Pneuma 33 (2011) 237-253
After the Trill is Gone:
Married to the Holy Spirit but Still Sleeping Alone
Monique Moultrie
Visiting Assistant Professor, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Blvd
31086, Bowling Green, Kentucky
Abstract
Tis article focuses on the culture industry around singles and sexuality within black religious broadcasting. Many Pentecostal preachers’ messages on sexuality respond to the great angst many black women feel concerning the prospect of marriage. Several studies conclude that, for a myriad of reasons, black women are the least likely to marry. Tis has led many televangelists to create a niche by encouraging black women to focus on career advancement and personal care. Yet, traditional notions of sexuality, which include abstinence before marriage and the repression of sexual pleasure, endure. Tis article explores the tension generated by televangelists who promote transgressing the social order that calls for marriage as an ultimate goal while they simultaneous offer a relationship with the sacred as a panacea for sexual desire. It asks what the implications are for black women, theologically and socially, when the Holy Spirit is offered as a spiritual replacement for physical relationships.
Keywords
Juanita Bynum, McKinney Hammond, celibacy, female sexuality
In this home, Sister Moore, the Lord comes first. Te Lord made me leave that man in
there a long time ago because he was a sinner.1
Te Word say if you put father or mother or brother or sister or husband — or anybody — ahead of Him, He ain’t going to have nothing to do with you on the
last day.2
James Baldwin eloquently gives these words to Margaret, the protagonist, in his play Te Amen Corner. In this narrative, Margaret is the pastor of an
1
James Baldwin, Te Amen Corner; a Play (New York: Dial Press, 1968), 31. 2
Ibid., 68.
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2011 DOI: 10.1163/027209611X575032
1
238
M. Moultrie / Pneuma 33 (2011) 237-253
evangelical community in New York that Baldwin seemingly patterned after his pastor, Pentecostal radio evangelist Mother Rosa Horne. Margaret’s char- acter in the play faces great obstacles after her congregation discovers that she left her husband to fulfill the will of the Lord. Despite this condemnation, Margaret is so sure that this the right decision that in the play’s opening act she instructs a new parishioner who comes to the church for prayer for her baby to leave her husband so that her child can be healed.3 While some can read Baldwin’s account of Pastor Margaret’s plight as merely fictional, there are, on the contrary, many preachers and laity who echo her sentiments that serving the Lord must come before any physical relationship. Resting soundly in their acceptance of Paul’s edict in 1 Corinthians 7:8, they too believe it is better to remain unmarried. Tis belief has spurred a plethora of faith-based ministries that target single black Christian women to help them deal with their spiritu- ality and singleness. Tese ministries are responding to the great angst felt among those who rely on the Holy Spirit to quench their physical desires. Tus, this article investigates this tension in these ministries that promote relationships with the Holy Spirit as a panacea for single black Christian wom- en’s loneliness and sexual desire. After reviewing several key figures in black religious broadcasting, namely, Juanita Bynum, Michelle McKinney Ham- mond, and Cynthia Hale, I explore the consequences for black women who accept these messages that deny the body by highlighting only the Spirit. Bynum, especially, is theologizing out of her Pentecostal (Church of God in Christ) background, and the article nuances her dichotomy between spirit and flesh. Tus, as a womanist analyst and sexual ethicist, I recognize that “liberating Black churchwomen who live in the midst of two competing sexual realities is a moral imperative.”4
I focus on the impact of these ministries on black women because statisti- cally, black women represent the lowest proportion of all married women.5 Contrary to the numerous studies that emphasize black women’s desperate search for marriage, this article instead highlights those who are willingly transgressing the social order that demands marriage as the ultimate ideal. Perhaps responding to the deemed crisis in black America of decreased mar- riage rates, black religious broadcasters are helping to promote singleness as a
3
Ibid., 14.
4
Katie Cannon, “Sexing Black Women: Liberation from the Prisonhouse of Anatomical Authority,” in Loving the Body: Black Religious Studies and the Erotic, ed. Anthony Pinn and Dwight Hopkins (New York: Palgrave, 2004), 25.
5
US Bureau of the Census 2000, http://census.gov/prod/2005pubs/censr-25.pdf.
2
M. Moultrie / Pneuma 33 (2011) 237-253
239
closer calling to God. Tis call is not without angst, however, and there are many who, after embracing their singleness and union with the Holy Spirit, discover that their sexual desires do not abate. By focusing on female minis- ters’ narratives of sexual frustration, there is an easy correlation to the masses of single black women who are likewise married to the Holy Spirit while frus- tratingly sleeping alone.
