I was dumbfounded
What I got from this is that “true Christianity “ has been made a mockery of. It could be the Devil and his minions or it could be that humans got ahead of themselves and decided what should or shouldn’t be allowed in “Western Christianity”. I get that not everyone agrees with Christianity and its theology (I still struggle with it at times myself) but damn it seems to get attacked more than any other religion/belief. I’m always open to video essays such as this because it challenges me more so to get to thinking and researching about what I choose to believe whether it’s beliefs or what have you.
Even in this comment section, I see lot of critics of Christianity who build their critiques off of their *perceptions* of the religion, instead of what Christ actually taught. Though, who can blame them? America has done an excellent job in distorting Christian teaching for its own ends.
I think it gets critique the hardest is because it impacts our lives the most whether we want it to or not. We're all off on Christmas regardless if you celebrate or not. We're currently using the calendar system created by a Pope. Politicians are putting in laws based on Christianity, forgetting separation of church and state. Ppl of marginalized groups can't get any peace because Christianity shuns them and tells them they're sinners (which is reductive if you believe we're all born sinners anyway). There's mission groups who "build" wells with a 6 month shelf life so they can feel better about them selves, all the money(church fund) scams, pastors dressed up in luxury brands while preaching modesty and simplicity, the kid touchers, the burying of scandals by other members, Ppl using the Bible to justify stuff like slavery, manifest destiny, racism etc. No other religion has had a global impact like that, and no other religion is shoved down people's throat like that.
I got invited by a pastor who flattered me into coming to his church and when I got there it was a vaguely coded sermon about trans people, which he knew I was. afterwards, I found out that he had invited literally three other transgender white people and catered the sermon to enforcing traditional gender. I was the only one who felt comfortable taking his offer to go to lunch afterwards and it was only because I didn't want to go to work.
this resonates so much from a Black British perspective too if you have seen the scandals surrounding Spac Nation that even BBC covered literally same thing.. also sadly same thing in Africa as well with TB Joshua to Gilbert Deya
you up to make a video about roman catholicism? a bit of an antithesis to modern american christianity as most believers live in africa and south america
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You have inspired a real life trolling method that's great fun. Me and my friend, fellow Duke fan btw, we discovered a colleague of his who apparently pretends to be one with a ficus to witness "melanated freemasonry." In our case the freemasonry connection was the same Duke merch but prob not a football watcher. 😅
There was a recent whole peer researched study by some 🤓 from Queen Mary College in London, basically implying we have latent earthbending abilities.
Votes for Republicans or Democrats is a vote for Slavery an Dictatorship‼️
What should be obvious to anyone with a brain at this point is both of these 💩 parties the Democrats🤡 and the Republicans😈 have been working together to push this country into Dictatorship Fascist country by using the strategy of the republicans get in they push the whole country to the right the democrats get in and keep the status quo then the republicans get in once again and push the whole country to the right this has been happening for the past 40 years everyone do your research It's clear to see that this is the truth that no one is telling you.
So any Trump supporters (especially Black&Brown ones) thinking that you won something you really just won modern day slavery where you work for slave wages for the Elites (like Elon, Jeff Bezos Big Banks etc) and you live in Low-income poverty for the rest of your life. If any of you think your lives are gonna get better under Trump your sally mistaken It should be pretty obvious to anyone that corporations and billionaires are gaining more wealth and power and the people are gaining less power, less rights, and less control that will continue under Trump to the point where you will be just like people in third world countries.
So if you want freedom your going to have to fight for it because these Neocon Colonialists are not going to just hand you freedom so a revolution is going to have to be necessary because at this point people are too stupid to form a third party and vote only for independent candidates so get ready for the civil unrest an whole collapse of society.
One of the biggest losses from church is that it was basically a free music school for black children
fr everything I learned about music theory was in church
Facts!!
I grew up playing a dented rental trumpet in church at like 14 even though I was a brat who would always quote the parts of the Bible you're not supposed to quote. When a friend finally forced me to attend one of those giant evangelical churches in high school, it kinda bummed me out how all the musicians were professionals with high end gear. I had never seen pedalboards that big before, even at the concerts of well known bands.
The music nowadays is definitely unholy....and trash at the same time
Makes sense
24:47 brahhhhhhhhhh my old pastor told my mom Pokémon cards are from the devil so I couldn’t play with those or even watch Harry Potter. Within the next year, he was found to have stolen $1.2 million from the church building and I can’t play with my damn Squirtle. Lefts a bad taste in my mouth foreal.
I don’t believe you. What’s his name
😂😂😂😂😂damn no squirtle and 1.2 mill GONE. Im so sorry bro but this shit is so funny, they really be loons in there
Bruh, I had this same experience at the last church I attended in Memphis before I broke west for college. Pastor was on the pulpit listing off the abilities of Alakazam from a Pokemon card and the congregation was having a rebuking fit 😂. 20+ years later and that memory still cracks me up
@@truthseeker215Wayne and Brenda Millender, maybe. Old indictment from 2016 in Alexandria, VA
this is heartbreaking and adorable 😂
Without the Black Church most of us wouldn’t have made it out of Reconstruction. The Church was the foundation of the community and it held us down. Sadly as community oriented as it is it LOVES to pick on those they consider other or ‘sinners’ from a hypocritical pulpit.
