African American
Related: About this forumBlack women are among country’s most religious groups
Georgetown law student Melanie Habwe Dickson stood nervously outside a District courtroom, waiting for the chance to argue for her client, a domestic-abuse survivor.
It was Dicksons first time in front of a judge, and she needed something to help her relax. She pulled out her smartphone to find an inspirational verse and then remembered that she still carried an excerpt from a text she had read during her weekly Bible study group.
As soon as she looked at the page, her eyes fell on a quotation from Counsels to Parents, Teachers and Students, a 1913 book written by Ellen G. White, a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
For what purpose are you seeking an education? Is it not that you may relieve the suffering of humanity?
Finding that verse at that moment was no coincidence, thought Dickson, 25. God had spoken. Instantly, a sense of calm and confidence enveloped her. In times like these, when she feels anxious, afraid or unsure, Dickson relies on her faith.
So, too, do nearly nine in 10 African American women, according to a nationwide survey conducted by The Washington Post and the Kaiser F amily Foundation. The poll, the most extensive look at black womens lives in decades, reveals that as a group, black women are among the most religious people in the nation. Although black men are almost as religious as their female counterparts, there is a more stark divide along racial lines.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/black-women-are-among-countrys-most-religious-groups/2012/07/06/gJQA0BksSW_story.html
Number23
(24,544 posts)can't say I'm all that surprised.
I haven't been in a church since my childrens' christenings. I don't consider myself a religious person but I most definitely believe in God.
SemperEadem
(8,053 posts)and sometimes, I think black women do themselves a great disservice by being too religious.
HelenaHandbasket
(51 posts)I saw that article. I am a black woman who followed organized religion for a long time. I thought that's what I was supposed to do because that's what everybody around me did. It was kind of like conforming to the society into which I was thrust. I studied various world religions and eventually became what I guess you might call an "agnostic atheist" perhaps because I am of a somewhat scientific mind. I know I am a rare breed among black women. Just about every black woman that I know is deeply religious, devout, church-going and God-fearing and that's fine. I get left out a lot, but I am cool with it. It's just not my thing, but I respect people's beliefs. I have sometimes felt like an outcast because of it and have been shunned at times, but it is what it is and I am who I am. I guess that I have more of a spiritual side based on nature.