While I am ultimately concerned with the impact of black religious broad- casting on black women’s sexuality, I agree with Jonathan Walton that blacks have been marginalized in studies of religious broadcasting, and I hope my work is able to highlight yet another understudied arena, black female televan- gelism. I find black female religious broadcasting worthy of study because just as cultural critic Tricia Rose notes in her study of black female rappers that women are “especially vulnerable to misreadings” because they are “consis- tently ignored or marginalized,” I attest that this also happens with televange- lists.6 While current studies in American religious broadcasting are seeking to include the voices of blacks, these voices are usually black men, and even cur- rent studies on singles ministries focus on the impact of white male religious leadership. Yet, for a community that is on the margins of the margin, self- identified single black women, investigating the experiences of female leaders in their movement is necessary.
Morality, Religion, and Black Women’s Sexuality
In the Protestant faith there has been no real discussion, to parallel that in Catholicism, on how to achieve consecrated singleness. Tus, female televan- gelists were able to create a niche for themselves because other than the possi- bility of becoming a nun and devoting oneself to God, multiple notions of purposeful celibacy do not abound for single black Christian women. Tis niche within faith-based ministries is very profitable because it relies on stan- dard tropes of female sexuality to maintain social order, namely, controlled female sexual expression. Tese tropes have historical significance as black women’s sexuality has been largely constrained throughout American history. Tis restraint led to policing of black female bodies and sexualities through codes of silence and public shaming. For instance, historian Darlene Clark Hine’s landmark essay “Rape and the Inner Lives of Black Women in the
6
Tricia Rose, “Never Trust a Big Butt and a Smile,” in Black Feminist Cultural Criticism, ed. Jacqueline Bobo (Malden: Blackwell Publishers, 2001), 234.
3
240
M. Moultrie / Pneuma 33 (2011) 237-253
Middle West: Preliminary Toughts on the Culture of Dissemblance” describes how black women created a “culture of dissemblance” or a politics of silence around sexual matters.7 To counter negative imagery, black women were widely encouraged to downplay their sexuality. Tis effort also was heterosex- ist in nature in that it wanted to control all avenues of sexuality that would be deemed punitive by dominant society. Yet, these silencing mechanisms were not just individualistic. For the politics of silence to be successful, individuals and institutions had to collaborate to ensure the control of black women’s sexual expressions.
Tis campaign for moral reform was reiterated through black churches, which became experts of disciplining the female body through sermons preaching that respectable behavior came through following biblical codes that prohibited premarital sex and homosexuality.8 Yet, most of this instruc- tion comes in the form of gendered restrictions based on certain Bible verses. For example, women alone bear the stigma of sexuality shown in the dysfunc- tional ethic of bringing unwed mothers before the church to be publicly chas- tised and made to repent in front of their congregations. Tis punishment is seen as a means of restoring them to right relation with the church and is scripturally referenced by the readings of James 5:16 and Galatians 6:1. Despite this emphasis on scriptural adherence male offenders are not usually sum- moned before the church. Tese means of public shaming serve to instill in black women that following bodily pleasures is not worth the risk.
Living Sexually before God
Currently, as televangelism has a larger impact on black women’s lives, this medium is now used to reinforce these stigmas around black female sexuality. Contrary to the codes of silence, now the message is vocal and ever present: black women should abstain from sexual expression. Instead, they should seek the higher good — union with God. Prophetess Juanita Bynum is the ultimate example of a female televangelist who advocated that single women embrace the Holy Spirit instead of a man. Even before her recently publicized marital abuse and scandal, Prophetess Juanita Bynum was one of the most recognized female televangelists in America. Currently, the Pastor of Te Wearhouse in
7
Darlene Clark Hine, “Rape and the Inner Lives of Black Women in the Middle West: Preliminary Toughts on the Culture of Dissemblance,” Signs 14, no. 4 (1989): 915.
8
Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: Te Women’s Movement in the Black Baptist Church, 1880-1920 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993), 201.
