# 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:** 5
**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, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/81 "2011-12-02T20:49:55Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > 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.” I concur… they are screwing over the church royally by making this public. Good for them! ---
**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, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/82 "2011-12-02T22:26:26Z")
I guess my problem with just walking away is that it’s a lot like saying “America: love it or leave it”. It’s a big Catch-22. If you’re the type that can easily dump a church and find another one, you probably wouldn’t have made a stink about it in the first place or even been a member. But otherwise, you are apparently found wanting for (a) being a church going type at all and (b) not dumping the church. Trying to stay associated with a church out of a “sense of tradition”? Seriously? I no longer hold to any sort of faith, but I’m not going to condemn what would be a common reaction for a significant number of Americans, especially in small, tightly-knit communities. I have no problem with people being dedicated enough to their community and to their churches to want to improve them for the better, rather than flipping them the bird and ditching them. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/83 "2011-12-02T22:39:19Z")
> [@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? Because you stand up to bullies and don’t let them win. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/84 "2011-12-02T22:52:16Z")
You know, good for her for growing up in that church and still being able to reject their racist attitudes. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Deal_Democrat)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/85 "2011-12-02T23:26:25Z")
If this church belonged to a denomination that was the established church of the United States, with members of that denomination given legal privileges denied members of other denominations, and if the entire denomination adopted this policy, I could see a problem. Because this is one church acting alone, and because the inter racial couple can easily find another congregation that will welcome them, I think the issue here is religious freedom. Consequently, I would be opposed to any effort by the government to penalize this church by revoking its tax free status, or something like that. If other members of the congregation left this church, I think that would be a healthy development. Members of the Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church can find no Biblical support for their policy. In Galatians 3:28 St. Paul expressed the universal nature of Christianity when he wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/86 "2011-12-02T23:29:13Z")
Yeah, it’s horrible, all right, but I have an excellent solution. They can move to his hometown, where they will be accepted and cherished, and their love will be celebrated throughout the land. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/87 "2011-12-02T23:40:53Z")
> [@](#): > > …members voted not to allow interracial couples to … be used in worship services They are one lucky couple. I suspect that among those worship services they can’t be used for includes stakes and burning, or perhaps tree limbs and nooses. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/88 "2011-12-03T00:03:46Z")
> [@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. Please let me know when you’ll be replacing the Coke I just spilled on your account. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/89 "2011-12-03T01:44:03Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > I’m not talking about people in general, I’m talking about people in backwoods Appalachian churches. … > > 20 years ago I don’t believe this would have made the local media, … > > 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. I will defer to your expertise on small town media; my “home town” newspaper wins Pulitzers\*. But 20 years ago people in backwoods Appalachian churches were not trapped in some weirdly self-contained bubble. They may not have had high speed internet, but they did have television and radio. Including that vanguard of progressivism, NPR. Racism exists everywhere; I’ve lived in areas where people wouldn’t put “For Sale” signs out, so the Wrong People wouldn’t try to move into the neighborhood. I was carded in my 30s when I walked into a local bar with a dark-skinned - _ **southern European** _ - friend. I know all the code words for “white” and “non-white”. But the one place I have never seen this type of behavior was in a church. Never. \*That is a comment on the market size. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/90 "2011-12-03T02:05:25Z")
Presumably she knew their views on the matter when she showed up with him. So either she was hoping to change minds or she thought they were hot air. If somehow she made it to adulthood without being aware of the views of these people on the issue then I have some more sympathy for her, but that seems unlikely. I’m all in favor of them trying to stick it out and change minds, but if they don’t want them as part of the church those are their rules to make. And when they decide to do that, they can decide to keep things awkward or they can decide it is time for her to move on from that group of people in favor of her new husband. And interesting thing about this thread is that I think it serves as an odd kind of support for the anti-gay marriage argument. A lot of people say “if the state allows gay marriage you’re eventually going to have the state try to force the churches to allow gay marriage.” I’d like to think they’re wrong in that argument, but the people in this thread who see no problem with a church being punished for espousing unopopular opinions kind of makes it look like they have a point. ---