They taught me to hate myself before I even knew I was queer. They talked out the side of their neck about my single mom with three kids working in the ministry until she ultimately left. I loved the church but why didn’t it love us back.
I'm so deeply sorry this happened to you and your mother. And I do hope you love yourself now.💐😊
Because the church is exclusively hypocritical, nearly entirely. I can recognize good in the church, especially for people of color but until they cut out their own hypocrisy the will never rise to the height it was once at for us. Even though it was mostly a necessity for us to survive, when you're getting hate from everywhere you need something to hold onto but that doesnt help queer individuals...
I've never been introduced to or have been able to study a religion that gives ALL its people what is needed; Mother was raised Catholic, raised us Baptist, knew of the jewish faith because we have a big jewish community, went to Christian and Lutheran schools...ALL OF THEM! Not a single one can stand on their own morals with Queer individuals and youngs recognize that and call it out. I appreciate the young for that but I can agree that the loss of musical talent being cultivated is beyond sad. This is how so many groups steal from us even though we created nearly all forms of popular music that exists today. When you have a people divided its far easier to steal, abuse and divide people when they're weakened already from the struggle of surviving for hundreds of years under someone elses boot (and those boots are still close by trying to stomp out lifeforce to this very day) and infighting in the community...
@@QuantumCairoYou've spoken so much truth in your comment, sir. Well done!💐
Religions have standards as hypocritical as they may be sometimes.
It's a colonizer faith anyhow. Time for a new religion.
One of my favourite stories in the bible is about the money lenders in the temple. The one time the prince of peace throws hand's. Don't understand how prosperity gospel miss this.
It's not the fact that it's missed. It's just not preached.
A den of thieves!
Prosperity gospel cares far more about the former than the latter.
Like this 🙉🙈🙊
You’d be surprised how easily it is to manipulate impoverished members/communities who have no hope left in their lives to donate what little they have left to a charismatic figure.
Oh and that same group of people also don’t read their bibles which they have and just solely rely on whatever their local figure/church say in regards to interpretation.
And you think it’s bad in America?
Think this, but multiply by 100x in Africa. I’ve talked with some mainline missionaries who travel there for volunteering in food bank programs from their church org. Or small housing programs they fund alongside other local churches, and it’s real bad.
You’ll have villages whose elders literally DIE due to putting their money on some prosperity gospel figures who blatantly tell them they’ll be healed if they give them all their money rather than trusting their local clinic or Pharmacy to buy basic treatment or medicine for their illness or need.
Once, a SBC pastor who travelled down in for housing efforts in Kenya and surrounding nations told me he met a lady who would refuse to go to a hospital or clinic to get her illness checked out (I forget what it was). And it wasn’t a terminal illness either. This could easily be address and fully be cured within a month. Of course, because of her old age, it was only a matter of time before it would worsen and become life threatening. Yet, she refused the help because her faith was placed on one of the biggest prosperity gospel preachers of the time in Kenya that she would be healed should she just donate all her money and stay at home watching his sermons.
She passed away within 4 weeks and the pastor nor family or local community could ever convince her to leave her bed. Even in her last moments, rather than praying, she still had hope that the preacher would still come through with his miracle promises at the time. I’ve never seen a pastor’s face get so contorted out of anger just from recounting a story. The thing is, it’s quite a common and recurring story you’ll hear down in those communities and even those mainline organizations have essentially 0 power to stop or deter it. That 100x worse than America is no exaggeration, I truly mean that.
Any institution that gets overly monopolized gets worse, so when local churches became mega Churches, they became less about community connection and more about making profits.
Say it louder for the slow 🥷🏿
Yup the institution of the Catholic Church in England is heinous. I swear rich people take pleasure or something in the torture of their own kids.
Small churches do the same. It's just a different business model.
And they do monopolize.
They monopolize art, they monopilize culture, they monopolize phylosophy, they monopolize identity, they monopolize the community, they monopolize time given, they monopolize quiet places to be... they monopolize everything they can the same way businesses do, even if the coin of exchange for work and time isn't money, but shallow promises of the afterlife, faith, and a sense of community.
This is the bottom line. Also, the “mega church” model has been subscribed to and adopted by many small, local church leaders. So, even though there isn’t a good 100 people total in the congregation, the damage is just as if not more severe because the mentality and game is the same, but with worse effects because the people don’t realize or expect it.
This.
I remember as a pre-teen, I told my Aunty, after telling me I shouldn't be reading Harry Potter, "If heaven is filled with them people from church, then heaven sounds like hell".. She was speechless.
And church attendance become optional for me but I still had to go to bible study on Wednesdays.
The sponsor is wild
😂😂
Caught me wayyyy off guard 😂😂
😂😂😂🎉
YO I READ THIS, LOOKED UP AS THE VIDEO STARTED AND CACKLED
Nvr thought I'd see the day when Billiam started hawking the WHITE MAN'S product... smh. Hate to see it
47:34 😮💨😒The amount of times the church I went to and my school (attached to the church) called sh1t "demonic" was insane brahh! Like, whoa!! I actually believed I was doomed to hell as a kid because I liked to watch X-Men! Trying to wear an X-Men costume but being chastised because it's demonic is diabolical niqqa!!
