Churches Vehicles of Discrimination?

by Giovanni Neal 
BKA Blame Girl
Rhetoric Race and Religion Contributor

Issue: So I am reading this blog post about discrimination in relation to same-sex and interracial marriages, but I see another type of discrimination going on. Who’s to Blame?

Blame: The article details the contradiction of the Black community’s stance on same-sex marriage, which we all know is behind.

However, the first paragraph is what caught my eye. Months ago, Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church, in Kentucky, turned away an interracial couple, because the small church bans interracial marriages and members. So let me get this straight, religious institutions can still discriminate based on race?

The church has now allowed interracial couples at their services, after the pastor Melvin Thompson stepped down. However, it begs the question why do religious institutions continually get special exceptions? That seems like discrimination to me and they were obviously allowed to continue it well into the 21st century.

We hear folks like Ron and Rand Paul complaining about property rights because “businesses” cannot discriminate at will. Yet they can, even in 2012. This story is just another example. Churches are open to the public, yet can make their own oppressive rules because of religious protections. Private clubs and businesses can discriminate by changing the box they check with the secretary of state. Discrimination is alive and legal.

Become a religious institution if you want to discriminate based on race. You can also become tax exempt and break every civil rights law in the book.

*She originally posted this on her blog blamegirl.com