# Does Christian Doctrine support Exclusionary practices? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 11, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-christian-doctrine-support-exclusionary-practices/650001 "2013-02-11T18:46:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-christian-doctrine-support-exclusionary-practices/650001/21 "2013-02-12T20:02:59Z")
As a non-Christian with life-long experience in a Southern Baptist region, I would say that the answer to this question is heavily denomination-based, and possibly regional. Discussing religion and social mores on the internets was a revelation to me (no pun intended ;)), in as much as I quickly learned that what I had grown up with as standard Christian practice is not, in fact, universal to all denominations and regions. IME, yes, Southern Baptists _preach_ that we are all sinners, but in reality, some sinners are more sinful than others. The SB church frowns on divorce, extramarital affairs, fornication, and so forth - but don’t generally shun those who participate, even when in an ongoing situation. However, some sins are near-unforgivable and will result in shunning. Homosexuality is one of those, unless the gay person is willing to commit whatever symbolic self-flagellation is deemed appropriate to show their repentance. This is changing, but very, very, very slowly. Obviously YMMV, but if you are dealing with an SB congregation, I doubt that you’re imagining the double-standard. It’s certainly not a standard Christian doctrine, as many other denominations handle things differently. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-christian-doctrine-support-exclusionary-practices/650001.md?page=1)