A few years ago I directed an art gallery exhibition in Chicago and was excited when some blk folk came thru! But then the dudes came up and asked, "You do this demonic stuff all the time?" 🤯niqqa I got so sad for my ppl!!! How is abstract photography and experimental concept fashion devil worshipping⁉️
Exactly why people leave the church.
Same here, especially as I went to school down south. It was staggering how everything and anyone was condemned but themselves. Hated every minute of it
I'm in NC and everyone believes in demons/angels/ghost/spirits what have you.
@@Broken_robot1986 I'm in NC too and my mom said I couldn't read Harry Potter or watch Inuyasha bc it would "bring spirits in the house" 🤣🤣
I'm curious to know what type of art you displayed. I too feel disappointed when I hear people just say something is "demonic" because it makes them feel uncomfortable, or they don't understand it.
Lil Bill long form AND a new Kendrick album on the same day?!? The timeline is repairing itself
I thought I was the first one to get to write this…. DAMN ( 😉😁)!
Today was a Good Day
Salute 🫡 💗💯🔥✊🏽🙌🏽‼️
It's 2017 again. Trump and all 😢
@@johnindigo5477hey wait a minute...ok now it's 2017
Long form is crazyyyyy
They lost me when I realized people will be preaching about how the devil makes kids gay but won’t ever mention the rampant pedophilia and abuse within their own institution. Mfs lost the plot a long time ago :/
Because pedophila only matters when it's gay to Christian's. They will swear up and down and try and make you understand and justify why it was okay for Moses to be raped by his own little girls for proof why it's okay to fuck your cousins or fuck anything under 18 because it's in the Bible and the Bible can do no wrong. I remebe my own dad saying he would kill me if he found out I had any feelings towards anyone the same sex as me. Like any emotion lmao. Hell my grandma called the pastor and the police on me calling me a demon for eating medium steak. She went to shoal Creek mental hospital in Austin the next day.
Pedophilia is rampant in the "Catholic" Church, of course founded by the Romans/free masons who rewrote the Bible to suit their own ideologies, inspired by Satan. Hence why the great majority of them idolize the pope, and why he publicly proclaimed "all roads (religions) lead to Christ.
As a Manscape user, I approve this sponsor.
As a PK (preachers kid), I approve this video. Thanks for this Bill
"We are less anointed than the guy with skin tight trousers, hitting the griddy during the altar call?" HOLD ON!! HIS WRITING KINDA FIRE??? 🤚😲✋
🔥🔥🔥🔥
I grew up in a Pentecostal church and baaaaaaby, we couldn't do anything. Couldn't read a newspaper, couldn't watch television, couldn't wear makeup, couldn't color or cut our hair, couldn't wear jeans. Looking back, a part of me deep down felt like we were in a cult.
I enjoyed the video. You mentioned most great black came up in the church and that the current decline in RnB music could be attributed to a decline in church attendance. There's a video on TH-cam that addresses the state of RnB music and why most of these new singers can't sing. The video covers the black church but also the government invested in music programs from the 1930s-1980s. Thus, kids learned music theory and how to sing. Therefore, a girl growing up in the 50s practiced with the church choir and practiced at school, getting hours of practice each week. That's how the great singers came up. However, once public funding of music programs declined, that leads to fewer kids getting a music education. When you couple that with the lack of church attendance, it follows you'll have fewer singers, let alone good singers.
I'm 50 years old and you are correct I grew up in jersey and from kindergarten to 8th grade I was in chorus and band...we even traveled to compete with our peers in middle school. Not to mention my Mom had us in church at least 3 times per week. Plus singing with you own siblings. What a time. I so wish i knew how good I used to hav
Yep. I have a feeling this is also happening in the acting world. School theater programs are practically nonexistent now.
As a white, millennial woman, I’ve spent the past several years reading and dissecting how white, US evangelicalism grew into the facist-nationalist movement it’s fully become. This essay on the history of the black US church intersects so painfully with my own decomposing tradition. This was a hard watch! Thank you. I also appreciated the dark comic moments immensely. Laugh or cry, right?! Seriously, though. Big thanks, sir. New subscriber out of me.
My mom didn't raise me and my siblings around or with religion, so I never felt the type of connection many black people have with church/god, and up until highschool I viewed religion as like... a fandom? Like I didn't know until I got to talking about religion with other kids that people really believed all that stuff in a real way. Im 24 now and I've never felt a draw or a need for religion in my life, and it has made me feel so incredibly unblack when I talk to other black people.
It makes me feel like I'll never be connected to my people in any meaningful way, because religion means so much to black people and seemingly connects with something deep inside them, and I just don't have it.
But this video is very good and taught me a lot, it helped to give me an understanding of something I never experienced!
I've been nursing a pet theory that fandom, cults, and organized religion are all on a continuum of the same thing for years. Coming from a religious person
it's almost synonymous to be black and Christian. which 5 crazy cuz this was never our god to behing with but somehow we believe after all these years he's answering the prayers of the oppressed and the oppressors
I grew up in the Church, but I kinda hate it nowadays.