4
M. Moultrie / Pneuma 33 (2011) 237-253
241
Norcross, Georgia, Bynum has ministered to hundreds of thousands across the globe. Yet, her narrative begins with much more humble beginnings. In her often conflicting self-biography, Bynum describes being born in the “ghetto” and also being reared in a nice suburb neighborhood of Chicago. Te facts in Bynum’s biography are tentative at best, but most sources agree that she was born in 1959 in Chicago to Elder Tomas Bynum, Sr. and Katherine Bynum. As a family they attended St. Luke Church of God in Christ (COGIC) in Chicago. She also attended Saints High, a COGIC boarding school in Lexing- ton, MS, where it is reported that she graduated second in her class.9 Bynum started preaching as a teenager, and after graduation her ministry led her to Port Huron, Michigan, where she was told that if she submits and allows her- self to be broken, God will anoint her to become a common household name. She was encouraged to “walk in the office of prophet” because she was ordained by God to do so, and she began to minister under the name Prophetess Bynum.10
A turning point in her narrative occurred in 1981, when she got married “for sex and for what the man looked like,” but this marriage ultimately unrav- eled.11 As a result of the stress of this failed relationship, Bynum attempted suicide and was committed to a mental hospital. Her downfall escalated after her divorce was finalized, and she led a life of what she deemed sexual sin as she was sexually active with numerous men. Eventually, she met televangelist Bishop T. D. Jakes, and he invited her to attend his singles conference.12 Two years after the fateful meeting, she was chosen by Jakes to preach at the singles conference in Dallas, which was the beginning of her nationwide notoriety as she reproduced her “No More Sheets” sermon via video, books, journals, and conferences. During this sermon, which was made into a video, Bynum shocked her audience by discussing her struggles being single and yet sexual. One of the most noteworthy moments in the sermon involved her tying sev- eral bed sheets around her body to symbolize the baggage from past men that women carry with them. Before she could begin to remove the sheets, and metaphorically the men they represent from her life, she had to remove the ties these men had on her. Yes, she acknowledged, sex is pleasurable, but look at its consequences. Te only way free from the sheets is by having a covenantal relationship with God.
9
Valerie Lowe, “A Fiery New Army of African American Women Storms America’s Pulpits,” Ministries Today, July/August 1999. http://spiritledwoman.com/wim/mt7991.html.
10
Ibid. It is important to note the significance of naming for female COGIC ministers, since there is a historic distinction in titles given to men and women in the tradition.
11
Michelle Buford, “Carnal Knowledge,” Essence (May 2001): 185.
12
Ibid.
5
242
M. Moultrie / Pneuma 33 (2011) 237-253
Tus, Prophetess Bynum’s interest in black Christian women’s sexuality stems from her own personal history. She had to let go of other relationships so that she could be in “right relation” with God. Tis even included her mar- riages, which she admits were outside of God’s will.13 Her resulting chaos was simply the result of living her life outside of God’s protection, and her redemp- tion would only come by repenting and restoring herself as a single servant of Christ. Just as James Baldwin’s character Margaret says that the Lord made her leave husband because the Scriptures command that there be no one ahead of Christ, Bynum reiterates this notion that our true relationship must be with the Lord.
Tere are additional reiterations of this idea among female Pentecostal reli- gious broadcasters. For instance, two such foremothers of Bynum are fellow Chicagoan Overseer Lucy Smith and Mother Rosa Horn. Both women were religious entrepreneurs, pastoring Pentecostal churches while maintaining vast radio broadcasting ministries. Smith and Horn both were married to men whose presence was inconsequential to their religious lives. While their deci- sions to portray themselves as unmarried (or at the very least having absent husbands) served many purposes, I concur with Wallace Best’s assertion that their perceived singleness helped deflect attention away from their sexuality and their bodies while simultaneously emphasizing their devotion to God.14 Tis is a recurring notion in Pentecostal televangelism circles. For instance, pioneer televangelist Kathryn Kuhlman believed that she was reprimanded by losing her congregation when she got married. In her biography, she states that she and the Holy Spirit made each other promises that demanded that she divorce her husband, evangelist Burroughs Waltrip, and surrender herself fully to the Lord. By divorcing their husbands, Bynum and her foremothers were able to testify that they chose the Spirit world over the flesh. However, Bynum does not tell the audience that this decision will be an easy one. On the con- trary, in her sermon she candidly admits that “some people think you can not be anointed and still have a desire to sleep with someone. . . . Every single day of my life, I struggle to crucify my flesh.”15
13
Juanita Bynum, No More Sheets: Te Truth About Sex (Lanham, MD: Pneuma Life, 1998), 46.
14
See God’s Generals, “Kathryn Kuhlman,” http://godsgenerals.com/person_k_kuhlman .htm, and Deborah Vansau McCauley, “Kathryn Kuhlman,” in Twentieth-Century Shapers of American Popular Religion, ed. Charles Lippy (New York: Greenwood Press, 1989), 227. Also see Wallace D. Best, Passionately Human, No Less Divine: Religion and Culture in Black Chicago, 1915-1952 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005), 160.
15
Bynum, No More Sheets: Te Truth About Sex, 39.
