Bruvette Asks: Why Do Black Women Out Number Black Men In The Church?

[Field Marshall Bradley]

Me: Does Christianity attracts the oppressed and downtrodden


AI:

Historically? Undeniably. Christianity has long served as a refuge for the marginalized—those bruised by empire, caste, poverty, and exile. From slaves in the Roman Empire to peasants in medieval Europe, from African-Americans singing spirituals under the lash to Latin American liberation theologians preaching salvation with one hand and revolution with the other—it’s been the gospel of the beaten-down.

But why?

Because Christianity—at least in its rawest, earliest form—offered something dangerously radical:

A suffering god, not a triumphant Caesar.

An upside-down kingdom, where the last are first.

A message of dignity, not hierarchy.


Jesus didn’t dine with the Sanhedrin or cozy up to Roman governors. He broke bread with prostitutes, lepers, tax collectors. His sermon on the mount? It’s a manifesto for the meek.

But here's the twist.
As the centuries passed, the persecuted faith became an empire's sword. Constantine legalized it. Popes crowned kings. Slaveholders quoted Paul. Suddenly, Christianity wasn't just the religion of the oppressed—it was also the religion of the oppressor.

So the answer depends on which Christianity you’re talking about:

The grassroots, street-level faith? Still draws the broken like moths to a bruised light.

The institutional, gold-robed power structure? Often serves the status quo.


In short: Yes, Christianity historically attracts the oppressed—because it promises hope where the world delivers none. But it also risks being co-opted by power unless it's constantly reclaimed by the very people it first called blessed.

YOU’re asking A.I. about the concepts of spirituality and why it would be an attractive practice to human beings? You’re asking a database to explain the complexities of humanity and spirituality? You’re depending on a field of algorithms to break down what a soul is?

You probably used to google “how to get a girl” when you were younger

I say that to say… neither Islam or Christianity began with an “oppresssed” group

 

[TheDarkCloud]

I will never date a devout Christian again. The closeminded-ness is insane

I went to church a few weeks ago for the first time in like 7 years. I deadass just wanted to see if I would get anything from it.

The amount of nonsense in that bish was astounding. Never again. A lot of women aren't critical thinkers. The amount of judgmental, self righteous sanctimonious bullshyt i saw reminded me why I got completely turned off from religion years ago.

 

[Neuromancer]

There's nothing to be gotten from a church. God is everywhere.

 

[Neuromancer]

Because women are looking to be saved.

Don't save her.

 

[ORDER_66]

Because they believe in the bullshyt the pastor still tells them... marks...

 

[Jasonmask]

Too many pastors abuse their power and men can see that a mile away

 

[acri1]

Truth is simple

Nikkas gotta work

Men only in church every Sunday if they work there. Otherwise, they got shyt to do

I wouldn't even say it's that, I don't work at all on Sundays and it's usually it's videogames/edibles/football day I still have no interest in going to church

Only time I've gone as an adult (outside of funerals/weddings) was when a chick I was dating insisted and that only lasted so long

 

[Seoul Gleou]

YOU’re asking A.I. about the concepts of spirituality and why it would be an attractive practice to human beings? You’re asking a database to explain the complexities of humanity and spirituality? You’re depending on a field of algorithms to break down what a soul is?

You probably used to google “how to get a girl” when you were younger

I say that to say… neither Islam or Christianity began with an “oppresssed” group

Me:
Did Islam or Christianity began with an “oppresssed” group


A.I.:


Yes—both Islam and Christianity sprang from the margins, born not in palaces but in pressure cookers. They were forged by the heat of oppression and carried by the dispossessed.


---

Christianity: A Faith Born Under Empire

Origin: 1st-century Roman-occupied Judea

Founder: Jesus of Nazareth—a Galilean Jew under foreign rule

Followers: Fishermen, women, tax collectors, the sick, the poor

Context: A brutal empire that crucified dissenters, taxed the poor to death, and crushed revolts with impunity


Jesus didn’t preach from a throne. He spoke of a kingdom not of this world, promised blessing to the meek, and ended up nailed to wood like a common criminal. His early followers were hunted—stoned, burned, fed to lions. Christianity began as a subversive movement, whispered in alleys, not sung in cathedrals.


---

Islam: A Revelation to the Marginalized

Origin: 7th-century Mecca, a tribal oligarchy obsessed with wealth and idols

Founder: Muhammad—a merchant orphaned young, not from the elite Quraysh clans

Followers: Slaves (like Bilal), the poor, women, and a few defiant members of minor clans

Context: Muhammad’s call to monotheism challenged the economic and religious grip of the Meccan elites


Early Muslims were beaten, exiled, starved. The movement survived only by fleeing to Medina, where they built a new society rooted in equity, mutual obligation, and devotion to God. Islam’s early momentum came from empowering the powerless.