It feels like everyone is too concerned with pretending to be pure. Showing off for the congregation. Everyone has all the answers, and no one cares to ask questions. And those answers are all to let go of who you are and obey THEIR interpretation of the scripture. As someone who’s queer and a bit bookish, who feels unblack just for existing, it’s hostile, unfair, and INCREDIBLY disrespectful.
Not all churches are the same, but God’s gonna have to forgive me for keeping my guard up till I find one that doesn’t hate me.
My Baptist paternal Grandmother's 17 out of the 23 grandchildren were Muslim. She never tried to convert us, but this Woman was a true believer!!!! In Islam, when we speak of "The people of the Book," They are judged by the Book in which they believe...My grandmother lived modestly, loved unconditionally, disciplined us with lessons, and fed EVERYONE...Although I am not Christian, I have an affinity for FBA Churchgoing Grandmothers, and I'd sit at their feet every chance. But I wonder that this humility was sometimes to their detriment, not earning enough "Heaven Points" to let their bodies rest.. never allowing themselves to be selfish a little.., and putting themselves first in their life..."In service" was not just the Sunday meeting at the house of worship. I miss my Grandmother, and now I am 51; I know the pain of just being older, and then add Husband, Children, Grands, Greats, Job, Community, and Congregation ...Phew, Grandma, I know you were tired as hell!
... " Fba"?
@@papi_sativa Foundational Black American
Foundational black american. Its stuff ive never heard before i had to search it up.@@papi_sativa
Foundational black Americans. Essentially black descendants of American slavery. Unless you knew that, an was just disappointed in her referencing it. @@papi_sativa
@papi_sativa foundational black American. People that were brought to the US as slaves, so the commenter is also a FBA
Me and my husband loved this movie so much. I thought Regina Hall deserved an Oscar nod for that mime scene alone. I feel like it’s so rare to see a Black movie that has that kind of dry, offbeat, dark humor that trusts its audiences intelligence without spelling everything out but also be grounded in Black culture. When that little girl said “I love theater” it took me out. So nice to see someone analyze it and the nuances of Black church culture.
The FD laugh track at 54:37 was perfect🤌🏽 it’s the little things.
I ended up watching Honk For Jesus shortly after watching this video. Great recommendation. I think initially it kinda threw me off because the trailer (which I watched in the middle of watching this video once you mentioned it) gives comedy, but it gets a lot darker. However, I appreciate how dark the movie gets. I think what's most interesting is the focus on Trin and her role in the church. Seeing her and Lee-Curtis's slowly go more and more insane was the best part for me. Also just seeing how Trin will never put any accountability on Lee-Curtis (even going as far as blaming the crew), was heartbreaking. Also great performance from Regina Hall.
Highly appreciative of this recommendation and this video essay.
I remember going to church with Tonex and thinking it was so sad that he couldn't just be how he was. People would love watching him perform but at same time give him the side eye and laughed at him. It gave me the ick and as a queer kid I stopped going as soon as I could.
Tonex was so good and I loved him. I can recall when he came out and the reactions he got and I remember being so scared bc I already knew I was queer by that point. It made me hate myself and caused a lot of trauma and is at least part of the reason my skin starts to crawl whenever someone tries to invite me to church. It's like why would I go somewhere that I know I'm not wanted?
Same ,I moved from the south and found people who accepts me for who I am ☺️
@@753studios6 glad for you
Tonex had a beautiful voice.
Perhaps the same reason you watched and are in the comment section of a video about the “black church” years later?
Honk For Jesus, Save Your Soul was easily one of my favorite movies in 2022b it deserved so much more attention than it got. i really eeally happy to see you dropped an essay about it and i’m gonna watch the fuck out of this video
I agree! I remember watching that movie the day it came out in a theater with about 10 people in it. I was like, "ooh wee! This movie is going to piss off a lot of church going black folks!" As Lil' Bill referenced, I grew up COGIC (my mother is a pastor), but I have been agnostic for almost 15 years.
Man, I went into the theatre at like 10:30 at night to see it, completely crossfaded with some friends. We go up to the highest row and there was a homeless man just sleeping in that mf bc no one was seeing it. He ended up just moving to the lowest row and I don't think he was too happy about it. But he certainly stayed after the show was over. Good movie tho
I saw this movie in theaters with my wife. It was completely empty except for the worker who checks for pirates. It was phenomenal and I picked up on every cultural reference. I grew up in the Bible belt and have been in cali the past 10 years tho. That movie unlocked memories I forgot I had
Saw the thumbnail and got chills again. Surpised this movie isn't more well known.
Same
“Punch line for the secular and sedative for the spiritual” what a bar
Never thought about how the response to Eddie Long would have been different had the victims been girls. The homophobia definitely played a role in how swiftly they got Long out of there.
Yep
And what that is telling us about how BOTH the damage to our girl children and boy children are condoned … it is SHAMEFUL.
Lived through it.
