Does the 'Black Church' Hold the Key to Restoring the Family?

There was a time when the “black church” played an essential role, serving political, social, and spiritual needs. Although studies show that blacks are more likely to self-describe as Christians and report higher church attendance, black Americans still vote, overwhelmingly, for the political party that supports abortion and homosexual “marriage.” Why?

That’s another topic for another day.

The Family Research Council (FRC) has released two reports that confirm sad and inconvenient facts about marriage and family. In a CNSNews editorial about these reports, Patrick Fagan, director of FRC’s Marriage and Religion Research Institute, and E.W. Jackson, wrote that the “descendants of black slaves have the potential to be the saviors of modern America if the black church can rise to the challenge of restoring Christian marriage within its families.”

Out-of-wedlock pregnancy and fatherlessness have increased across the board, but blacks are impacted disproportionately. Removing the shame stigma and encouraging permissive behavior contributed to the family instability crisis in America. But can we put the proverbial genie back into the bottle?

The authors cite the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s 50-year-old report on the family instability crisis among blacks:

“Patrick Moynihan’s predictions in his 1965 report have come true, likely worse than even he feared. So long as black marriages continue to crumble, cycles of poverty and disadvantage will repeat themselves and become endemic.”

That’s common sense, but our society pushes the opposite. Regardless of a family’s socioeconomic status, the family in general and children in particular are better off emotionally, financially, and physically if the mother and father are both living with the children and married to each other. Liberals love to claim that “racism” causes “poverty,” which in turn causes crime. Individuals, regardless of sex, race, or color, are moral agents responsible for their own behavior. Which liberal is prepared to claim, out loud and with a straight face, that blacks should be held to a lower moral standard?

The authors are convinced the black church holds the key to strengthening the family. They write that “if the black church does not take up the challenge of restoring marriage in the black community no one will, and most definitely not the U.S. government. But if it does, it will teach not only its own flock but the whole of the U.S. how to rebuild the family by rebuilding marriage. The black church could show how a new America can blossom.”

Do you agree?