**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 3, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/91 "2011-12-03T02:39:11Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > Presumably she knew their views on the matter when she showed up with him. So either she was hoping to change minds or she thought they were hot air. If somehow she made it to adulthood without being aware of the views of these people on the issue then I have some more sympathy for her, but that seems unlikely. You’d be surprised. When you live in an area that essentially has no people of color, the subject really just doesn’t come up. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/92 "2011-12-03T02:44:38Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > Yeah, it’s horrible, all right, but I have an excellent solution. They can move to his hometown, where they will be accepted and cherished, and their love will be celebrated throughout the land. He lives in Georgetown. Ass. Incidentally, foreign women are entitled to automatic Zimbabwean citizenship if they marry Zimbabwean men. Not so for foreign men who marry local women. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/93 "2011-12-03T03:20:31Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > You’d be surprised. When you live in an area that essentially has no people of color, the subject really just doesn’t come up. [This is true. Even in major media markets.] You know, I was annoyed but now I am just incredibly sad. A small community, physically isolated intellectually and socially, has a daughter come home with a wider experience and knowledge - and they kick her in the teeth. I mean, it never occurred to them that if the child of their community accepted this, they could, too? ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/94 "2011-12-03T03:59:23Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > He lives in Georgetown. Ass. But he came from Zimbabwe. Ass. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Incidentally, foreign women are entitled to automatic Zimbabwean citizenship if they marry Zimbabwean men. Not so for foreign men who marry local women. Are you really such a simpleton as to be utterly unaware of the very high probability that that this guy is just trying to establish a legal right to stay in the United States and doesn’t give a rat’s patoot about this dumb white chick he’s using? It wouldn’t be the first time that someone used marriage as a means of gaining access to residence in the United States. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/95 "2011-12-03T04:08:11Z")
> [@j666](#): > > [This is true. Even in major media markets.] > > You know, I was annoyed but now I am just incredibly sad. A small community, physically isolated intellectually and socially, has a daughter come home with a wider experience and knowledge - and they kick her in the teeth. I mean, it never occurred to them that if the child of their community accepted this, they could, too? Well, that’s certainly very sad, and I’m terribly impressed with how sensitive, caring and insightful you must be. A cynic might suggest that, far from gaining knowledge and a more sophisticated view of the world, she’s just being used by a scam artist who’s only trying to stay in the United States–but of course, none of us here are such despicable cynics. Say, how much money have you lost to Nigerian lawyers who contacted you by e-mail offering to deposit millions of dollars in your bank account? Would you like to trade your car for some magic beans? ---
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/96 "2011-12-03T04:13:58Z")
I believe there was a “vote” to ban the interracial couple. What’s the probability that whoever voted is also voting Republican? ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/97 "2011-12-03T04:19:16Z")
Does Polecat have some evidence that the guy is a scam artist beyond the fact that he is from Africa? Or is he just a racist asshole? Or do I even need to bother asking? ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/98 "2011-12-03T04:25:42Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > Does Polecat have some evidence that the guy is a scam artist beyond the fact that he is from Africa? Or is he just a racist asshole? Or do I even need to bother asking? Ptooey. Progressives don’t think. Progressives emote. They’re often shocked and upset when others see their emoting as moral pretension and exhibitionism rather than insight and understanding ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/99 "2011-12-03T04:33:44Z")
So that’s a no on the evidence then? ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671/100 "2011-12-03T06:06:02Z")
> [@Naxos](#): > > I believe there was a “vote” to ban the interracial couple. > > What’s the probability that whoever voted is also voting Republican? I don’t know. I didn’t grow up in Pike county, but I did grow up in Eastern Kentucky and it would not surprise me to hear about something like this from a church in the county that I am from. It is also one of the most heavily democratic areas I know. Obama even won the county (though not by as much as Kerry did). That said, I don’t really know the political makeup in Pike county. I just wouldn’t take the church members being republican as a given. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-church-bans-interracial-couple/604671.md?page=6)