@@happygucci5094 True. Exactly that. The implications behind why our community responds the way it does, based on who is doing the abusing and who is abused is shameful. Our children deserve so much better.
@ THIS PART‼️
I am watching and hearing the conversations around Diddy and also ( at least for me) the larger implications of this Rap Battle/ what Kendrick stands for and WHO he stands for- we need some serious critical analysis of what our community needs to not just heal - but thrive and that means standing on business and standing FOR something.
And it’s reading like we don’t want to stand on the things that require personal sacrifice and discipline- so many of the Diddy and Drake defenders are the very ones that engage in the same behavior and I am sick to death of it- our young people deserve better. Period.
And to circle it back- people are more disturbed at the prospect of Diddy being bisexual than a pedo abuser of young boys and assaulter of women and alleged murderer... It’s disgusting.
The system is going to be what it is- it wasn’t written for us and it is perfectly designed to continue to get the results that we currently have to exist in- these are InHouse, Within Community issues- and lines must be drawn.
Exactly, because if the victims were girls, folks would probably be quick to protect Long and quick to accuse the girls of “being fast” or of trying to “seduce” him.
Since the victims were boys, of course, the victims are the same-sex as Long, and we all know what that means. He’s gay, and that’s frowned on in church.
10:11 I love Rosetta Tharpe. There is just something about her music, I cant describe it.
She is rock and roll.
Like that one performance of "Didnt it rain children" is one of the godliest things ive ever seen.
Yup the OG of heavy metal
I was so angry when TD Jakes endorsed a payday loan app too...
Really
i don't believe in any higher powers because i simply have no need to. i don't respect chrstianity because it's become nothing but a collection of symbols of hate towards me and all the people i hold dear. i also feel that there isn't nearly enough empathy for people like me who grew up in a conservative (and black in my case) christian household, and all i ever got for trying to be understanding of the religion was trauma and abuse. the church was always meaningless and boring from the start because i was never taught that the church was any safe place for me, all i ever saw my parents do was go there to wish for things they could gain by simply being better people. the best i can think of the religion and the church is that it's interesting art and fantasy to take inspiration from, as you can probably tell by my name. unfortunately, i feel like the entire institution is rotten from the inside out, but i will still give credit where i see real good being done by it, rare as that may be.
Reactionary lifestyle
You cooked with this one 🫡
I don't blame em@@owenamenta1
@@owenamenta1 But refusing to listen to the radio because it’s the devil isn’t reactionary😂 Ok
@@MISSMADISONMEDIA 😂😂😂
This was so good and helpful to me. Mom chose to raise us kids outside Black Church, in a non-evangelical tradition, so there's this big void in my first-hand knowledge of Black American culture. It's a lot!
Very real im in thr same vote
Bill + FD Sig + Foreign Man = UncTube 🥰
As an apostolic Pk, who has distanced himself from the church (hold for when they pay me to play…) I knew you were one of us! 😂😂😂 holiness, Pentecostal, Apostolic babies carry a certain zeal for study and a disdain and frustration of holy-rolling upbringing.
Yup
33:33 "...it's one thing to cheat, hell it's expected to some degree...I mean ya know the jezebels in the soprano section and all that." You definitely grew up Apostolic.💀😂
I went to highschool with Eddie Long's daughter during the scandal, I hope Taylor's still doing alright it was like two straight years of bs from everything and everyone around her.
I often wonder how his children are doing
Still not loving religion. Also, if you grow up as a Black person in a EU country chances are you don't care about religion so much in general.
Bro thanks for making this. I too am a Christian. I didn’t come to faith until I was In my 30s. Since then (2017) following Christ has become the most important thing in my life. That being said, I also feel like I’m losing my mind half the time with the American church. So many of the aspects of the modern church, have almost no connection to the way of Jesus. Large swaths of the church sound anti-Christ in their words and priorities. I’m like man I know I am late to the party, but either the evangelicals have lost their minds or I have. It can be very discouraging. Great to see that I’m not the only one who feels this way.
Evangelicals definitely lost their mind 😂 most haven't read the bible so they don't know what Jesus taught
I feel the same way. Stay encouraged, though. There are many Christians who are aware of this…
Capitalism has trained all of us, to think through our wallets first. And our Christian church has almost complete capture by the capitalistic mindstate I've been blessed enough to find a great church that doesn't love money. It's the love that's the problem right? The Bible recognizes the need to pay taxes, be good stewards of finances and leave something for our kids. An actual biblical view of money is actually good guidance...the problem is most churches aren't biblical, so there's that....and a lot of the issues u outline here go back to that lack of biblical direction
Is the foaming at the mouth homophobia biblical?
@maxsmart9116 nah...it's not Biblical at all. Homophobia from the Christian Church is stupid. The Bible has very logical reasons to dislike homosexuality...and as Christians that doesn't equal hate.
@maxsmart9116 no its not Biblical at all.
@@mickiemallorie
Leviticus disagrees with you. That's old testament though..
@@manfromyard Lol why do I get the feeling that that’s the only part of the Bible you’ve read?
In the words of Caitlin Cook "Nobody deserves to live in a closet...
Except R. Kelly."
My Dad wasn't a Christian, but he often volunteered at the mostly white church my mom attended.
