The Church of Hate

A reader posted the following comment in my Heather Ledger blog entry:

I was watching The Hour--a some kind of interview-talk show. George, the host gave news that a Baptist Church clearly stated that Heath Ledger "is in hell now" because, one of the reasons, he starred in Brokeback Mountain.  After watching that i was agitated. i really believe that if you go to hell or not depends on your relationship with God and how you are as a person. Seriously, that BS church (or whomever stated that)frustrates me. Don't they believe that our sins are FORGIVEN? I'm confused about why they are so sure that Heath Ledger would have total damnation when they have no freakin idea of what a kind of person he was. They are utterly judgmental!  Sure, Heath promoted homosexuality, but who the frik are they to decide and say who's going to hell or not?  I'm sorry if this is a bad place for me to post this. I really don't know any other places to post this at.  I just needed to let this out. Sorry.  I just pray that Heath Ledger can rest in peace.

The church this reader is talking about is the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) out of Topeka, Kansas.  Here is the church's Wikipedia summary.    

In a nutshell, the WBC is composed of around 50-60 members (primarily the direct and decending family members of Fred Phelps, the actual preacher/founder), and spends most of it's time and resources picketing Pride parades, professional football and baseball games, Disney-sponsored events, and, worst of all, funerals of individuals like Matthew Sheppard, fallen soldiers, and possibly Heath Ledger, according to this article.  The WBC pickets the funerals and other events to spread its message that anyone who supports homosexuality will burn in hell.

Everytime I hear about "Reverend" Fred Phelps or the WBC, my initial thought is to get angry and want to punch Phelps in the face. 

Then I remind myself what a ridiculous band of people the WBC is made up of, and I focus my anger on the press for giving these idiots air and print space.

A few years ago, as I was trying to come to grips with being both gay and a Christian, I spent a lot of time listening to people tell me why homosexuality was wrong. 

I ultimately came to a different conclusion - God is a God of love, not hate and bigotry (the post on that issue is here).

In my opinion, when an organization such as the WBC spends so much time and energy promoting hate, it cannot be further away from the message of God.  Remember the Nazi's?

Comments

[Jason]

In my opinion, as idiotic as the people who form the WBC are, I can't say they are really crazy.

Sure, I despise their values and everything they stand for, but if you question exactly where all of this is coming from, I think there is a reasonable answer to that question.

These people as fundamentalist as they get; in the literal sense, I think they are the most Christian out there- because they follow the Bible literally. Sure, it doesn't say "God hates fags", but it does condemn homosexuality and is quite harsh regarding a whole number of other things.

I know there are a lot of liberal Christians out there, and I can't say I blame them for not taking the Bible literally and in its entirety. Because in my opinion, if you do try to follow ALL the Bible, you will end up someplace not that far from the WBC.

They might be a Church of Hate, but if you read the book objectively, I don't think you will be surprised why.

[Sergio Viula]

I dropped by just to check if there was any post about this insane pastor Fred Phelps.

I've just issued two posts on my own blog, both in Portuguese, of course, since I'm writing to Brazilian buddies.

Something must be done to legally stop this insane sir.

Wishing you and all the American Gay Community peace,

Sergio Viula
www.gls.zip.net (blog in Portuguese)

[Mr Rainbow Man]

Seriously, I find putting religion and sexuality together is not correct. Coming from a conservative country, i find this very frightenning....

[Christerbjorn]

I have always found it laudible that such "fundamentalists" don't ever question why they are so physically and often mentally challenged. The evidence is exposed every time they are depicted. It's a sad indictment of their existance that they try to put down others to aid their own futile self elevation.
Personally, to watch them is purely entertaining.
Christerbjorn.