A reader takes exception to my asking Doug Wilson on this blog if he would perform a wedding ceremony between a Christian man and a Christian woman of different races. His objection is that I’ve presumed things about Wilson that I ought not to presume, and that in asking him publicly, I’ve hinted that he’s somehow guilty of not performing or allowing interracial marriages at the Kirk. I respond to this concern in the “Comments” section, but let me reiterate here that a man who is an unabashed paleo-Confederate, who’s written in defense of American slaveholding, who admires the racist theologian R.L. Dabney, and who has buddies in the League of the South is not deserving of a presumption of racial egalitarianism in marriage. However, I didn’t accuse him of anything; the presupposition of the answer he gives comes from his conduct and history, not my question.
Doug Wilson is a public figure with a very public ministry. Some questions are off-limits, whether asked publicly or privately, but a question about ministerial policy is absolutely appropriate. I asked it here so he could answer here — or not. That’s the point. If he answers, I’ll report it here, and I would be delighted — extraordinarily so — if he assures me that he has no problem with interracial marriages. Believe me, that’s a delight I won’t hesitate to share.