One day, someone told him that the whole family should be more involved with the service (I think as a ploy to get him to come to regular services). My Dad said "sure!" And choreographed an entire dance routine to this end credit song. It even had a fake out ending where we pretended to return to our seats, just to rush back and do the rest of the song.
I've never seen so many confused Christians in one room.
NGL, just hearing it made me drop what I was doing and almost do the dance routine. I didn't even realize I could still do it.
I blame mike todd, td jakes, jamal bryant, and many of those types of “pastors”
Love the touch of wearing the Stone Cold Steve Austin shirt for this video.
the way i STOOD UP from my chair when you mentioned branham -- and his wack-ass grand imperial wizard mentor Roy E Davis -- the very walls of my home rattled
I was raised in an historical black Catholic parish, not the traditional black church, so I kinda feel left out. For what it's worth, Rev. Cone was instrumental in black Catholics creating a black liturgy.
Same. I grew up in an historical black Episcopal parish and we didn't see the sort of issues that others within the traditional black church had to encounter. We certainly had our issues. Classism/Elitism was big but it was mostly directed towards those outside the parish walls rather than those inside. The good majority of our parish was uniformly well-to-do which may have accounted for that. So much so, I remember a parishioner remarking that the prosperity gospel was a crude low class theology that didn't have any relevancy within our parish. We were liturgical anyway so there was no possibility of that type of teaching being introduced anyway. Our biggest issue has been our inability to attract younger parishioners. High Anglican/Episcopal liturgy is just not the flavor of the day and the old heads refuse to low church our worship. Its what attracts them to the parish in the first place. However, membership is dwindling as the older parishioners are dying out so there will be some sort of reckoning I predict very soon.
@@edMagnus1 black Episcopalians had their own civil rights organization within that denomination during the CRM. We finally got a black priest in 1970. He had converted from the Episcopalian church to the Catholic church before being ordained. At least he led us to believe this. Were your parents/grandparents part of that movement? Perhaps black Catholics should have taken some pointers from our Episcopalian brothers and sisters. Pretty sure Episcopalians participated in the CRM before most white Catholics. However, white Episcopalians weren't targeted by Nixon's Northern Strategy like white Catholics were. And laissez-faire, white Christian nationalist William Buckley who was the father of modern conservatism was Catholic.
I have to give you props for not telling black Catholics we were going to hell because we weren't Protestant in the 1980s and 1990s given how many black Catholics were part of the CRM. My mother wasn't among the "closeted" black Catholics. She was part of the Black Catholic Movement and worked as an administrator at the same HBCU where Dr. Cone taught.
Me, too, a parish deep in the hood. Glad I was spared the drama from the preachers and their tribal formations. I could handle the priests, but those pastors were pimps.
Lmaooooo yooo get Bill more sponsor reads 😂😂😂
You have introduced me to the word pewbaby. My mom went into labor with me coming up the steps of Body of Christ COGIC Church for Wednesday night bible study so I guess I too am a pewbaby
Getting your wife to say that is hilarious at the beginning. I was laughing so hard. Get job on getting sponsorships.
This video was great. I enjoy your mixture of seriousness, sarcasm, and humor.
I liked the short film Honk for Jesus more than the full length film because it conveyed more with less (if that makes sense).
Your church videos help me a lot. I’m a Christian anarchist, and there isn’t a lot of cool guys like out here who’s theology informs the cool shit they say.
So anyway thanks Lil Bill!
I try
my mom is genx and I remember us trying out diff churches for years and then we just stopped when I was around maybe 10 becuase she didnt fuck with any of them fr and she grew up going to our pawpaw's church which only had old people from what I remember. My mom would always say it used to have more people back in the day lol
Put this on your thanksgiving playlist
Phenomenal companion piece video to Ka's final album 'The Thief Next To Jesus' (probably one of the best albums of 2024 in its exploration of the Black church). Incredibly interesting and poignant.
🫡
James Cleveland was accused and I think also charged with the molestation of his foster son. He died before he received any repercussions.
yeah he did that sh!t according to ppl who know
They outfit at 18:16 is sick 😂😂😂😂
Absolutely fucking nuts 😂 😆☠️
Love more discussion on this film. I was kinda expecting something different when I saw it and feel like maybe it didn’t hit for me because I’m not immersed in the same tradition. I personally got mixed to negative feelings on the church experience and its relationship to blackness, so appreciate your thoughts on religion to challenge me 🙏🏾
You mentioned something that has been my entire issue with this Diddy thing. Everyone’s like no Diddy when it’s regarding something that may sound gay or homosexual everyone’s forgetting the fact that the gay things probably were one of the few consensual acts that went on with this man Sexual assault and possible human trafficking, being overlooked because the interaction was of a gay nature is absolutely insane
Joined the patreon recently but man I'm so glad you dropped this one, especially with the recent passing of Gustavo Gutierrez
I loved this movie. I think one of the big reasons I left church was because there was no way out. You give your life to the church? Well once you’re old and have dementia they shut you out! Move to a different type of church (Pentecostal to baptist) all of a sudden you’re in a big tv church trying to compete with another tv church up the street!