6
M. Moultrie / Pneuma 33 (2011) 237-253
243
Tis language of crucifying flesh is abundant in the sermons and materials of female televangelists because the decision to be one with Christ simultane- ously requires that one speak against the body and its dangers. For instance, in the case of Bynum’s desire to “kill the flesh,” there is also a desire to ignore her body.16 In the video Bynum purposely dresses in modest clothing to disguise her feminine form. She wears a suit that does not draw attention to the curves of her breasts, hips, or behind. At first glance, Bynum’s ascetic appearance is a direct parallel to her foremothers in COGIC, when women were expected to be fully covered, shun makeup, and be plainly attired. Te Holy Spirit was thought to dwell only in pure vessels, so only those who were appropriately adorned could receive spiritual power.17 For those seeking a sanctified body, modest clothing was a means of representation. Clothing stood for something much larger than acceptance in white society — it served as code in a master language of participation in the COGIC community. Tus, Bynum’s appear- ance signal a sanctified body, one capable of housing the Holy Spirit and one subordinate to God’s will. Yet, her refusal to accentuate this body does not remove it from sight. She aspires for an absent body, but instead she settles for spiritual encouragement to overcome her bodily desires.
Historian Wallace Best notes that black women preachers are sites of cul- tural and sexual inscription, which is clearly true in Bynum’s case as she is imprinted by Pentecostalism, race, femininity, and sexual discourses.18 Upon further investigation, one sees that Bynum has a “holy” body that she does not know what to do with. In general, as a black female body, she is a descendant of women denigrated for their ebony form. Yet, specifically, her body is the site for pain. Her body bears the scars of sexual and emotional pain. Her testimony ends in retrieving her misused, sexualized body; thus, even as she preaches to redeem it, she remains tied to the wounds inflicted to it. Tis is to be expected because, as womanist scholar Linda Tomas argues, what the mind forgets, the body remembers.19 I assert that her uneasiness with her black
16
No More Sheets, DVD.
17
Anthea D. Butler, Women in the Church of God in Christ: Making a Sanctified World (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2007), 81. It is significant that modest clothing as sig- nifier underwent a cultural shift, causing COGIC women to be viewed as more fashionable as they straightened their hair and wore clothing that called attention to their curves. Bynum undergoes a similar cultural shift in her ministry as she notes that she had to dress modestly until her spirit could be trusted not to fail God. See “Uncommon Beauty: A Mazza Exclusive” by J. C. Christian, Mazza International Hair Book 7 (2005): 30.
18
Best, Passionately Human, No Less Divine, 151.
19
Linda Tomas, “What the Mind Forgets the Body Remembers: HIV/AIDS in South
7
244
M. Moultrie / Pneuma 33 (2011) 237-253
female form is the basis for her sermon’s biblical and sexual interpretation. Tis uneasiness with black female sexuality is also what makes these types of faith-based ministries so successful. Black women who face the legacy of deni- grated black female forms are prime audiences for preaching that makes them worthy brides of Christ. As Jonathan Walton notes, these messages and mes- sengers are attractive to black women who can remove the sting of societal constructs such as “bitch,” “ho,” or even “single parent” for new labels such as “anointed woman of God” and “God’s leading lady.”20 Tose choosing to forego the pains felt in their bodies are happy to embrace the joys present in the spirit. Tis required that they “live holy,” which, in their framing, required denial of bodily needs.
Teir desire to “live holy” required them to be “in the world, and not of it,” so they were to forsake such worldly relationships as marriage. Tis doctrine was best achieved through sanctification of the black female body. A sanctified body is both a representational and signifying practice. A sanctified black female body signified morality and acceptance by white society, but it was also representative of the move from an evil, sinful nature to a holy, spiritual nature. While Bynum’s ministry did not advocate ignoring things that happen to the body (which she surely is in tune with, given her recent experience of domestic abuse), she does preach that the flesh is weak and a hindrance to following spiritual commands. For those pursuing Bynum’s call of consecrated single- ness, they are advised that the “spirit is superior to the body” and the only way to avoid falling in sheets again is to deny the body and flee from temptation.21
Tis is a definite influence from Bynum’s Pentecostal background. As “Mrs. Williams,” the pastor of a small Pentecostal storefront church called the Royal Prayer Band, remarked in the late 1930s, those who follow the spirit are “devoted to God in such a way that ‘they don’t have time to think about sex and the things of this world.’ ”22 As a neo-Pentecostal minister, Bynum modi- fied this belief by noting that she often thought of sex, but God kept her body
Africa — A Teological and Anthropological Issue,” Currents in Teology and Mission 35, no. 4 (2008): 276-86.
20
Jonathan Walton, “ ‘TV Profits’: Te Electronic Church Phenomenon and Its Impact on Intellectual Activity within African American Religious Practices,” in Creating Ourselves: African Americans and Hispanic Americans on Popular Culture and Religious Expression, ed. Anthony Pinn and Benjamin Valentín (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2009), 232.