---

So What’s the Verdict?

Both religions:

Began as grassroots uprisings against unjust structures

Drew in the oppressed, the outsiders, the voiceless

Threatened the powerful, which is why they were persecuted


But here’s the kicker:
Once these faiths gained power, they faced a crossroads—liberation or domination. And history, as usual, is messy. Empires absorbed them. Caliphates and cathedrals grew. Yet at their core—buried beneath the politics and the pomp—are origin stories soaked in struggle.

The prophet in the cave.
The preacher on the cross.
Both crying out from the edge of empire.

 

[Baka's Weird Case]

The opportunity cost is too high.

Men are practical creatures. My pastor had to add a sports lobby in the entryway so that men wouldnt miss the big game. It helped dramatically, and he'd give updates mid sermon during transitions in his talking points.


You have to actively cater to men if you want male attendees.

this is pretty smart but the fact that he gives updates during the sermon has me this is the most american thing ive heard in my life

 

[Field Marshall Bradley]

Me:
Did Islam or Christianity began with an “oppresssed” group


A.I.:


Yes—both Islam and Christianity sprang from the margins, born not in palaces but in pressure cookers. They were forged by the heat of oppression and carried by the dispossessed.


---

Christianity: A Faith Born Under Empire

Origin: 1st-century Roman-occupied Judea

Founder: Jesus of Nazareth—a Galilean Jew under foreign rule

Followers: Fishermen, women, tax collectors, the sick, the poor

Context: A brutal empire that crucified dissenters, taxed the poor to death, and crushed revolts with impunity


Jesus didn’t preach from a throne. He spoke of a kingdom not of this world, promised blessing to the meek, and ended up nailed to wood like a common criminal. His early followers were hunted—stoned, burned, fed to lions. Christianity began as a subversive movement, whispered in alleys, not sung in cathedrals.


---

Islam: A Revelation to the Marginalized

Origin: 7th-century Mecca, a tribal oligarchy obsessed with wealth and idols

Founder: Muhammad—a merchant orphaned young, not from the elite Quraysh clans

Followers: Slaves (like Bilal), the poor, women, and a few defiant members of minor clans

Context: Muhammad’s call to monotheism challenged the economic and religious grip of the Meccan elites


Early Muslims were beaten, exiled, starved. The movement survived only by fleeing to Medina, where they built a new society rooted in equity, mutual obligation, and devotion to God. Islam’s early momentum came from empowering the powerless.


---

So What’s the Verdict?

Both religions:

Began as grassroots uprisings against unjust structures

Drew in the oppressed, the outsiders, the voiceless

Threatened the powerful, which is why they were persecuted


But here’s the kicker:
Once these faiths gained power, they faced a crossroads—liberation or domination. And history, as usual, is messy. Empires absorbed them. Caliphates and cathedrals grew. Yet at their core—buried beneath the politics and the pomp—are origin stories soaked in struggle.

The prophet in the cave.
The preacher on the cross.
Both crying out from the edge of empire.

And this is why white folks want to ban books and why A.I. will have y’all dumber than Google ever did.

 

[Dallas' 4 Eva]

Sunday is literally my only day off right now. fukk I look like spending half of it getting up early to go listen to some one beg me for some of my money.

 

[ORDER_66]

Sunday is literally my only day off right now. fukk I look like spending half of it getting up early to go listen to some one beg me for some of my money.

EXACTLY...

 

[Seoul Gleou]

And this is why white folks want to ban books and why A.I. will have y’all dumber than Google ever did.

A.I.:

Absolutely. Let's back this up with historical and scholarly sources—no blind preaching here.


---

1. Christianity Began Among the Oppressed

Primary Evidence:

New Testament Scriptures: The Gospels consistently portray Jesus ministering to the marginalized—e.g., “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3), “The last will be first” (Matthew 20:16), and the crucifixion itself, a Roman execution method for rebels and slaves.

Acts of the Apostles: Early Christians are persecuted by both Jewish religious authorities and Roman officials (Acts 4–8).


Scholarly Sources:

Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels (1979): Discusses how early Christianity thrived underground, suppressed by Roman and Jewish elite structures.

Reza Aslan, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth (2013): Frames Jesus as a political revolutionary from a peasant class under Roman occupation.

Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity (1996): Argues Christianity spread largely among disenfranchised groups—slaves, women, and the urban poor.



---

2. Islam Emerged from Marginalized Roots

Primary Evidence:

Qur’an: Emphasizes support for orphans, the poor, and slaves—e.g., “Have you seen the one who denies the Recompense? For that is the one who drives away the orphan and does not encourage the feeding of the poor” (Qur’an 107:1–3).

Sirah (Prophetic Biography): Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah (8th century) documents the early persecution of Muslims by the Meccan elite.


Scholarly Sources:

Karen Armstrong, Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time (2006): Emphasizes Muhammad's initial support from marginalized Meccans and the political challenge he posed to tribal aristocracy.

Fred Donner, Muhammad and the Believers (2010): Highlights Islam’s origins as a reform movement drawing the disenfranchised.

W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Mecca (1953): Examines the social conflict between Muhammad’s egalitarian message and Mecca’s oligarchic elite.



---

3. Contextual Sources on Empire & Oppression

Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited (1949): Written by a Black theologian, this book explores Jesus as a figure of hope for the oppressed, specifically in the context of racial injustice.

Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (1961): While not a religious text, Fanon critiques how religion both resists and succumbs to imperial power, especially among colonized peoples.



---

In sum: Christianity and Islam didn’t emerge from boardrooms or thrones. They were insurgent ideologies born on the backs of the oppressed—dangerous precisely because they told the downtrodden they mattered, and that Caesar and the Quraysh alike would one day answer to something higher.

 

[ThrobbingHood]

I just remembered that a good friend of mine’s parents divorced, because his mom spent more time at church than she did at home with his dad.

I’m sure there were other underlying issues but as far as I remember, there was no infidelity on either side. It’s frustrating when a woman makes church her whole identity.

I’m Christian and so is my s/o. We take our faith seriously but we don’t allow the institution of church to dominate our social life. I’ve seen what damage it can have on a relstionship.

 

[Field Marshall Bradley]

A.I.:

Absolutely. Let's back this up with historical and scholarly sources—no blind preaching here.


---

1. Christianity Began Among the Oppressed

Primary Evidence:

New Testament Scriptures: The Gospels consistently portray Jesus ministering to the marginalized—e.g., “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3), “The last will be first” (Matthew 20:16), and the crucifixion itself, a Roman execution method for rebels and slaves.

Acts of the Apostles: Early Christians are persecuted by both Jewish religious authorities and Roman officials (Acts 4–8).


Scholarly Sources:

Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels (1979): Discusses how early Christianity thrived underground, suppressed by Roman and Jewish elite structures.

Reza Aslan, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth (2013): Frames Jesus as a political revolutionary from a peasant class under Roman occupation.

Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity (1996): Argues Christianity spread largely among disenfranchised groups—slaves, women, and the urban poor.



---

2. Islam Emerged from Marginalized Roots

Primary Evidence:

Qur’an: Emphasizes support for orphans, the poor, and slaves—e.g., “Have you seen the one who denies the Recompense? For that is the one who drives away the orphan and does not encourage the feeding of the poor” (Qur’an 107:1–3).

Sirah (Prophetic Biography): Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah (8th century) documents the early persecution of Muslims by the Meccan elite.


Scholarly Sources:

Karen Armstrong, Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time (2006): Emphasizes Muhammad's initial support from marginalized Meccans and the political challenge he posed to tribal aristocracy.

Fred Donner, Muhammad and the Believers (2010): Highlights Islam’s origins as a reform movement drawing the disenfranchised.

W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Mecca (1953): Examines the social conflict between Muhammad’s egalitarian message and Mecca’s oligarchic elite.



---

3. Contextual Sources on Empire & Oppression

Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited (1949): Written by a Black theologian, this book explores Jesus as a figure of hope for the oppressed, specifically in the context of racial injustice.

Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (1961): While not a religious text, Fanon critiques how religion both resists and succumbs to imperial power, especially among colonized peoples.



---

In sum: Christianity and Islam didn’t emerge from boardrooms or thrones. They were insurgent ideologies born on the backs of the oppressed—dangerous precisely because they told the downtrodden they mattered, and that Caesar and the Quraysh alike would one day answer to something higher.

Yeah. You on the slow side of the game…. Let me break something down to you. A.I. is for math/science/compiling data to exact solutions at the moment… and the internet hasn’t been indexed for unboased or impartial discussions on societal issues, religion, spirituality, history, race, philosophy since the mid 2000s. Don’t worry though. Y’all gon learn.