# I pit the First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs, MS for not allowing a black couple to marry there **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 28, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688 "2012-07-28T16:24:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/21 "2012-07-28T22:51:02Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Does that church have a separate(but equal) baptismal font? Of course not. There’s a Separate But Equal church down the road. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/22 "2012-07-28T23:06:35Z")
Maybe they misunderstood and thought a “black wedding” was like a “black mass”? ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/23 "2012-07-28T23:18:28Z")
If I ever go missing, you can all tell the FBI not to bother looking in MS. I am seriously afraid of that place. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/24 "2012-07-28T23:20:58Z")
Which is just where “they” will take you. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/25 "2012-07-28T23:25:19Z")
A lot of intelligent people are from Mississippi. “From” being the operative word. ---
**Author:** ![baronsabato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@baronsabato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baronsabato)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/26 "2012-07-29T03:44:09Z")
There must be something more to this story, or maybe I’m just underestimating the extant of racism in the Deep South. > [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > How are Protestant churches usually ran? (As an atheist raised Catholic I don’t know much about the logistics.) Are votes on issues like firing or hiring the pastor usually a full congregation vote, or do a council of deacons or something get to make those decisions for the congregation as a whole? That might explain how a small minority of the congregation could halt the wedding…if that small minority of the overall congregation was actually all the deacons or something. Baptist churches operate on a congregational polity, which means that each congregation is autonomous and decides on its own matters of belief, practice, etc. Most (but not all) have a church council that generally makes decisions on behalf of the congregation unless it’s a major change or something, which then usually requires a congregational vote. While some Baptist congregations have a very prominent role for the pastor, others don’t give the pastor any more say than anyone else, and as far as some (but not all) Baptist churches go, often have no “official” say at all (i.e., no vote). This depends though on the congregation, and obviously, I have no idea how the First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs operates. That being said, I agree that the pastor sounded like a compromising wuss. Even if he lost his job over this (which I really doubt would’ve happened) he should’ve taken a stand. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/27 "2012-07-29T05:43:10Z")
> [@baronsabato](#): > > There must be something more to this story, or maybe I’m just underestimating the extant of racism in the Deep South. Probably the latter. [Example:](http://racerelations.about.com/b/2011/04/10/new-poll-finds-mississippi-republicans-oppose-interracial-marriage.htm) > [@](#): > > That’s because results from a Public Policy Polling survey conducted in late March reveal that 46 percent of Mississippi Republicans not only oppose interracial marriage but believe it should be legally banned. So, how many Mississippi Republicans actually think that interracial marriage should be legal? Shockingly, just 40 percent. That’s right. In the year 2011, more Mississippi Republicans support a ban on interracial marriage than support the legality of it. ---
**Author:** ![virtual\_Pebble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@virtual\_Pebble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/virtual_Pebble)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/28 "2012-07-29T05:44:31Z")
My experience with churches in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), of which First Baptist of Crystal Springs is one, is that the “church council” is a Board of Deacons. Whether they exercise power over the preacher/pastor or are a rubber stamp for the preacher seems to depend on the personalities involved. This particular church sounds like it has a Board which tells the preacher what’s what. A fair number of SBC churches were segregationist and racist - that’s the historical root of the SBC, which broke with other North American Baptist denominations over abolition in the 1850s. The SBC has subsequently changed it’s stance on that matter, no longer being officially segregationist, but the convention doesn’t tell the individual churches what to do, so there are still some congregations out there that engage in racism, Jim Crow, etc etc. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/29 "2012-07-29T08:08:33Z")
😕 Where is this coming from? I know there’s still a lot of prejudice in the South against interracial marriage, but this **isn’t** one! ---
**Author:** ![Blkshp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blkshp/32/7135_2.png) [@Blkshp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blkshp)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/30 "2012-07-29T21:12:37Z")
> [@baronsabato](#): > > Even if he lost his job over this (which I really doubt would’ve happened) he should’ve taken a stand. How does a guy with a supposed conscience not quit in that circumstance? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/31 "2012-07-29T21:23:51Z")
I don’t get this at all. This isn’t about interracial marriage. These were two black people getting married. Do some racists believe that blacks shouldn’t be married? Or just not in “their” church? Either way, the pastor should be fired for not standing up to the assholes in his congregation. He is no leader at all. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/32 "2012-07-29T21:27:23Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I don’t get this at all. This isn’t about interracial marriage. These were two black people getting married. Do some racists believe that blacks shouldn’t be married? Or just not in “their” church? I think its just an attempt to make black people feel unwelcome at the Church in general. A couple that gets married in a church might want to formally join. And their guests might decide the like the place and start coming to services. And if they like the services they might join to. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/33 "2012-07-29T21:30:42Z")
And you know what happens then. They find Jebus, get saved and go to Heaven, where they promptly set out lowering the property values and shit. Can’t have colored folk in Heaven, uh-uh! Just wouldn’t be right. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/34 "2012-07-29T21:47:52Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I think its just an attempt to make black people feel unwelcome at the Church in general. A couple that gets married in a church might want to formally join. And their guests might decide the like the place and start coming to services. And if they like the services they might join to. And it’s the pastor’s job to instruct these people that the mission of the church is to bring people to Christ. It doesn’t matter what color they are. Jesus came to save the Gentiles as well as the Jews, etc. The pastor failed. He is unsuited for leadership. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/35 "2012-07-29T21:51:58Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > And you know what happens then. They find Jebus, get saved and go to Heaven, where they promptly set out lowering the property values and shit. Can’t have colored folk in Heaven, uh-uh! Just wouldn’t be right. Well, there aren’t any in the Pearly Gated Community. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/36 "2012-07-29T21:56:30Z")
Jesus: “I am so not fucking coming back.” ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/37 "2012-07-29T22:21:14Z")
Looks like we got some fucking time travelers in Mississippi cause these people must have been from the 1850’s ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/38 "2012-07-29T22:51:45Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I think its just an attempt to make black people feel unwelcome at the Church in general. A couple that gets married in a church might want to formally join. And their guests might decide the like the place and start coming to services. And if they like the services they might join to. This, I guess, is the most likely explanation assuming the facts as (now widely) reported are true. And if so, it’s all over the national news, and I think it’s be fitting and funny if someone made a well-placed tweet and a black tidal wave of new parishioners decided to show up for the next service, dressed to the nines and ready to shout “AMEN!” Sort of a Streisand effect for racists. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/39 "2012-07-29T23:01:27Z")
I hate being the one to do this… I guess they just thought… it would be a nice day for a White Wedding! I lied. I loved doing that! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688/40 "2012-07-29T23:01:43Z")
Hmm, sneaky and underhanded for a good cause! I like it! But I see a stumbling block or two… IIRC, the article cited said that the happy couple were not members of the Baptist Church in question, but attended the church freely. So, what rules are in place about “membership”? And if there is an exploitable loophole there, wouldn’t it be the “members” in good standing who can vote to change their bi-laws? Its likely that there are members in this church who don’t want to worship side by side with black people. May the sweet Baby Jesus shut their mouths and open their hearts, amen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-first-baptist-church-of-crystal-springs-ms-for-not-allowing-a-black-couple-to-marry-there/629688.md?page=3)