What do *you* think of Fred Phelps and the Westboro "church"?

[lyonessnyc]

 Someone I've known for a very long time says that he's not seen very many Christians condemning the Westboro "church people." I told him he hasn't been listening.

Do me a favor gang -- please speak up. What do *you* think of Fred Phelps and his "church"?

Comments

[jtdiii]

Considering that he calls the catholic church vampires, a pedophile organization, going to burn in hell, etc. they are not too fond of him. On the other hand they appear to be part of the large collection that believes that even talking back just gives the lunatics some legitimacy.

What always surprises me is that he manages to inspire that much hatred in so many people that they are willing to protest in so many locations.

[ldykatrina]

They are a bunch of idiots

[minstrlmummr]

Phelps doesn't speak for me. Nor does he speak for most of the Christians I know, many of whom are too busy living their lives as best they can to make public statements of repudiation. I can't explain why people who HAVE press offices (like Councils of Churches) do not repudiate Westboro, except that maybe they'd have to say the exact same thing every time Phelps rears his ugly head 8P

Phelps is a hate-mongering lunatic. I fervently believe he'd be a hate-mongering lunatic no matter which faith he chose for dressing up his vitriol.

There are passages in the New Testament that mention false prophets claiming God's and/or Christ's authority for their actions. (I always have to go look up whether Jesus or Paul was the one who coined the phrase ''By their fruits shall ye know them.'' BRB)

Found It 8)

[minstrlmummr]

It was Jesus, according to Matthew 7

Re: Found It 8)

[handlebar605]

"Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire."

So what this is saying to me, is that Christians need to police their own ranks. There should be some kind of religious court, which can go in & stop a person who is spewing hate & other kinds of vitriol under the guise of being a Christian.

The only problem with a Religious court, is you may start getting things like Iran, and Afghanistan where the Religious Court/Leaders believe they are the Only Leaders/Courts that their people should have.

The Short Answer Is, "It's Complicated"...

[minstrlmummr]

We're talking about a religion whose deity stated "No man cometh unto the Father but by me", which was twisted in only a few centuries into "join our church or be killed in this world and damned in the next

[dicea]

When a naughty child sits in the middle of the floor screaming, "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" as a last resort to get attention, he or she must be ignored because any attention will reinforce that such behavior is a valid method of getting attention.

The world does not need Christians to condemn Fred and the WBC because it is clear that Fred and the WBC are not Christian, are not respectable, are not sane.

I really don't think anyone has ever encountered WBC and thought, "Gosh, I haven't heard any other Christians speaking out against these guys, maybe I should try to learn more about the message and see how I can support this Church."

Whenever I see reports of WBC dicking around at some funeral or other gathering, I try to hear the hymn "How Can I Keep From Singing" in the hope that I can train myself to sing peaceful hymns rather than strangle a bitch if I ever encounter WBC in person. When they behave like brats it doesn't give me a right to follow their example.

Singing...I like it 8)

[minstrlmummr]

I almost wish I lived closer to one of the places WBC has been. It might be fun to organize a musical counter-demonstration with songs like "How Can I Keep From Singing", "Amazing Grace", the Hallelujah chorus...(suggestions welcome 8)

Re: Singing...I like it 8)

[dicea]

I think these lads took this idea and ran with it in a way that required only guts and no musical skills. They've made it so anyone can join in and celebrate the rejection of intolerance. I think there must be enough people in any given area plagued by the WBC who can gather and make a joyful noise. I'm not sure how one would go about organizing such a thing though.

Love love LOVE your Black Adder icon. Always wanted to see a sketch where Turnip Auntie and Queenie got stuck in an elevator together.

[stringlady]

This.

What Westboro wants is attention. The very fact that we are talking about them here means that they have succeeded.

This troubles me profoundly - and I do not know what to do about it.

[christianet]

Simply, I try not to think about him or pay any attention to him and his ilk. He's an idiot, they're all idiots and douchebags, and they are definitely not Christian in the purest form of the term.

Technically, I'm a very lapsed Catholic who considers herself an agnostic theist. I really don't think any one religion has a handle on the Divine, but most of them have set up paths to at least help you live this life in a way that steers you away from being a dick to others and perhaps even being a help. Phelps and his crew, al Qaeda, radicalized settlers in Israel, conservative Ugandan Christians calling for the extermination of homosexuals, the Taliban - all of them have strayed far from the path of their faiths and have pretty much plunged over the cliff. But that's my opinion.

It's be nice if a couple of interfaith organizations would just issue a statement of condemnation for the major occurrences of Westboro asshattery, and the diosceses and churches local to the protests do the same thing. Just to show some unified front.