Look in any city directory and you will find page after page of churches listed; often with dozens of different denominations existing even in smaller communities. Sometimes all that separates one sect from another are the Bible verses they choose to emphasize. With such a wide and frequently clashing variety of sentiments to choose from, every sect takes from it what suits them. It can be all things to all people and, like disclaimers on product advertising often reads, results may vary.Take the Quakers for instance. Early on, they focused on a verse in the New Testament, "That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world," (John 1:9) and derived from that a doctrine of social activism that called for everyone, men, women and even slaves (and with some Quakers, even homosexuals), to be treated as equals. On the other side of the spectrum, you have groups like the Rev. Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) in Topeka, Kansas. Here, from their website, are some of the Bible verses they focus on to justify their sentiment that "God hates fags":
Sodomites are wicked & sinners before the Lord exceedingly (Gen.13:13), are violent & doom nations (Gen. 19:1-25; Jgs. 19), are abominable to God (Lev. 18:22), are worthy of death for their vile sex practices (Lev. 20:13; Rom. 1:32), are called dogs as filthy, impudent & libidinous (Deut. 23:17,18; Mat. 7:6;Phil. 3:2), produce in society mass intoxication from their wine made from grapes of gall from the vine of Sodom & fields of Gomorrah, poisoning society's mores with the poison of dragons & the cruel venom of asps (Deut. 32:32,33), show their sin & shame on their countenance (Isa. 3:9), are shameless & unable to blush (Jer. 6:15), workers of iniquity (Psa. 5:5), liars & murderers (Jn. 8:44), filthy & lawless (2 Pet. 2:7,8), natural brute beasts (2 Pet. 2:12), are likened unto dogs eating their own vomit, sows wallowing in their own feces (2 Pet. 2:22), will proliferate at the end of the world bringing final judgment on mankind (Lk. 17:28-30), have been finally given up by God to uncleanness to dishonor their own bodies, to vile affections, & to a reprobate mind such that they cannot think straight about anything (Rom. 1:23-28); and, unable to blush, be ashamed, or repent (Jer. 6:15), they have no hope of Heaven (Rev. 22:15). "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Heb. 10:31.
In the interest of brevity, I'll dispense with the verses they use to justify their divinely-inspired animus against Jews, Moslems, Hindus, other Christian denominations and anyone else they can think of.
For many years now, the Westboro Baptist Church has become famous for its picketing of public events and funerals, usually related to gays or US soldiers (God hates America too, it seems). They travel all over the country to make their protests. They even went toMr. Rogers Neighborhood to picket a Fred Rogers' memorial in 2003 (Can it get nastier than that?). They get a lot of media attention.
For almost as long as WBC has been protesting, they have been met by counter-protestors, often outnumbering the few Westboro picketers many times over. Some of the counter-protestors have signs condemning the WBC. Sometimes, the signs just lampoon or mock them. It's never made any difference to the Westboro people. They have the unshakeable faith of true believers and just keep picketing.Lately though, some people are trying to achieve a little good out of WBC's religious hate.University of Illinois at Chicago student Jason Connell provides an example of this. On March 8, when 5 Westboro Baptist picketers were drawing media attention in front of the campus's Jewish center, Connell used the occasion to raise money for the groups the WBC targets, including Human Rights Campaign, International AIDS Foundation and the Chicago based Jerusalem Open House. Appropriately enough, the funds raised are being donated to these groups in the name of the Westboro Baptist Church and the non-profits will be sending their "thank you" cards to WBC pastor Fred Phelps. Connell calls it a "Lemons to Lemonade" situation.
It's an idea that's catching on. Earlier in the month when the WBC went to Richmond VA to picket 4 targets (the Holocaust Museum, the Jewish Community Center, the Jerusalem Connection and the Hermitage High School Gay-Straight Student Alliance), a non-profit organization called Pennies In Protest used the occasion to raise over $14,000. The money was divided equally and sent to WBC's 4 targets or the charities they designated.
Now that's the way to make lemonade from lemons and turn hatred to the service of good! I can hardly wait until the WBC comes here to Los Angeles.
(Thanks and a tip of the Hatlo Hat to Hemant Mehta and contributors to the Friendly Atheist blog for turning me onto this story)
Photo Credits:
1) A WBC picketer (Wikipedia)
2) A mocking counter-protestor in Chicago (photo: John Scalzi/http://whatever.scalzi.com)
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Comments
Thank you for a great article
LoVe it!!!
In case you're wondering: they may call themselves the Westboro Baptist Church. But they have nothing in common with any Baptists I know.
Considering they beleive THEY have THE ONLY TRUE WORD...
sounds pretty much like most Baptists - and you, Hurl-Butt.
What a great idea! Hurray for Jason Connell!
These people shouldn't be refered to as Christians. Christ left us 2 commandments (guidelines for daily living). One of them says to love your neighbor as yourself. WBC is a cult masquerading as a Baptist Church. They should not be grouped with other Christians who try to follow the teachings of Jesus. I know we haven't always done that perfectly, but most of the people I know would see WBC for what it is and not have anything to do with it.
I'd like to talk for a moment about one of my other goals in writing a column. I am a big proponent of the ideals of civil society and one of the characteristics of those ideals is civility in debate. I'm as passionate as anyone else but I try to remember that living on the same planet without killing one another requires a cooperative effort. That's why, whatever I think about someone's message, I try to keep my arguments about the message and not the messenger. I may not always succeed but I do try. I hope those who comment here will try too. We live together on a small planet. Let's not make it smaller with pettiness.
"These people shouldn't be referred to as Christians"? If there was ever one common theme among Christians, it is dividing the Christian world up into sects and claiming that the other sects are false Christians.
"WBC is a cult"? Sorry, so is every other Christian cult.
Ahhh, EPIC WIN for Hugh- another great look at a national "epidemic..."
Picketing? That's just nuts! You are right about what you said about the different sects having different scriptures that they emphasize. One church I went to for awhile believes that you can demand anything of God and he has to give it to you if you ask while believing... so if you don't get "whatever" it is because you doubted. Also...this same church believes that all illness is a spirit... cancer is a spirit, homosexuality is a spirit (yep... they think it is a depravity or a sickness)... bla bla bla... I separated myself from that church too. **sigh**
yep the different denominations will have different dogma, so it is important that a christian shop around for a church,like they would a doctor.
Great idea, but not original. When WBC came to NYC the local gay synagogue, Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, used the occasion as a fundraiser.
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