With all this talk of swirling, I often wonder how some of our Christian BWE ladies approach the IR debate in their Christian circles. After all, the Bible has some pretty interesting things to say about the topic. At the end of Genesis chapter 27 and the beginning of the 28th Chapter, we see Jacob’s parents, Rebekah and Isaac lament over the idea that he would marry a Canaanite woman:

Genesis 27:46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?

Genesis 28:1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

The apparent biblical racism seems to get worse. Check out Nehemiah 13:23:

In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab:

24 And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews’ language, but according to the language of each people.

25 And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.

So clearly, these men sinned when they married outside of their ethnic/racial tribe. But why? If you look at verse 23, Moabite women were included in that marriage ban. It’s no secret that Ruth, on whom the Book of Ruth is based, was a Moabite woman. That union was blessed by the Abrahamic God. There appears to be a contradiction, right? Let’s not forget that Canaanite women were off limits. But lo and behold, the genealogy of Christ includes a Canaanite woman and other racially forbidden women. Should we assume that the Abrahamic God couldn’t make up his mind? Christians these days will often remind us to read entire passages before forming opinions:

Nehemiah 13:26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.

The real problem, according to many Christians and Jews, was not race in and of itself but faith. The foreign women caused the men to forget about their God and serve idols. That’s why a lot of Christians limit their dating pool to other Christians, Muslims with Muslims, and Jews with Jews, etc. In the words they might marry outside their race, but not outside their faith. Still, many Christians, black and white alike, use these passages to deter people from finding love among the rainbow…especially women.

What does the Bible say about colorism and your darling little mamzers…erm…mixed children? Stay tuned!