Christian nationalist commentator and pastor Dale Partridge faced backlash after saying interracial marriage is not “ideal.”However, he praised his own marriage to a Mexican American woman as loving and successful, which the internet called hypocritical.Partridge shared his views in a lengthy post on X, where he said he agreed with fellow Christian nationalist Joel Webbon, who has argued that interracial marriage falls outside God’s “normative design.” Partridge said he had been married for 16 years and that he does not believe interracial marriage is a sin.“Interracial marriage is not the ‘ideal,’” Partridge wrote. The Christian added that interracial marriage can be ‘glorious’. “Now, like Joel, I do not believe it is sinful, and if providence positions two Christians from different ethnic backgrounds to unite in marriage, it can be a glorious thing (which it has been for us).”He argued that marriages between people of different ethnic backgrounds face added challenges that couples of the same ethnicity do not. These include “overcoming different family expectations and cultural traditions”, as well as a wife’s assimilation into her husband’s culture. Partridge added that a husband must learn how his wife’s “ethnos has shaped her instincts, sensitivities, and assumptions”.However, Partridge believed it is more difficult for people to bond if they belong to different cultures. “But unity has undoubtedly been more difficult for us than for couples who share the same ethnic background.”In a follow-up post, Partridge defended his position by arguing that race and culture were historically inseparable. He rejected the notion that modern-day multiculturalism is just a social construct. “For most of human history, a people shared blood, land, language, customs, religion, and social expectations,” he wrote. “Race was not an abstract concept; it was embodied in culture.”He said recognising that interracial marriages carry additional hurdles was not a moral judgement.The comments stirred a row on the internet, including among Christians married to interracial partners.

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