Reply #2: Hm, interesting.

[crispini]

I see no problem with people expressing preference for a certain race/religion... after all, you know what you like, right? And just because I say I "prefer" eggplant doesn't mean that I don't like green beans.

I also see no problem with people saying "must be" a certain religion. Religion is a key component of someone's personality, and if you are looking for a life partner, and you exclusively want to date in your religion, that's pretty acceptable to many people.

Saying that somebody "must be" a certain RACE, however, is starting to ring my "prejudice" bell. After all, if you "must be" race X... why? And saying that somebody "must NOT be" a certain race is starting to smack of prejudice even more. Both of these are starting to edge into the territory of statements like, "I don't date X/Y because most of them are (insert stereotype here)."