We often reference the tacit racism that exists in the history of fundamentalism. Nevertheless, it’s worth remembering that there are minorities who do join and even lead in parts of the movement.

The pastor from today’s website “began to feel burdened about the people in the Mississippi Delta because he realized there was not one Independent Fundamental Baptist Church reaching the Black community there.”

Which requires us to ask “why?” What in their history and philosophy makes the IFB so incredibly bad at reaching out to the black community? Perhaps the place to start is by looking at the era and the cultural values that fundamentalists glorify and realizing that there is little space for other peoples and cultures there.