21
Lee Butler, “Te Spirit is Willing and the Flesh is Too: Living Whole and Hole Lives Trough Integrating Spirituality and Sexuality,” in Loving the Body, ed. Anthony Pinn and Dwight Hopkins (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), 114.
22
Mrs. Williams is quoted in Best, Passionately Human, No Less Divine, 156.
8
M. Moultrie / Pneuma 33 (2011) 237-253
245
from sinning. Bynum preached that bodies were not to be focused on pleasure in this world (although they do seek to avoid pain); instead, holy bodies are always focused on doing the will of God.
Yet, this is daunting work, a truth that Bynum does not camouflage. Bynum’s language is also peppered with sexualized verbs, a mechanism that diffuses the tensions around her arising from a discussion of the pleasures of sex in a religious setting. For instance, she begins the sermon by “mounting” the platform so that God can use her to bless others. She then questions why God would “do” her like that, referring to exposing her sexual nakedness before such a vast audience. She concludes that the audience is to treat God as their man, and they should not go home to this man dirty. In her attempt to be “real” with the women gathered, her language instills in them the necessity of becoming sexually aware.
Tis awareness sets the scene for her discussion about the pleasures of sex and how she longs for sexual intimacy even though she is single. Since she is preaching at a Christian singles conference, however, good, pleasurable sex has to have its consequences. Yet, her framework for understanding sexuality is spiritualized so that earthly pleasure cannot compete with the joy found in walking in God’s will.
Perhaps this is what is most ironic about these faith-based ministries. Although they are completely advocating spiritual relationships with God, their admonishment that bodily pleasures are a trap from Satan lose some of its effectiveness, given how torn and lonely the messengers appear. As Bynum expounds on the trials of walking in the path of self-denial, she states:
some people think that because I am Prophetess Juanita Bynum, the Lord has taken away my physical desires. Let me inform those people that they are wrong! You haven’t heard enough people tell the truth. Everyone wants to sugarcoat it and say “Bless God, the Lord is keeping me.” Well, maybe He is, but sometimes He is keeping me in spite of my own feelings.23
Her honesty reveals great angst about the path of physical denial. In fact, even as she tells the audience not to marry for sheets because they should not marry just to have sex, she admits how desirable it is to be in a physical relationship with someone. Her ironical revelation of “Hold On” is tempered by her admission that she is tired of being preached to by those who “indulge in back-rubs from their mate, [because] they can’t fathom my longing to be
23
Bynum, No More Sheets, 38.
9
246
M. Moultrie / Pneuma 33 (2011) 237-253
touched.”24 Perhaps this explains why Bynum found herself in another mar- riage after preaching to millions about of the joys of being single. Te physical pleasure found in sexual relationships is a tantalizing opponent.
Bynum’s advice to the masses and to herself is that if after committing your- self to Christ, you lapse back into fulfilling physical desires, you merely have to rededicate your life to prayer and God. Instead of castigation and public shame, Bynum preaches that one must seek a covenant with God beyond any other. Tis is a goal to be pursued at all costs; God must set them free! At the close of the sermon, Bynum has the audience make a covenant with the Holy Spirit that there will be No More Sheets. As a result of their perceived solidar- ity with Bynum, black women are able to share in her solution as they take this message to others. Tey can go from being ashamed and ignored singles to being empowered and committed singles. Although all Bynum offers them are steps to celibacy, as a group they go from being passion-filled and pious to being saved, single, and satisfied. Tis is part of the appeal for followers of Bynum because she preaches that if you’ve been a virgin, she’s been there, if you’ve been divorced, she’s been there, if you have fallen into sheets unlawfully, she’s done that too.25 She reiterates to the crowd that she has been where they all are. Her advice was packaged for an audience that she seems to know inti- mately. I have described Bynum’s effectiveness in great detail because she becomes the prototype for other faith-based sexuality ministries.
Faith-Based Singles Ministries
Yet, Bynum’s successors are not from traditions with the same level of strict- ness for sanctified bodies and spirits. Tere is a plethora of faith-based singles ministries abounding, including Christian televangelists, Christian women’s and singles conferences, and Christian media: for example, videos, audio, and live streaming via the Internet. Black women can go to conferences, seminars, and church services specifically tailored to address their needs as singles. Tese messages transmit well through televangelistic mediums because the words and images are literal texts that possess a dominant reading encoded by the preacher. While this meaning speaks to marginalized Christian singles, it is widely effective because the black female preaching to them seemingly shares their struggle. As cultural theorists note, the television (or computer screen) is
24
Ibid.
