Thursday

Double Standard Emphasizes Color Barrier

Back in the day, when Oral Roberts' son, Richard, divorced his first wife the Evangelical community was in an uproar. I was just a child then and I remember my parents talking about this controversy.

In August, televangelist Paula White and her husband, Randy, confirmed that they were divorcing. Nothing has changed. Randy is still the pastor at Without Walls in Tampa, and Paula is continuing her tv appearances and book tours.

In contrast, last year when Ted Haggard's infidelities were revealed it made headline news and the leaders of the Christian community welcomed his resignation.

Why the double standard? Is it because Pastor Haggard's sin involved homosexuality. Is it because Randy and Paula had been divorced before they got married? Divorce is divorce and adultery is adultery, and the last time I checked churches were still preaching that no sin is more grievous than another.

In my view, parishioners in predominantly black churches are more forgiving of irreconcilable differences than their white brothers and sisters. Randy White's church in Tampa is a predominantly black church. Other black church leaders have divorced and even been part of scandalous affairs and abuse cases. But that doesn't seem to affect their jobs. Why?

Are white church members more judgemental than black church members? Over the years, Evangelicals have been trying to erase the color barrier and it has worked beautifully in some churches. However, this view of divorce and infidelity is an example where our cultures are vastly different and perhaps one reason why churches are still largely segregated.

2 comments:

Julie said...

Hmm, I'm not sure where I stand on this but I do agree that sin is sin. No matter what color you are.

Thanks for your comments on my blog. I have thought about sign language for paige but for reasons that are to long to go into here I am not sure it would work for her.

Thanks for your kind words and support. I enjoyed my visit to your blog. It's always nice to meet another mom with a house full of blessings.

Warmly,
Julie

Katherine@Raising Five said...

Oh boy. What a mess. It's easy to be judgmental. I wonder if we would have let King David continue to be king, after the Bathsheba incident? Only God can judge the heart.

Wanted to thank you for that quote today - made my day!

Love,
Katherine