http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050828/ap_on_re_us/soldier_funeral_protests Will the fun from the Christian fundamentalists never end? The hate certainly won't. There is this church, who members went to two funerals of Iraqi war vets, saying the US isn't worth defending since it tolerates gays. Wow. And just when Pat Robertson and Anne Coulter were the lowest of the right wing haters, these people play a trump card. None of these people are Christians. All fakes.
This is already being discussed in the War protests at Walter Reed thread. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=236322
"The church, which is not affiliated with a larger denomination, is made up mostly of Phelps' children, grandchildren and in-laws."
Interesting. These "right wingers" have held fund raisers for Al Gore. Here is a pic of Fred Phelps and some as yet unidentified other people:
Ian seems to be pounding the keyboard extra hard, now that the ignore feature is getting more and more enabled. This one is in another thread.
I'm no friend to any kind of fundamentalism, but these guys are strictly lone-shark weirdos. The extended family that hates together, bonds ever-so-closer in the compound together.
Bon soir, Zizou! There are a lot of wacky Christians out there, just as there are a lot of wacky Moslems, agnostics, etc. Phelps & his family are way out there on the continuum, and richly deserve to be hounded for what they did. Freedom of religion permits all these wackos to believe what they want, although thankfully there are limits on practices (polygamy, human sacrifice, etc.). Phelps seems to be relying a little too much on the Old Testament in his condemantion of both gays & the USA.
But if nothing else it shows that lumping a group of people together with a few whack-jobs is just plain stupid. Is everyone paying attention? Ian, ITN, Karl, Ann, Rush, Sean H., Joe S.?
You know, I've been out of town and off-line for a week. After looking at some of the other threads, I see what you were getting at.
These guys don't show up at miscellaneous events that have nothing to do with homosexuality once or twice a year solely to draw attention to themselves. To compare Phelps with any of the other 4 is inaccurate.
be fruit inspectors. Nothing Phelps says is inline with jesus' Teachings. I agree that homosexuality is not in line with biblical teachings, however, Phelps acts out of hate and manipulation, not love. Would Jesus have boycotted funerals and held up signs that say "God Hates F..." No way. We have a right to be critical of any "Rev" or "Christian" whose actions do not line up with the teachings of Christ and the Bible. Westboro Baptist is made up of Phelps family and a few close friends. Not lined up with any denomination. His only "teaching" is to boycott various events at random due to homosexuality. Nothing about that church would make one think that it is a Christian church other than the name.
The other 4 all operate in an environment of hate, ignorance and fear. They can only succeed if people believe their hate, ignorance and fear. None of them are Christians. Not even vaguely. And there should be a special hell for that media whore Phelps.
Would Jesus advocate murdering an elected head of state? Would Jesus declare the survivors of 9/11, the people of Manhattan, willing to capitulate to terrorists? Would Jesus ask for God to deliver acts of retribution? Would Jesus bear false witness? Jesus did throw the money-changers out of the temple. Are the real Christians going to throw Phelps, Robertson, Coulter, Falwell and Bush out of the temple of Christianity? If not, your silence becomes acquiescence. PS. I'm not a Christian. It would be nice if people that claimed to be, would walk the walk, as well as talk the talk. I know plenty of Christians that do, and we get along just fine.
First of all, your point doesn't apply to Coulter and Bush. I don't know if Coulter claims to be a Christian, but, rather, Conservative. Bush claims to be a Christian, but is a head of state, not a minister. Let's not confuse the two. Jesus was not politically involved. He spoke of interpersonal relationships, not political strategy. The only time he ever made a remotely political statement was "give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." I'm not familiar with the Falwell incident you reference. let's take Pat. From a strictly political point of view, is his opinion inaccurate? Would we be better off without Chavez in Venezuela? Unquestionably. From a strictly political point of view, just as we're better off without Hussein in charge of Iraq (I am NOT advocating removing him). Robertson and Falwell's problem is that they are too politically involved. While you could argue that what Pat said was correct, it is absolutely inappropriate for a minister to say on tv (or from the pulpit). If you want to find a huge critic of the church for placing all its eggs in the political basket, you don't have to look any farther than me. I have criticized the church on this and other issues many, many times on this forum. And let's remember, according to the Bible, Jesus lived a perfect life. never told a lie. I don't care if you're Billy Graham, because you're a human being, you, at some point have "bore false witness." That does not, in and of itself make someone not a Christian or "Christ-like" although, of course, each Christian's goal should be to live thier life in perfect accordance with the life of Christ. Our humanity prevents us from doing that.