A small Kentucky church has chosen to ban marriages and even some worship services for interracial couples.
The Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church, located in Pike County, made the vote in response to a longtime member who is engaged to a man whose birthplace is in Zimbabwe.
The small congregation, which usually hosts about 40 members each Sunday, held the vote after longtime member Stella Harville, brought her fiancé Ticha Chikuni to church with her in June.
The couple performed a song together at the church in which Chikuni sang "I Surrender All," while Harville played the piano.
Chikuni, 29, who works at Georgetown College, is black--and Harville, who was baptized at the church but is not an active member, is white.
Dean Harville, Stella's father, said he was told by the church's former pastor Melvin Thompson that his daughter and her fiancé were not allowed to sing at the church again.
Thompson to put forth a recommendation saying that while all members are welcome at the church, it does not "condone" interracial marriage, and that any interracial couples would not be received as members or allowed to participate in worship services. The only exception? Funerals.
Gawker notes that Pike County is 98 percent white and home to the infamous Hatfield-McCoy feud.
Stella's father was much more forceful in his denunciation of the interracial ban. "It sure ain't Christian," Dean Harville said. "It ain't nothing but the old devil working."
What you think in 2011 there are still people who are sick like this out there???
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/kentucky-chur...
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I've been living in Kentucky for about 15 years now. (Originally from the NE.) When you leave the friendly confines of Louisville it's like you've entered a 3d World country.
Really doesn't surprise me.
There is nothing Christian about it; it is a disgrace to Christianity. Contradicts the core teaching of Christian Charity. This is simply meology, where Christianity is used to mask prejudice and hatred. It is not the first time. In the past, the same Church used Christianity to promote slavery and lynchings. Remember Rev. Richard Furman of South Carolina who argued for slavery in the Bible Belt as ordained by God.. all in the name of God. But whose God? just what is the difference between this view and the Talibans? Strange but interesting bedfellows. The only reason we condemn the Talibans is that they are targeting us, but we do the same thing everyday and look on the other side and project a false, hypocritical image of a Christian nation - Shame on all of us!
I won't say what the church did was Biblical, because the Bible does not forbid interracial marriage in and of itself. But I will tell you my opinion on why some people are against interracial marriage-because the vast majority of the time, there is not close to or an equal opportunity genetically speaking for both races to express their genes in any resulting children, and there can be huge cultural differences. Try to think of it as seeing your community of people who look and act (and sometimes language plays into it, too) like you dwindling away to nothing, so that one day your community goes extinct-and there is eventually that one last member of that community left all alone with noone who can really relate to him or her in the world-this is already close to happening in many if not all Native American tribes within the U.S.-and imagine being in the situation where you don't have a choice in marrying amongst your own or not, because there are no single people in your community left outside your own blood relatives, so you either HAVE to choose being alone or someone that you really didn't want. Also there is the risk that the children could look "shockingly different" to the point where they could be made fun of all of their lives, and surgery not always able to fix their appearance- unfortunately not all mixed-race children come out looking like Haley Berry or Tom and Kate's kids.
It used to be that interracial marriage was rare...and way back in history, one of the two joining in interracial marriage would actually give up his/her heritage and allow the children to be absorbed into the nation of the one they were marrying-and sometimes that person him/herself would join that nation, too. The ancient Isrealites are one key example of this. I don't agree with being mean to people of any kind. However it can be threatening to see your own group disappear-while another group grows in its place. I'll bet this would not even be an issue if it were the same as white blondes and brunnettes intermarrying-the blue eyed, blonde gene still shows up and there are no cultural differences.
<Does this mean that non-white people are not welcome at predominantly white churches?> Wow!!! You label an entire society of millions because of the action of 40 people. In Numbers 12, God gave Miriam leprosy for criticizing Moses for marrying an Ethiopian (black) woman. I think the church in Kentucky needs to read the story again and do some soul searching about the stand they are taking.
The sad part about it is that if they use the bible as the templet for what they believe marriage to be their argument has malice. I know somewhere in their it says something about mixing of food, clothes and even races; but this goes to show you that if this does get over turn federally then the court has a right to say the same about gay marriage as well
Their church, their choice but the sad part about all of this is that they are claiming to be Christian. Nothing Christian about this, there is no "unity". Anything that brings separation, for any cause is never good and I do not care what race or religion,you are. We need to wake up and realize this fact and then we will bring true unity and healing in this country...
Their Church,their choice.Since liberals believe in "Choice" and "Tolerance" I guess they just have to accept their Choice,just as they accept the choice of the Nation of Islam to be Racist against the White Population.And considering the beliefs of 0bama's "Spiritual Mentor" I can't get too worked up over 40 racists in KY,when my President worshiped with an Anti-American Bigot for 20 years.
August
only because of people like you, "jessica", who if actually involved in an interracial relationship are involved ONLY because they are attention whores who enjoy not only the attention, but thinking that they are in some way special and better than someone else. It is a pathetic little cage you have built for yourself, and it Will eventually lead you to the cage we have waiting for you.
Sad that this still happens in 2011.
Maybe they should be jailed or sent to some concentration camp for disagreeing with your lifestyle choices.
OR
You could just not go there.