25
No More Sheets, DVD.
10
M. Moultrie / Pneuma 33 (2011) 237-253
247
not a neutral medium because it allows the televangelist to be the “mediator of not only the message, but the relationship with God”; thus, those viewing these media feel connected with the power of the image and multiplicity of ways the message is distributed.26 Tis connection is amplified when church leaders begin emulating the styles and messages of televangelists.
Tis has led to an explosion in faith-based singles ministries, which are a lucrative, multi-million dollar industry, and their messages are not restricted by their denominations or by doctrine, as these ministries multiply based on their use of Scripture and a charismatic televangelist. While Bynum relies heavily on Pentecostal worship in her message, evidenced through her speak- ing in tongues, running in the Spirit, and her use of Satan as trope for going astray, those who entered the market after Bynum have expanded it and made it accessible to more than single black evangelical women.
A key example of a leading black female voice in the faith-based singles movement is Michelle McKinney Hammond, author, relationship expert, and life coach. She provides evidence that the singles ministry has expanded beyond its stronghold in evangelical and Pentecostal communities because she was reared Episcopalian and currently attends the nondenominational, multiracial Park Community Church in Chicago. As a woman of West Indian and Gha- naian descent, she does not share the same cultural heritage as Bynum, and her singles ministry is purposely interfaith and multiethnic as opposed to focusing primarily on black single Christian women. Part of her crossover success comes from her “God-given assignment” to help women “live purposefully and to live life as if she will never get married” so that their lives are not on hold for a man.27 She has sold over a million copies of her books with such titles as Sassy, Single, and Satisfied and What to Do until Love Finds You .
Unlike Bynum, McKinney Hammond does not focus exclusively on sexual- ity; instead she expands the market encouraging black women to focus on career advancement, personal well-being, and, of course, a closer connection to God. She teaches that completion is not found in relationships with men, it is only found with God. However, her messages usually reiterate that women should be subservient, because they are biologically built to receive from men and to be pursued by men after they have realized their ultimate relationship with God. She offers a model of a “purpose-driven life” for singles that focuses entirely on occupying your time with things of God. Tis push toward
26
Quentin Schultze, Televangelism and American Culture: Te Business of Popular Religion (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1991), 79.
27
Ibid., 106.
11
248
M. Moultrie / Pneuma 33 (2011) 237-253
intimacy with God does not offer solutions for those who are finding their purpose, living piously, but are still full of sexual passions.
In the current Christian singles discourse, this tension is amplified as singles abstain until marriage or just repress their sexual desire. For instance, the film Soul Mate is a 2006 documentary on single black Christian women. Black female film maker Andrea Wiley sees the film as a message of encouragement for single women who are waiting to become wives. Te film focuses on several successful black women who are beautiful, powerful, and without husbands. In fact, one of the women featured is Michelle McKinney Hammond, who posits that women realize that men will put them into the “friendship, freak, or forever file” within two dates.28 She discourages extensive dating because she believes that if women date too long they run the risk of having sex. Many of the women interviewed said that they were just “trying to be holy” and were not going to have sex because the Holy Spirit helps them to abstain.
Within this documentary that is centered on singleness as a crisis for black women, there is a celebration of those who live a celibate life for Christ. Rev. Dr. Cynthia Hale states that being single and satisfied is a process. At the time of the film, she was fifty-two, had never been married, and had been celibate for eighteen years. She exuded a peace about the decision to remain single because she believes that her celibacy is serving a spiritual purpose. When she is physically tempted she remembers that she does not want to have sex because she “would lose her anointing and her relationship with God,” and she “needs her power to do what God has called her to do.”29 As senior pastor of a grow- ing Disciples of Christ megachurch in Decatur, Georgia, her dedication to her call is seen as overriding her physical needs.
Celibacy is chosen for the women interviewed in the Soul Mate film because it represented a means of accessing their inner power, walking more closely with God, and allowing themselves to heal from past sexual encounters that were not nurturing and fulfilling. Tese women are engaging in a purposeful celibate lifestyle which should be the effect of these ministries.30 Yet, given the sheer numbers of conferences, seminars, books, and services targeting single black Christian women, there must be critical reflection because the impact of this culture industry is far-reaching. Unfortunately, most of these ministries
28
Soul Mate, DVD, produced by Andrea Wiley (Los Angeles, CA: Clean Heart Productions, 2006).
29
Ibid.
30
Although I remain highly skeptical of celibacy models that bifurcate sexual and spiritual identities, there remains a need for a nuanced theological discussion of purposeful celibate lifestyles.
