Interracial Couple Banned from Church

[Chivewarrior]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/3 ... ostpopular

Really, Kentucky? In this day and age there are churches banning interracial marriages? Everyone goes on about marriage being between a man and a woman. A black man and a white woman are still a man and a woman.

People like this are the reason people end up having a problem with Christians. They hear about these people and think all Christians are like that.

[Blackthorn]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/30/interracial-couple-banned-from-kentucky-church_n_1121582.html?ref=mostpopular

Really, Kentucky? In this day and age there are churches banning interracial marriages? Everyone goes on about marriage being between a man and a woman. A black man and a white woman are still a man and a woman.

People like this are the reason people end up having a problem with Christians. They hear about these people and think all Christians are like that.

You are so right, Chivewarrior. Outsiders look at the people and not Jesus. I couldn't agree more, and in my atheist days I'd have been all over this.

[Hakaider]

Dean Harville, who is the father of the girl, Stella Harville, (Who is engaged to the African man, Ticha Chikuni) said, "It sure ain't Christian. It ain't nothing but the old devil working."

And hes' right. The people at that church aren't acting like Christians, and there are only 40 members in that church. (40 people do not represent a whole town, or all of a state. You can't blame all of Kentucky for the actions of a few people. It also is very telling when you have only 40 members in that church.) Keep in mind, that not all "religious" churches are Christians. Some of these churches would deviate from the teachings of Jesus Christ & the Bible and create their own religion & their own rules. (There are even some church leaders, who claim that they are Jesus reincarnated.)

Many of the people of that town do not agree with that particular church's doctrine either. That particular church was also condemned by many of the pastors in that area. Randy Johnson, who was the president of the Pike County Ministerial Association, told the Lexington Herald-Leader, "It's not the spirit of the community in any way, shape or form." The fact that this church chose to judge one's color contradicts the very concept of Christianity. (In fact, Jesus himself was not Caucasian, and did not have blond hair. And neither were his disciples. If you traveled back in time, you would have seen that his facial features would have looked more Middle Eastern, rather than a Hollywood movie star.) The "whites only" rule was initiated by that particular church's former pastor, Melvin Thompson. (Some of the members of the church have also left because of Melvin Thompson's racist views, and not all of the 40 members sided with him.)

From Yahoo News:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/ke ... 09470.html

[n11pilot]

When I first read this I couldn't believe it. I for one don't see one Christian thing about that pastor's behavior. As a Christian (and not the best example of one) myself I feel compelled to say that the pastor of that church does not speak for me and he does not speak for Christianity. That pastor speaks for himself and his own narrow minded philosophy only.

[Hakaider]

Here's what's also interesting about the story.

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/wjw-ne ... 5130.story

The measure by the former pastor was taken right after a Sunday church service. Most of the 40 members either didn't know about it, or refused to take part in the "snap election" measure. (It was the former pastor's underhanded way to get the votes that he wanted, because he probably knew that he wouldn't get the votes that he wanted, had he made it into a fair vote with all 40 members present.)

There were only 15 people present, (And not including the former pastor) during the "snap election" measure. 6 people actually did not agree with the former pastor, and voted against him, while 9 people sided with the ex-pastor, Melville Thompson.

So in reality, it wasn't even the entire 40 members who voted for the measure. There were only nine people who sided with the former pastor. 10 people (Including the former pastor) are hardly a representation of the town or Kentucky. (And those 9 should be ashamed of themselves.)

[Hakaider]

Here's an update as to what had happened since then...

The church members has decided to overturn Melvin Thompson's attempt to ban interracial marriages, and declared it "null" & "void". (This probably wouldn't have happened in the first place if the former pastor, Melvin Thompson didn't try to circumnavigate around the congregation by making a surprise "snap" election.)

http://news.yahoo.com/ky-church-overtur ... 09734.html

Ky church overturns ban on interracial couples

PIKEVILLE, Ky. (AP) — An eastern Kentucky church under a firestorm of criticism since members voted to bar mixed-race couples from joining the congregation overturned that decision Sunday, saying it welcomes all believers.

Stacy Stepp, pastor of the Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church in Pike County, told The Associated Press that the vote by nine people last week was declared null and void after it was determined that new bylaws can't run contrary to local, state or national laws. He said the proposal was discriminatory, therefore it couldn't be adopted.

Stepp said about 30 people who attended church services voted on a new resolution that welcomes "believers into our fellowship regardless of race, creed or color."

The issue came up at the tiny all-white Appalachian church after the daughter of church secretary Dean Harville visited over the summer with her boyfriend, who is from Africa, and the two sang for the congregation.

Harville said he was approached in August by Melvin Thompson, the church member who crafted the resolution to bar mixed-race couples, and was told that his daughter and her boyfriend were no longer allowed to sing at the church.
Thompson has said he is not racist and called the matter an "internal affair."
Stepp said the Sandy Valley Conference of Free Will Baptists declared the vote on Thompson's resolution null and void during a meeting on Saturday.

He said he told church members on Sunday about the decision and proposed a resolution to promote "peace, love and harmony."

He said the resolution to welcome all believers passed with a unanimous vote.

[n11pilot]

I guess that like hindsight being always 20/20, reconsidered piety is always pure. I'm not sure how that pastor can say that the original vote and decision weren't racist, I mean they weren't based on cuisine preference.

[Chivewarrior]

And on the related note of "crazy people who make Christianity look bad in the news": http://www.parentdish.com/2006/10/30/vi ... nverted-d/

Video game is hitting stores-- it's one of those first-person-shooter type games but with a religious bent: the video game focuses on Christian warriors running around killing Jews and atheists.

[Hakaider]

And on the related note of "crazy people who make Christianity look bad in the news": http://www.parentdish.com/2006/10/30/vi ... nverted-d/

Video game is hitting stores-- it's one of those first-person-shooter type games but with a religious bent: the video game focuses on Christian warriors running around killing Jews and atheists.

Actually, that particular game came out in 2006, and it has been available since 2006. So it's not a new game by any means. Although the October 30th, 2006 article in that link tries to "shock" the readers by implying that it's a inflammatory shooting video game, and that it supposedly "focuses" on shooting non-Christians. (Whoever wrote that article in that link didn't do their research. I thought journalists were supposed to do their homework. That's what they taught me at at my journalism class in college.)

The Christian Alliance for Progress, had also decried the game as "antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ." The Campaign to Defend the Constitution also criticized the game, as well as many Christian groups. (This has been going on since 2006.)

While the the Jewish Anti-Defamation League criticized the game as depicting a "exclusivist religious system" against Jews, they also said that, "That the game avoided the level of violence found in the novels and that it was "an option only used by players if necessary when their forces are attacked by those hunting them, and any characters that kill others in the game are penalized". They also said that, "Conversion to Christianity in the game is not depicted as forcible in nature, and violence is not rewarded in the game."

The gameplay is described as:

The game features a single-player campaign and an online multiplayer mode.

In the single-player campaign, the player controls the Tribulation Force, a Christian group in a post-Rapture New York City, who are combating the influence of the Global Community, the world government led by the Antichrist Nicolae Carpathia. The player directs the actions of the main characters (Rayford Steele, Cameron "Buck" Williams, Chloe Steele, and Bruce Barnes) and the Tribulation Force's units in an effort to defeat the Global Community by converting neutral and Global Community-allied civilians to their side, or by using lethal force when necessary. The player is encouraged to use conversion over violence when possible, since killing causes the "spirit level" of the player's units to drop. If the "spirit level" of a player's unit drops too low, the unit will turn neutral or defect to the GC, which can cause the player to lose the game.

In the multiplayer component of the game, up to eight players can compete online against each other in teams, with one team playing as the Tribulation Force and the other playing as the Global Community.

In short, the more people that you kill for fun in the game, (This includes Christians & non Christians alike) the more "spiritual" points you will lose, and you will lose both the game & the character when you lost enough "spiritual" points. (If you go around shooting non-Christian characters randomly in the game just for fun, you WILL lose your character & you will have lost the game.) You also have the option to play the forces of the "AntiChrist", which is the "Global Community" in this game.

In response to the ongoing criticisms of the game, the public relations director of"Left Behind Games" wrote a letter back in 2009 and stated that:

The original game 'Eternal Forces' became one of the most highly publicized games of 2006, as politically motivated groups launched an all-out war against the game, by making false claims that the game included conversion to Christianity as a requirement or gave points for killing Muslims. The media frenzy resulted in feature stories on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX NEWS, MSNBC, CNN, BBC, and numerous other worldwide networks and in print in the San Jose Chronicle, Newsweek, Wired and many others. After more than two years and a third-party investigation, it was determined that the Tides Center, a taxpayer supported non-profit, and others, launched and paid for a campaign to smear the game and Company, which may have resulted in a $200 million loss in shareholder value as the stock plummeted as a result of their misinformation campaign.

You can read more about the history of the game here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_Behin ... nal_Forces

[n11pilot]

I think that just to be safe I'll stick to Pac Man.

[Hakaider]

I think that just to be safe I'll stick to Pac Man.

Or Super Mario Brothers & Donkey Kong.

[Black Bart]

Wow, that video game should be revamped to a middle ages setting, and call it The Inquisitor, And it would have true historical value.

[n11pilot]

Wow, that video game should be revamped to a middle ages setting, and call it The Inquisitor, And it would have true historical value.

I never get past Level five Auto-da-fe'.

[DanielJones]

Wow, that video game should be revamped to a middle ages setting, and call it The Inquisitor, And it would have true historical value.

I never get past Level five Auto-da-fe'.

"It's what you oughtn't to do but you do anyway."

Cheers!

Dan

[Eric Renderking Fisk]

One of the things I wanted to interject earlier and didn't take the opportunity to do it... Whether or not we like it, every organization discriminates to a degree or another.

Doug, Cousi, Baz, Areo and I had to deal with a situation with someone who wanted to be a staff member of this august website and we had to discriminate against her for two reasons; she was just too stupid for words and couldn't write. After many chances and begging her to get her ass in gear to actually produce the work she said she could and would deliver after giving her "Staff Member" status. After pissing off a lot of other members and using our own PM system to spam for yet another forum where she was a "Staff Member" - she was banned from The Electric Speakeasy. In essence she was "discriminated" against.

I discriminate against stupid and ignorant people who have no desire to learn something new. I have no tolerance and I shun people on this forum who don't openly don't like retro style, classic movies, nor fedoras. If you don't like the things that we enjoy, why bother and waste your time and ours? Stupid people always complain that this forum is too smart for them and that to attract more people I should dumb it down. I discriminate against those people. Stupid people who only want to spam or cause trouble aren't welcome here.

If you wanted to start an organization and exclude certain types of people that you should be allowed to do that. It might not seem fair to those of us on the outside, it might even seem evil to exclude some people depending on the criteria. "You" (the non-specific, generic use of the word "you") can have a church that prohibits interracial couples from getting married. I would never step foot in one nor would I associate myself with anyone who belongs to that church, either. You're allowed to be as dumb and as exclusive as you want, just as I'm allowed to tell you that you're dumb and a worthless snob.

I discriminate against people who discriminate against people based on color... does that make ME a bad person?