The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser

Sounds of Fundamentalism: IFB Pastor Mike Keller Explains Why Blacks in the South Had it Good

Written by

Bruce Gerencser

in

pastor mike keller 2

The Sounds of Fundamentalism is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a video clip that shows the crazy, cantankerous, or contradictory side of Evangelical Christianity, please send me an email with the name or link to the video. Please do not leave suggestions in the comment section.  Let’s have some fun!

Today’s Sound of Fundamentalism is a video clip of Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) preacher Mike Keller letting his racism hang out at Fairpark Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. Keller is the father of Anna Duggar.

@deconstruction.zone

Pastor Mike Keller says the dumbest thing imaginable. #slavery #whitesaviorcomplex

♬ original sound – deconstruction.zone

Video Link

Yahoo reports:

Mike guest preached at Fairpark Baptist Church on June 25, 2023. His sermon was recorded and shared in a since-deleted YouTube video that went viral because of Mike’s shocking comments comparing slavery to the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol, according to Daily Beast.

….

“A hundred-fifty years ago, or 200 years ago when the Blacks were slaves, did they ever go to Washington, D.C., and have a rally 200 years ago to protest against slavery? No. What did they do?” he asked. 

Mike proceeded to offer a baseless account of the way enslaved Black people were treated, claiming that “good people on the plantations” — possibly slave owners — built churches where they could “love” enslaved Black people and “[teach] them how to read so they can read the Bible.”

“Here’s what the Blacks did about 150 years ago,” Mike added. “They humbled themselves, they prayed. They sought God’s face and they turned from their wicked ways and God made slavery illegal through several white presidents. It worked, didn’t it? They didn’t protest.”

Though Fairpark Baptist Church has removed the video from their YouTube page, clips of the sermon circulated around TikTok and Twitter as viewers shared their disgust over the indirect racism in Mike’s comments.

“Indirect racism”? Give me a break. This preacher is a racist. He is not saying anything I haven’t heard in IFB churches and conferences over the years.

Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Comments

8 responses to “Sounds of Fundamentalism: IFB Pastor Mike Keller Explains Why Blacks in the South Had it Good”

  1. Avatar
    Zoe

    Mike: “[…] built churches where they could “love” enslaved Black people and “[teach] them how to read so they can read the Bible.”

    Zoe: … built churches where they could evangelize enslaved Black people and give them orders on how to obey their white masters and continue to enrich them.

    Reply
  2. Avatar
    ObstacleChick

    Holy crap. That’s even worse than the “lost cause history” I was taught at fundamentalist Christian school, and I didn’t think it coukd get much worse than that! It tracks that this os a Duggar connection.

    Reply
  3. Avatar
    lilarebecca

    I’ve heard this before when it first came out. So sad to know that people still believe that. I thought we had evolved and moved past this as a people. But I’m from the Northeast, maybe I don’t see it as much.

    Reply
  4. Avatar
    Jeffery Leon Bishop

    So the Black Folks could just leave the plantation in the winter on a whim, whenever they wanted that time of year, and head up to Washington to lobby the president.

    I am stunned and amazed by the brilliance of this gentleman.

    Reply
  5. Avatar
    GeoffT

    Holy smoke, I didn’t think it was possible for people to be able to alter the reality of slavery quite so much but this guy makes it sound like the slaves were away in summer camp.

    The dear pastor ignores the fact that the early slaves were dragged from their homes without any notice, women and children either murdered or left to fend for themselves if they weren’t otherwise useful (the younger women and older children were used for sex). Slaves who were unable to endure the horrific conditions of the slave ships either died or were simply thrown overboard, along with any excess slaves who might be overloading the ship. Of course, slaves were bred once they arrived at plantations, and were bartered and sold as though they were commodities, which is how they were regarded. Conditions were poor at best and horrific in the main. Punishments were extreme and invoked at the drop of a hat. Paradoxically most slaves maintained deep religious beliefs which, to a large extent, account for the excess Christian fervour in the US, and which was perhaps the only thing that might appear to give them any hope in a cruel world. Of course, the slave owners, all good Christians themselves (vomit!) exploited this, even to the extent of guilt tripping slaves who tried to escape.

    Slavery apologists make me sick.

    Reply
  6. Avatar
    matilddaa

    I visit the city of Bristol UK. Its famous native bristolian was Edward Colston, a huge slave trader. Institutions, streets, schools and the internationally known concert hall all bore his name. Till 2020, when the huge statue of him was roped, pulled down and thrown into the city-centre harbour in solidarity with BLM. Several city churches had ancient stained glass windows or plaques commemorating him and these have gone now too. I just read that renovations are to be made on a city church and this could include exhuming Colston’s remains. Hopefully they’ll be chucked into the harbour too!

    Reply
  7. Avatar
    TheDutchGuy

    Well it’s Teksus. What does you ekspekt? (Sorry. Satan made me write that)

    Reply
    1. Avatar
      Bruce Gerencser

      🤣🤣

      Reply

Want to Respond to Bruce? Fire Away! If You Are a First Time Commenter, Please Read the Comment Policy Located at the Top of the Page.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

More posts

Discover more from The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading