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Inter-racial marriage

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by Salty, Dec 6, 2011.

  1. Salty

    Salty 20,000 Posts Club
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    There is a discussion going on about interacial marrige

    This thread is mainly for Pastors -

    Pastors, would you marry an interacial couple?

    If so, would you give additional couseling on the pitfalls they may encounter?

    Suppose one set of parents was against the marriage - would you still marry the couple?

    Would you ask the couple to consider the future of children?

    Any other consideration?

    And let lets not just end this at race - suppose a young man from your church is stationed in Germany with the Army - tells you that he wants to marry a German girl. They plan to come to the states for the cerromony - would you have any reservtions?
     
  2. annsni

    annsni Well-Known Member
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    My husband has already married an interracial couple. As with any couple, in premarital counseling, we addressed any issues that might come up with their relationship and they were well grounded with regards to their races. :)

    In our church, if a parent is against the marriage, we will counsel against getting married at that time. Usually a parent has a good reason to be against a relationship and we've seen even when a parent is unreasonable regarding the marriage, waiting and praying was a good course of action and it resulted not only in the parent changing his mind but he also fully blessed the marriage. THAT was neat to watch!
     
  3. preachinjesus

    preachinjesus Well-Known Member
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    Probably should have put this in a large font...like this:
    :laugh:

    Absolutely, I did last weekend.

    There are no pitfalls for interracial couples in our context as relates to their race or ethnicity.

    The largest pitfalls that need to be addressed have more to do with personality and background than these.

    Marriage isn't about the parents.

    If the parents have problems I handle it like other parental problems. I talk with the couple first and, if necessary sit the parents down and hear them out. In the end the parents can make their voice heard but the decision is up to the couple.

    I wouldn't talk about interracial children, I would talk about children. Our context, and most of the rising generation is (thankfully) colorblind about these issues.

    None related to race.

    Nope.
     
    #3 preachinjesus, Dec 6, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 6, 2011
  4. Salty

    Salty 20,000 Posts Club
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    Ann
    For the record - I am not biased against non- pastors.
    Normally you must be a pastor to marry someone.

    Therefore your comments are extremely welcomed! :thumbsup:


    Ann, do you think some couples could have some pitfalls in an interracial marriage?
     
  5. JesusFan

    JesusFan Well-Known Member

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    Not a pastor, have been a deacon and Elder in church...

    Would say that there is NO biblical prohibition on this, but there would be"practical" matters...

    Would they know/understand the racial "tensions" in their marriage?
    Do they plan to bring children into their family?
    can they work it out with immediate family members?

    More of a practical than a biblical answer!
     
  6. annsni

    annsni Well-Known Member
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    Thanks. I figured since weddings are always done by BOTH hubby and I (we do the premarital counseling together - it's the standard practice at our church that a couple does the premarital counseling with the bride and groom), I could answer with at least some experience. :)


    Unfortunately, they do. Often there are cultural stressors that need to be dealt with and often a very different background. But we also dealt with that with the couple who were older and he was American and she was Brazilian! Very different cultures and issues to have to address.

    But the interracial couples I know of have all done GREAT - even the couple that not only is an interracial couple but second marriages for both of them and both of them bringing 2 kids into the marriage. They are doing great - and just found out they are expecting their 4th child from their marriage! That makes 8 kids! :D
     
  7. Zenas

    Zenas Active Member

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    Interracial marriages? The only marriages I have ever seen are between members of the human race. :)
     
  8. Ruiz

    Ruiz New Member

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    I have married an interracial couple and I am a result of an interracial marriage. I offered no additional counseling than I would normally offer to a couple.
     
  9. FR7 Baptist

    FR7 Baptist Active Member

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    Ruiz, if that's you in your profile picture, you look white to me.
     
  10. Ruiz

    Ruiz New Member

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    Yes, and your point being? I look very white, but that does not mean I don't come from an inter-racial family. It merely means that I am white.

    Some in genetics note that the darker skin and complexion (from my mom) is dominant and the lighter skin and hair (as displayed in my dad) is recessive. I am no geneticist, and I cannot answer this question from their perspective, but we do suspect that my mom's family, from Puerto Rico, was involved in more than one interracial marriages in our history. This was common in P.R. Thus, you may have had Africans who had children with Natives who also had children with Spaniards. There seem to be a greater taboo of this type of arrangement in the States than in P.R. I believe it is almost impossible to trace my family's tree too far in the past and so when my mom immigrated to the United States as a young child, she probably contained African, Indian, and European blood of people going back to before the end of the slave trade.

    Yet, my dad is white. I get my looks from him. My brother is darker (though not as dark as my mom) and my sister looks more like me. If you met my mom (especially when we were younger) you could clearly notice she was not of European Descent. Today, age is catching up to her and she is losing some of the beauty in her complexion and striking black hair that I remember as a child. It is a shame, she was a stunning lady as was her mother.

    I let the geneticists fight out why my color is more like my dad. Yet, I am 1/2 one race and 1/2 another and rather proud of both heritages.
     
    #10 Ruiz, Dec 6, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 6, 2011
  11. FR7 Baptist

    FR7 Baptist Active Member

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    Hispanic isn't a race. While you may have some Indian or African ancestry, you are clearly of overwhelmingly white descent. For you to look the way you do, there's no way your mother had more than 25% non-white ancestry, and that's on the high end.

    When I racially classify Hispanics, I start with the assumption that they're white unless they're clearly of non-white descent. My neighbor is from Honduras, and he's clearly of Indian ancestry, so he's not white. Sonia Sotomayor, while she may have some small amount of non-white admixture, isn't clearly black or Indian, so I classify her as white.
     
  12. matt wade

    matt wade Well-Known Member

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    Paul, I just think your a racist. You feel you are so superior to the Hispanic race that you wish to simply make them disappear by saying they don't exist. Shame on you!
     
  13. Ruiz

    Ruiz New Member

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    Paul, I am no geneticist, but my grandmother and grandfather were 100% as were my great grandmothers and grandfathers. I didn't know my great grandmothers and great grandfathers, but I knew my grandmother and grandfather. While I cannot go much further in my genetic history than my greats, I can go back to my grandfather and grandmother.

    Yeah, in 1997 race and being a hispanic was removed from the federal categories. However, tell that to my dad who married my mom in the 1960's, it was a taboo back then and was considered a differing race, even under the legal definition.
     
  14. FR7 Baptist

    FR7 Baptist Active Member

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    I'm not racist, but I like the way white people look. We have all the pretty variations in hair and eye color so whites are more colorful than other racial groups. Of course, I still like non-whites and I believe in treating people of other races equally.
     
  15. FR7 Baptist

    FR7 Baptist Active Member

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    Ruiz, the Census Bureau NEVER considered Hispanic a race*. When my grandfather married my Hispanic grandmother in 1964, it was not considered taboo. One time I asked my granddad if anyone ever gave him a hard time over his choice of a wife and he said no.

    *However, in 1930 alone, they did consider Mexican a race.
     
  16. preachinjesus

    preachinjesus Well-Known Member
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    Paul, I say this as gently as possible...stop talking right now.
     
  17. Ruiz

    Ruiz New Member

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    Well, your experience does not match my own. I lost friends as a kid when they realized I was in a hispanic household. There were two minorities in the High School my family attended when we were there.

    As for the race issue, I disagree as I was considered a different race on several college applications in the early 90's. The Federal Regulations changed in 1997.

    While you may not think it was taboo, that is a moot point. The issue is that we are a different race. Legally it changed because in 1997 because hispanics are now considered to make-up a multitude of races (as I explained in the P.R. issue). This definition was not that defined prior to 1997 in the federal government.

    BTW, I don't know much about the Census, but I know about the federal law's recognition. Thus, until 1997 for legal purposes, I was considered a different race singularly as hispanic. Since 1997 things have changed.
     
  18. Jerome

    Jerome Well-Known Member
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    Huh?

    Why do you need to "racially classify" people?
     
  19. plain_n_simple

    plain_n_simple Active Member

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    "I'm not racist, but I like the way white people look. We have all the pretty variations in hair and eye color so whites are more colorful than other racial groups. Of course, I still like non-whites and I believe in treating people of other races equally."

    Yeah, that is not only a racist statement, it is a flesh one too.
     
  20. FR7 Baptist

    FR7 Baptist Active Member

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    Ruiz, in elementary school I got made fun of for being Hispanic and one time I got beat up because of it.
     
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