Description of Essay Content The essay will address one aspect of the Black Church documentary that aired on PBS. I will provide the links below of the documentary. Because the documentary was roughly

Description of Essay Content

The essay will address one aspect of the Black Church documentary that aired on PBS. I will provide the links below of the documentary. Because the documentary was roughly four hours with many layers of storytelling, you are to identify only one topic to address in this paper and place it in conversation with one (and only one) of the ethical theories. The ethical theories you are to choose from are Deontological Ethics, Utilitarian Ethics, and Virtue Ethics. Do not choose any other ethical theory discussed in the class or elsewhere; only these three options are available choices for this assignment.

Possible Topics

You can choose one person, theme, or problem lifted up in the film. To help you in this matter, I have provided options below. You are not limited to the options below, but whatever person, theme, or problem you identify must have been covered in the documentary.

Persons

Frederick Douglass

Henry McNeal Turner

Nannie Helen Burroughs

Charles Harrison Mason

Marcus Garvey

Martin Luther King Jr.

Prathia Hall

James Cone

Jeremiah Wright

Yvette Flunder

Rev. Ike

Jesse Jackson

TD Jakes

William Barber

Themes

Origins of the Black Church in America during slavery

Gender Issues in the Black Church

Classism in the Black Church during the Great Migration

The Black Church and the Civil Rights Movement

Role of Music in the Black Church and Social Action

The Black Church and Black Power Movements

The Nation of Islam

Black Liberation Theology

The Black Church and the Prosperity Gospel

The Black Church and LGBTQ issues

Problems

Perception the Christianity is the White Man’s religion

Sexism in the Black Church

The Black Church’s response to the AIDS epidemic

The Black Church’s relevance for Millennials and younger generations

Putting the Paper Together

Once you select a person, topic, or problem, you must think about how it relates to one of the ethical theories. For instance, you can look at the relationship between utilitarian ethics and Rev. Ike’s message of prosperity. Does Rev. Ike’s theology fit utilitarian ethics and is it something you recommend we follow?

The paper’s introduction, body, and conclusion should be no less than 750 words and no more than 1500 words. It should include at least one quote from the film related to your subject, and other references may be consulted to better defend your claims in the paper. In both the quote from the film and any books, essays, or websites you consult, you must properly quote (“”) the words that are not original to you and cite in either in the paragraph or as a footnote.  

For more details on the documentary, visit https://www.pbs.org/show/black-church/. You can watch the episodes there as well. 

You can also visit YouTube to watch: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BijAOYktT4k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnT3cTNU-ZI