And ya know I’m too many identities for Christianity to like me, but it’s so hard to think back on the holiest people in the church who raised you and they were/are the most hateful fuxking people! Just mean! “You’re too dark” “your nose is too big” “why is your hair so nappy?” “Why don’t you come to church no more?” “Why are you dressed like a slut”
Lol I ofc can always go on and this is why I keep to myself at this point
Eddie Long would come to the hotel I worked at in Downtown Atlanta at least every 3 months with young men. Bro was not even trying to hide it.
Lol worrrd????
in Atlanta I'm sure he didn't have to lol
and TD Fakes was his mentor "father" in the GOSPEL...go figure
Bill looking uncomfortable in the screen while his wife closes out the sponsor spots made my whole week. Me too man
When I was a teen, my church in South Florida took a bunch of us kids up to Eddie Long's church for a like week long camp thing. It culminated in a whole program called "The Boyfriend/Girlfriend Thang" where we were all shamed into committing to abstinence until marriage and a TON of kids felt pressured to "get saved" by the end.
I remember boyfriend/girlfriend thang….Derron Cloud produced it.
Female gospel singers really held it down for gays forever god bless. (Sorry only had to do with a lil section of the vid)
Lemme know if I'm way off here but it seems outside lookin in that modern christianity us just Paradise Lost, Inferno and the Last Stand by Sabaton. I do not hear much reference to actual scripture other than to boost tye absolute fkn sprint back towards "Devil is red scary dude behind everything I hate and you should hate it too"
pretty accurate tbh
Bingo
Man that credit song! Kirk Franklin and Fred Hammond were my favorites growing up in the 90’s-00’s.
The crispiness of the bass on that song! I’m not religious anymore, but I grew up as the daughter of a ministers/youth leader and deacon. Now I’m about to bump a Fred Hammond essentials playlist!
The music from that era was insane.
Damn. Bill is the knife that cuts in order to figure out what's real and what's cake
Ill Bill the Illustrious should be his narrative pseudonym
would you ever consider uploading audio versions of your vids to Spotify? i love your content as i almost always walk away with some new perspective in some form but i cant work my shift looking at videos so audio is my preferred way to take in media nowadays.
The way I have known about Rosetta Tharpe for years because I've been looking into cultural appropriation in music and building my and theory on how mainstream American culture has been a water downed white washed and comidified version of other cultures but mainly Black culture and mainly specifically Black Queer culture from since at least the early 1900s idk about before then but yeah. ...amd I myself am *bisexual* .... but I did not know that *she* was bisexual, let alone openly , until now ... Bi sexual erasure is real y'all.. Queer erasure is real. (As is Black and ethnic erasure hence why I'm trying to learn about it but yeah, Bi people in general and especially any and all Bi people with multiple intersectionalities of marginalization in their identifies are even more erased from history, well not erased entirely, clearly ,but hidden and we need to uncover them) Because : And we're real. We exist. 🌌
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was so remarkable. I didn't know she was a bicon either!
I grew up AG and had no idea it was an offshoot of COGIC. Few minutes in and already learning, as usual. Keep it pushin, love your channel
Yep, Bishop Mason pleaded with his white brethren to stick together, but you know, segregation and racism won in the end 🫤.
I've seen black women in church in particular "first ladies", become terrors to the women in the church bc they are partners in crime with their pastor/husband while being oppressed themselves. I went through HELL as 1 of only 3 licensed women ministers in a fairly large church in Columbia, SC BC OF THE "FIRST LADY". Needless to say, I left that church and the church after that experience. First Ladies have just as much to lose and just as much responsibility in the role of the oppression and hypocrisy of how the church treats Black women. Regina Hall PLAYED that role to the TEE!
I'm 2:15 in and I'm seeing AI Jesus with hands for feet, I think I'm actually gonna sit this one out
The mayonated??? 😂
I'm a white atheist in recovery from many years of being a dumbass on the internet so if I'm missing the point here please let me know. I come here to learn. What I think you're kind of getting at in the last few minutes actually hit pretty hard for me. Obviously I have no experience of consequence with black church(or white church frankly), but I have watched other institutions have their fangs removed by capitalism. I've watched people complain about it. I COMPLETELY understand feeling helpless in the face of capitalism and its forces. At the same time, many of the people I see lament the deradicalization of these organizations are the same people NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT. Unions might be the example I see most. Complaining that they don't work like they should or they aren't radical enough. IT'S AN ORGANIZATION THAT REQUIRES PARTICIPATION, DUMMY.
Anyway I loved this video and the subject has always interested me as someone basically looking in from outside.
Ignorance is bliss. Easier to point fingers elsewhere.
The mindset of "capitalism bad" will get you nowhere in life
@@Claptain_Planet I own a house, have a good career and beautiful family. I guess I got nowhere though.
@Claptain_Planet "capitalism good" is only exacerbating wealth inequality and a fascist government.
The fact that the black church went from being a place of hope, peace and a sanctuary during the reconstruction and jim era and birth some of the greatest black activist of all time to now being a place where pastors are ministering to their congregation and using the bible to lead them to vote for Trump.
