Shahrin Islam-fg0159

Event Date: October 25, 2016

Submission Date: October 27, 2016
Sociology

Race-Sermons-Policy Attitudes
Professor Kahri Browns research was conducted based on surveys. Professor brown
wanted to analysis the relationship among different races, and their political views. Questions
that he analyzed were: what was the relationship of their political views in respect to their
worship settings? How did sermons at the different settings impact individuals decision?
Professor Browns interest came through his own biography. He experienced sermons on race,
poverty and other civil topics while growing up. The main aim in his research was based off of
moral Mondays. Moral Mondays speaks to the potential of clergy to inspire a communication
ethic among congregates and others. The principal aim for this research was to assess the degree
to which hearing political sermons associates with support for polices aimed at reducing racial
inequality, poverty, military aggression, and death penalty.
Through Browns findings, he analyzed that religion provides an interpretive frame that
helps people make sense of their experiences. In sermons clergy often reference common stories
to help better the community and help congregants better understand their joys and sorrows and
obligations to others. Clergy that discuss political issues in worship settings tend to take
challenge policies that perpetuate social inequality and human suffering. In the 20th and 21st
century, religious groups have been at forefront of social reform movements such as civil rights,
anti-war, immigrant rights, and criminal justice reform. Brown also discovered that blacks are
more likely to hear sermons than any other race in topics including political activism, race,
poverty, war, criminal justice, and immigration. However, Hispanics are more likely concerned
about immigration. On the contrary, Whites hear political sermons and are more progressive on
the sermons, topics include: Race, Foreign Policy, Social Welfare, and Immigration.
1. Information used based on Professors Browns presentation and
surveys.

Shahrin Islam-fg0159
Event Date: October 25, 2016
Submission Date: October 27, 2016
Sociology
Through his research, he realized that political sermons must be random and not biased.
The dependent variables were the outcome and results. Also the different races, political views,
immigration views, and death penalty were taken in account for the dependent variables. The
independent variable in the research were the two types of sermons. In terms of the relationship
between sermons and political views, whites had a stronger correlation than blacks and blacks
had a stronger correlation than Hispanics. Browns main findings included whites politicized
worship settings may provide space for progressive minded people to question what they have
been led to believe on the topic of America being a foundation of exceptionalism and the way in
which they privilege from it.
In conclusion, using multiple surveys, assess reliability of the association between
exposure to political sermons ad policy positions of blacks, whites and Hispanics was the goal.
Contribution of this research were that the findings were well established. Drawbacks of the
research include the sermon content being unknown and unclear of the position that that clergy
take on policy issues. Likewise, unclear how clergy appeal to political sensibility of congregants.
In the future Brown wants to look further into the influence of media and how this effects the
research. Lastly, he wants to research how qualitative research on why people attend political
worship setting and what is is about these worship spaces that reinforces and challenges the idea
of social justice

1. Information used based on Professors Browns presentation and

surveys.