12
M. Moultrie / Pneuma 33 (2011) 237-253
249
share a conservative ideology that is castigating for those who fall short of its goals. Tey teach that one must deny the body to get the spirit right and that all attempts to fulfill bodily desires are a step away from God. Additionally, these ministries do not advocate a celebration of sexuality. Instead, they focus on telling women what they can and cannot do.31 Perhaps in some cruel irony, despite their dismal messages, hundreds of thousands of women are flocking to these ministries and their leaders.
Teological Implications
Te throngs of women flocking to such ministries are a grave concern because of the physical ramifications to the bodies and spirits of black women. One of the major theological and ethical implications of women choosing to live solely for the Holy Spirit is that they experience a division of their spirituality and sexuality. Lee Butler warns that such a decision has dire consequences because the “bifurcation of our being does not simply result in the fracturing of our individual selves, it ultimately results in the destruction of our lives as relational beings.”32 Tis loss in relationality has individual as well as commu- nal consequences. For instance, this overspiritualization of black women’s lives can result in black women choosing to stay in circumstances that are oppres- sive to their physical bodies and psyches. Tis tangible result is evidenced in women who participate in ministries and churches whose conservative ideol- ogy negates their ability to be treated as full citizens in these communities. Womanist theologian Kelly Brown Douglas describes this phenomenon as a “platonized sexual ethic” in which persons do not experience sexuality as an expression of an intimate, loving bodily relationship.33 Instead, they acquiesce to restrictions on their capacity to be fully human because the goal is heavenly, not earthly.
Another theological underpinning of having women focus completely on their spiritual selves and their union with Christ is that they form an unhealthy expectation of their relationship with Christ. Vanessa, a forty-two-year-old
31
Popular book titles and conferences for black women are Put on Your Crown: Te Black Woman’s Guide to Living Single . . . (And Christian), Single, Saved, and Having Sex?, Inside of Me: Lessons of Lust, Love, and Redemption, and Te Best Sex of My Life: A Guide to Purity.
32
Butler, “Te Spirit is Willing and the Flesh is Too,” 114.
33
Kelly Brown Douglas, “Heterosexism and the Black American Church Community,” in Heterosexism in Contemporary Religion: Problem and Prospect, ed. Marvin M. Ellison and Judith Plaskow (Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 2007), 194.
13
250
M. Moultrie / Pneuma 33 (2011) 237-253
woman from the documentary Soul Mate, celebrates that it has been “just me and God literally” since 1996.34 She sees her union with Christ as more impor- tant than any physical relationships she could form. Her model of manhood is God, and if a man does not live up to the attributes of God she does not deem them worthy of her body. Of course, no man will meet these expectations, but neither is it healthy for her to make Jesus her man. Another woman in the documentary named Valerie reported that when she decided after seven years of celibacy to be intimate with a man, God stepped in and spoke to the man telling him not to touch her. She feels God kept her from having sex because she belonged to God. Tis understanding of belonging to God usually pres- ents a patriarchal, heterosexist understanding of God because relationships with God are always framed in heterosexual language.
Te sexual pairing of these women and God is a reiteration of hetero- normativity and reflects what theorist Adrienne Rich deems as compulsory heterosexuality in which heterosexuality is “imposed, managed, organized, propagandized” and maintained by society so that those in heterosexual rela- tionships are deemed to be normal and granted benefits and acceptance in society.35 Tose engaging in heterosexual relationships are considered moral and in good relationship with God, which demonizes those of differing orien- tations and even those heterosexually active singles.
Tus, in Bynum’s suggestion that women treat God as their man, the expec- tations of this relationship reiterate heteronormative relationality. She expects women to be submissive, sexually pure, and always available to God. Tese tropes are reinforced by those who seek to marry the Holy Spirit because they place all of their desire for love, intimacy, and pleasure in the Spirit realm. God “rocks them in the middle of the night” and in return they sing sacred love songs to God. Tese views of God as an intimate or even jealous lover do not serve the emotional, physical, or spiritual needs of these women because it models an unhealthy sexuality in both the spiritual and physical realms. In fact, womanist ethicist Katie Cannon purports that instead of this dynamic womanist scholars must “make available to the contemporary church com- munity counter-hegemonic strategies that debunk and unmask normalizing
34
Soul Mate, DVD.
35
Adrienne Rich, “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence,” Signs 5, no. 4 (Summer 1980): 648.
