# Kentucky church bans interracial couple **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 1, 2011, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671 "2011-12-01T04:39:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![spotthegerbil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@spotthegerbil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spotthegerbil)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/61 "2011-12-02T10:10:00Z")
Has anyone mentioned that most of the folk in the Bible may not have originated in Kentucky, and may not have been as white as suggested in most classical church art? Or that Moses married the daughter of a Midian shepherd? Idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/62 "2011-12-02T13:54:44Z")
Not that **mac\_i\_hate\_caps\_bolan** isn’t being his usual douchey self, but he kind of makes a point. If shit like this doesn’t present a big fat, “what the hell are we doing associating with these assholes,” flag for the couple then I don’t know what will. If I were them, I’d say, “Okie-doke and fuck you. Have fun stuck in the middle ages,” and off I’d go to where normal people operate. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/63 "2011-12-02T15:22:54Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Not that **mac\_i\_hate\_caps\_bolan** isn’t being his usual douchey self, but he kind of makes a point. If shit like this doesn’t present a big fat, “what the hell are we doing associating with these assholes,” flag for the couple then I don’t know what will. It’s a shitty point. You’ve never just dealt with assholes because your husband/wife/lover/etc asked you to? Aren’t many Thanksgiving dinners exactly that, except on a less douchey scale? Her family is associated with the church. She’s known many of the people for years, and you’re asking her to simply drop years of personal connections at the drop of a (admittedly large) hat. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/64 "2011-12-02T15:36:40Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > a none-issue. the couple feels bad because they can’t get married in the church of their choosing? It is not just that they won’t _marry_ them, the couple went to a church service and he sang a hymn with her accompaning on the piano and the congregation’s reaction was to ban all mixed-race couples from attending service or particiapting in church events (excpet funerals, where presuably one the them has the good grace to be dead). The ones I pit most are the members who sat out the vote. If you are going to be racist scum, at least be brave enough to own it. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/65 "2011-12-02T16:15:11Z")
I heard the vote was actually 10-9 in favor of accepting interracial marriage, but for some reason they only counted 3/5 of the votes in favor. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/66 "2011-12-02T16:15:22Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > It looks like they now have a female pastor but still won’t allow interracial marriages. Stacey (the pastor) is a guy. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/67 "2011-12-02T17:57:55Z")
And it now appears that they’re going to revisit the issue after the state and national Freewill Baptist associations went “What the fuck were you thinking???” ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/68 "2011-12-02T18:13:29Z")
I wish that every interracial couple within driving distance of this church would make a special effort to show up at services. Anyone who’s not white, really. Gay people would be great, too. Just show up and swamp the place. May the punishment fit the crime. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/69 "2011-12-02T18:16:50Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > I heard the vote was actually 10-9 in favor of accepting interracial marriage, but for some reason they only counted 3/5 of the votes in favor. You win the thread. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/70 "2011-12-02T18:56:39Z")
> [@j666](#): > > I find this surprisingly annoying. Twenty years ago was 1991 - not exactly the height of Jim Crow. > > Yes, there were racists 20 years ago and there are racists today. But we didn’t all just shake our heads sadly and look the other way while we whittled away and shelled peas in our rockers. > > We said, "_ **Are you fucking nuts?!** _ I’m not talking about people in general, I’m talking about people in backwoods Appalachian churches. 20 years ago the current generation of old racists that populate such churches had a layer of older and much bigger racists over them. I think a lot of Appalachian families are similar to mine. I’m 36 years old. My grandmother is in her 80s, and she and my grandfather (who died 15 years ago) were pretty much racists and certainly would have voted for this proposal. (My grandmother has softened on this in recent years, for various reasons.) My mother, who is 57, is not a racist at all but grew under authority figures who were and kind of accepted long ago that keeping her mouth shut was much easier than raising a stink and just as likely to change minds in her household. (I get the same impression from a lot of her peers.) She definitely wouldn’t have voted for this, but I think she would have found a way not to get involved, either by leaving before the vote or abstaining from voting (as a lot of people apparently did.) My generation is the first that pretty much doesn’t stand for it. This progression isn’t universal–you find plenty of old freedom fighters and far too many young racists–but it’s still pretty typical. I know that nationwide it was my grandmother’s generation who drove the civil rights movement and my mother’s generation grew up watching it unfold, but being 20 years behind everybody else is what makes us the backwater. 20 years ago I don’t believe this would have made the local media, because said media at that time would have been dominated by the generation that was numb to such things and aimed at the older and largely racist population. Now the media is dominated by people my age who are properly scandalized by this kind of racism (since we haven’t seen it as much as our parents did) and the target audience is much broader, not to mention that the elderly population they used to aim for is far less racist than it was then. It’s a hard dynamic to explain, but I’ve lived here almost my whole life and I’ve watched attitudes about race evolve, and they’re still evolving. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/71 "2011-12-02T19:19:29Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > It’s a shitty point. You’ve never just dealt with assholes because your husband/wife/lover/etc asked you to? Aren’t many Thanksgiving dinners exactly that, except on a less douchey scale? > > Her family is associated with the church. She’s known many of the people for years, and you’re asking her to simply drop years of personal connections at the drop of a (admittedly large) hat. Dealing with your spouse’s family is one thing, but if I show up at a church and they say, “we don’t like your kind,” well … eff them. It’s their loss as far as I’m concerned. I never expect rationality from churches. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/72 "2011-12-02T19:24:24Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Dealing with your spouse’s family is one thing, but if I show up at a church and they say, “we don’t like your kind,” well … eff them. It’s their loss as far as I’m concerned. > > I never expect rationality from churches. For a lot of religious country people, your Church _is_ family. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/73 "2011-12-02T19:46:42Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > but if I show up at a church Maybe this is an urban/rural difference? Believe it or not, there are parts of the country where you don’t just “show up at a church”. You grow up in a church. You literally know every single person there. Many of your friends have been so since Sunday School since before you could read or write. Your social activities aside from actual religious services are heavily influenced by the church. Your parents’ bridge partners are likely also members of the church. You celebrate high school football wins with them, have ice cream socials, bake sales, canned food drives, etc with them (and yes, they all know if you do or do not participate). If you get sick, somebody (usually multiple somebodies) show up at your house to check on you. They’re there when babies are born or people die. In these small communities, your life really does revolve around the church. So, yes, it’s likely they find a new church, now. But being ostracized publicly by this group isn’t just an “eff them” situation. It’s being publicly denounced by people you’ve known, respected, and trusted for decades. Maybe YOU can take that with some equanimity, but most people can’t. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/74 "2011-12-02T20:11:00Z")
Listen, I’m as caring about my fellow man as the next guy, and I understand that it sucks to be ostracized from a place that you never expected to be ostracized from. But this is a recurring theme for me. Churches / religions set out all these ridiculous rules … but in the end, those are the rules adherents are expected to follow. And for the life of me I can’t figure out why anyone would debase themselves so, just so they can stay in the good graces of the figures heads. It’s like an argument we had here some while back about someone who had an abortion being excommunicated. Well … they told you not to get one. What were you expecting them to do? Make an exception just for you? I’m not trying to defend this church. Like I said … if you tell me a church has gone and pulled something retarded like this, the last thing I’m going to be is surprised. And I do think that that couple would be better off to flip off every church goer there and traipse off on their merry way of wedded bliss, and let the narrow minded bigots they used to hang with suck on it. Amen. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/75 "2011-12-02T20:15:19Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > And I do think that that couple would be better off to flip off every church goer there and traipse off on their merry way of wedded bliss, and let the narrow minded bigots they used to hang with suck on it. > > Amen. I think it’s useful, and amusing, to see this church strung up for this. I don’t see any reason for this couple to slink quietly away. If people want to be bigots, they can be judged for that and found wanting. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/76 "2011-12-02T20:19:13Z")
Well it isn’t that quiet. Hell, I’m talking about and I’ve never even been to Kentucky. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/77 "2011-12-02T20:24:46Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Well it isn’t that quiet. Hell, I’m talking about and I’ve never even been to Kentucky. But you seem to be saying they should have just walked away rather than making a stink. If that isn’t what you’re saying, I have no idea what you’re saying. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/78 "2011-12-02T20:42:50Z")
“When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Kentucky, because everything there happens 20 years after it happens anywhere else.” - Mark Twain ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/79 "2011-12-02T20:43:19Z")
I guess I’m of two minds. I’m all for a good stink. But why the hell would they want anything to do with that church at this point? Because of some sense of tradition? The church basically told them, “fuck you.” Why wouldn’t they say “fuck you” back? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/80 "2011-12-02T20:47:48Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I guess I’m of two minds. I’m all for a good stink. But why the hell would they want anything to do with that church at this point? Because of some sense of tradition? The church basically told them, “fuck you.” Why wouldn’t they say “fuck you” back? To me, telling the news IS saying fuck you. They are saying, “Hey, we wanted to be part of this church and they said fuck you. Well, we are going to go to the news and they will look like ginormous assholes.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671.md?page=5)