I remember visiting my mom's old church once and that man got up there talking about Beyonce is the devil, game consoles is a portal to hell and unleashes demons onto our youth and more.
Only to run away with their tithes money a month later smh
He did tell the truth though with his thieving self
Let’s go!!!! You know I had to watch as soon I saw you uploaded
0:41 prove it
Ayo!!
Lls
I don't know why But for some strange reason I'm with you.
There shouldn’t even be a “black church” in the first place, I’ve held this opinion all my life since realizing Sunday school was absolute bullsht at a young age. Our ancestors never embraced or participated in such things.
My boy, this is some of your best work
Although I’m an apostate, Christianity and the black church will always be a part of my identity. I still appreciate videos like this and religious videos in general bc it plays such a huge part in people’s lives both directly and tacitly to extents that many people may be unaware of
When this was titled something about the most overlooked black movie I added it to my watch later, when I saw how the black church lost its soul I clicked immediately.
So i guess good marketing choice 😂
1:54 nah bruh 😭😭😭 nah there's a special place in hell for you using your old lady for capitalism. Where do i sign up for the discount tho? 👀💀💀
😂😂😂 on dawgs
Was worth the watch and wait. Thank you for this👍🏿👍🏿
Fantastic video Bill, appreciate the insight as always!
No handbooks and no Bibles in church no dentist in church every Sunday
After growing up in white churches, watching a pastor’s birthday celebration at a black church was crazy. It almost seemed like worship
The couple sound like characters in J California Cooper’s book In Search of Satisfaction…in the end we are all in search of satisfaction confronted with the questions “how much will I do to get it, to keep it, how much will I abandon myself for that particular “satisfaction”.
AHHH I'm happy you got manscaped!! I love manscaped and it's coming time for me to upgrade!! But I only ever purchase when there's a discount from a TH-camr, I'm happy to be able to support your link, finally!!!
finishing w fred hammond is a power move
If there is a higher power, its completely unrelated to the Bible or any other human claims of a higher power.
Evidence being…your opinion?
21:27 FACTS! The church I went to had less than 100 in the congregation, and we still managed to put together a bunch of money to get a van to go down to megafest in Atlanta. That shit was crazy. I had never seen church turn into burning man in life n I was dumbfounded
Ha! Church turns into burning man 😂😂😂
That Austin shit looking fresh af. That new or you had that thing for a minute and its mint as hell.
What I got from this is that “true Christianity
“ has been made a mockery of. It could be the Devil and his minions or it could be that humans got ahead of themselves and decided what should or shouldn’t be allowed in “Western Christianity”. I get that not everyone agrees with Christianity and its theology (I still struggle with it at times myself) but damn it seems to get attacked more than any other religion/belief. I’m always open to video essays such as this because it challenges me more so to get to thinking and researching about what I choose to believe whether it’s beliefs or what have you.
Even in this comment section, I see lot of critics of Christianity who build their critiques off of their *perceptions* of the religion, instead of what Christ actually taught. Though, who can blame them? America has done an excellent job in distorting Christian teaching for its own ends.
I think it gets critique the hardest is because it impacts our lives the most whether we want it to or not. We're all off on Christmas regardless if you celebrate or not. We're currently using the calendar system created by a Pope. Politicians are putting in laws based on Christianity, forgetting separation of church and state. Ppl of marginalized groups can't get any peace because Christianity shuns them and tells them they're sinners (which is reductive if you believe we're all born sinners anyway). There's mission groups who "build" wells with a 6 month shelf life so they can feel better about them selves, all the money(church fund) scams, pastors dressed up in luxury brands while preaching modesty and simplicity, the kid touchers, the burying of scandals by other members, Ppl using the Bible to justify stuff like slavery, manifest destiny, racism etc. No other religion has had a global impact like that, and no other religion is shoved down people's throat like that.
I got invited by a pastor who flattered me into coming to his church and when I got there it was a vaguely coded sermon about trans people, which he knew I was. afterwards, I found out that he had invited literally three other transgender white people and catered the sermon to enforcing traditional gender. I was the only one who felt comfortable taking his offer to go to lunch afterwards and it was only because I didn't want to go to work.
I DNT GET ON HERE A LOT BUT JUST WANT TO SAY LOVE THE INTELLECTUAL BREAK DOWN OF YOUR VIDEOS THEY ARE VERY FUNNY POINTS BUT SO TRUE BIG UPS LIL BILL🖤🖤
Black churches being part of the SBC at all is just wild, given that whole organizations origins
As a youth and young adult minister in ca., I agree wholeheartedly
I had no idea that Sublime's Doin Time was borrowing from someone else
I'm actually doing my dissertation on this very subject, super fascinating to see someone else tackle it from sociological perspective
Have y'all listened to kendrick's new album
lol I chose this video over the Kendrick drop. I got double blessed today. 😂
this resonates so much from a Black British perspective too if you have seen the scandals surrounding Spac Nation that even BBC covered literally same thing.. also sadly same thing in Africa as well with TB Joshua to Gilbert Deya
you up to make a video about roman catholicism? a bit of an antithesis to modern american christianity as most believers live in africa and south america
So many nuggets for deep conversation here…