14
M. Moultrie / Pneuma 33 (2011) 237-253
251
structures of compulsive heterosexual acceptability.”36 Tese structures repre- sent a sexual hierarchy that grants God’s grace and capitalistic resources (such as economic benefits) to those in sanctioned relationships, but this hierarchy is based on denying bodily desires and privileges those who abstain from sex- ual expression. Ultimately this model does not promote wholeness or help women negotiate the boundaries of intimacy and spirituality. Tus, strategies seeking to dismantle the body/spirit hierarchy presented by these televange- lists are needed so that this ideology can be replaced with notions of a justice- centered sexual ethic that functions for Christian singles.
Communal Consequences
Christian ethicist Marvin Ellison formulates a justice-centered sexual ethic by recognizing that the goal is not to “control or inhibit sexual desire, bur rather to empower people to live more freely in their bodies . . . and to help them make more life-giving decisions about giving and receiving intimate touch.”37 Tis approach demands that religious scholars examine the theological impli- cations of these faith-based sexuality ministries and offer mediations for the numerous consequences of such conservative beliefs. An investigation of the implications of such ministries on black women’s sexual decision-making reveals an unhealthy model of lies and deception as women who “fall in the sheets again” are ashamed to admit or accept responsibility for their physical relationships. Tis is especially the case for senior women whose status might be questioned if it were known that they were engaging in sexual activity after being widowed or divorced. Tey are expected to remain celibate even after experiencing the passions of sex. Rather than oppose these restrictions on their sexuality, some women accept the traditional repressive doctrine provided by faith-based singles ministries while simultaneously engaging in sexual relations.38
36
Cannon, “Sexing Black Women,” 17.
37
Marvin M. Ellison, “Beyond Same-Sex Marriage: Continuing the Reformation of Protes- tant Christianity,” in Heterosexism in Contemporary Religion: Problem and Prospect, ed. Marvin M. Ellison and Judith Plaskow (Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 2007), 63.
38
Womanist ethicist Emilie M. Townes describes this as a time when “we are sexually repressed while at the same time being sexually active, [which] is a dangerous combination.” Emilie Maureen Townes, In a Blaze of Glory: Womanist Spirituality as Social Witness (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), 80.
15
252
M. Moultrie / Pneuma 33 (2011) 237-253
While arguably most televangelists do not think that they are pushing women to make unhealthy decisions, the denigration of women who admit responding to their sexual urges has consequences. Leading this type of bifurcated life causes psychic trauma and women who engage in sex outside of the ideal unions may participate in unhealthy relationships where their attempts to hide their relationships lead them not to protect themselves. For instance, in black psychologist and sex therapist Gail Wyatt’s study of black women and sexuality, her data revealed that these women “viewed the conse- quences of sex as separate from the sexual act itself. ”39 Tis led them to not insist on protected sex and not request monogamy because they felt that they were actively choosing to sin and deserving of whatever resulted. Tese conse- quences are discussed more frequently when it comes to punitive actions toward black gays and lesbians as they are often encouraged not to value them- selves because they are going to hell anyway, so that many are led not to care about themselves or other people.40 Tis connection of low self-esteem and unsafe sexual practices should be a warning sign to models that promote only celibacy and union with God. Given the increased rate of HIV infection for black women, ignoring physical consequences to the body has damaging phys- ical results for the black community.
Tis is especially the case for women who try and fail, as Bynum and others in the Christian singles advice ministry admit. Teir attempts to walk with the Lord and avoid sexual sin often result in a deep-seated frustration at the lone- liness they feel. Choosing Jesus over physical companionship may be spiritu- ally satisfying, but for some it is emotionally frustrating. Women in the documentary Soul Mate expressed their devastating loneliness based on their chosen decision because the façade of happiness in Jesus only comforts for so long before longing for physical companionship creeps back in. Tus, I agree with Lee Butler that we are “in need of healing to reunite spirituality and sexuality in order to restore our humanity, in order to be resurrected as spirit- filled, embodied beings created in the image and likeness of God.”41 For black women, this reunion means facing tough realities as they must admit that despite their spiritual commitments they have sexual urges that must be dealt
39
Gail Elizabeth Wyatt, Stolen Women: Reclaiming Our Sexuality, Taking Back Our Lives (New York: J. Wiley, 1997), 175.
40
Monica A. Coleman, Making a Way out of No Way: Womanist Teology, Innovations: African American Religious Tought (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2008), 156.
41
Butler, “Te Spirit is Willing and the Flesh is Too,” 118.
16
M. Moultrie / Pneuma 33 (2011) 237-253
253
with and not avoided. Rather than just fleeing from them, they must find a useful means of dealing with their sexual energy. Only then will they be able to experience the “full measure of God’s intimate presence” by wholly loving their spiritual and sexual selves.42
42
Kelly Brown Douglas, Sexuality and the Black Church: A Womanist Perspective (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1999), 143.
17
Leave a Reply