What's Up With Westboro?

It was a closed-casket funeral because his body was too mangled and disoriented
for visitation. His family-mortified. Flowers everywhere. Metals and awards were
carefully and proudly placed on a table. A poster stood in the back of the
room covered in pictures of their little boy. He had always wanted to serve his
country, and was on his second tour when death met him with the force of an
improvised exploseve device. http://militarytimes.com/valor/army-sgt-zachary-m-fisher/4714170

"These men were in the most dangerous spot on Earth, doing what is
arguably one of the most dangerous jobs that can be imagined..."
-
Col. Richard G. Kaiser

My cousin Zach knew the outcome of his job, as do all men and women who
serve. These people who protect us know there is a chance they may never see
their families again. They know the next time they come home, it could be in a
casket. Despite everything,
they do it anyway. Without thought of any reward, they defend a nation of
people who can live a free life. Because of them, we can say what we want to say
and believe in whatever it is we want to believe in. When they come home, most
honor them for their sacrifice. An occasional "thank you" is appropriate. It's
acceptable to stand up at parades, take off your hat, and put your hand over
your heart. Not to show up to a fallen soldier's funeral with a sign that says
"THANK GOD FOR DEAD SOLDIERS."

The Westboro Baptist Church is one of the most well-known hate groups in
America. Started in the late 90's by Fred Phelps, this church is notorious for
protesting things they deem "evil," including soldiers, gay rights, and Sweden.
Yes. Sweden. To them God hates just about every place and everyone in the world besides their little group of followers-comprised of mostly their extended family and one or two other
families. Actual campaigning started 1991, and from there various websites and
movements have been sparked out of their need to save us. Although the actual
church would not admit this, the WBC is essentially a cult. One leader who uses
brain-washing techniques including physical abuse and controlling information in
and out to keep gaurd over a group of die-hard followers.
They believe God hates people who live lives that go against scripture in
anyway, and that true love is informing people of their sins, and warning
them of their hell-bound voyage. Also, they believe that anyone affiliated with
these "evil doings" is also damned- the explaination behind military
pickets.

However, isn't there a tad bit of hypocracy in this cult?

First and foremost, we must look at what the bible says. (Apoligies if
you're not particuarly religious) This group focuses most of their attention on
Romans 1. In a nutshell, it says men had lust for one another, and women
exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones (what the WBC calls homosexuals)
It also says the people who approve of this deserve death. (what the wbc calls
homosexual enablers) Avoiding serious debate among the various interpretations
with this verse-and the bible in general, I will say this. Because of the
bible's roots, there are literally thousands of ways to twist the bible to suit
whatever lifestyle you want. The thing that amazes me is that so much attention
is pushed onto Romans 1, but they never noticed what Romans 2 had to say. This
basically says who are you to judge others when you have so many faults of your
own.

Unfortunately, in The WBC 's eyes they are not being
judgemental. They justify their wrongdoings with a false interpretation of
scripture. To them, true love is infroming us of our sins, and letting us know
we are eternally damned. Love to them does not equal tact. Or acceptance.

I find more flaws in the system of WBC's campaigning than just the message
they hope to convey. I find flaws (or benefits) in the message they actually
get across. Protesting at a soldier's funeral is one of the most disgusting acts
on intolerance a person can commit. Its so immoral that people who are on the
fence about issues like gay rights are actually swayed to become in favor of gay
rights. By acting horrible, people see how aweful and cruel human beings can
be.

Lastly, the breeding that takes place in this cult is absurd. In an interview, one of the granddaughters of Fred Phelps claimed that she was out picketing since she was five years
old, and said she didn't know everything she was defending meant then.
Admittedly, she commented she may not know all of the reasons why she does what
she does now. This cult is a tight-knit group of family members. On the streets
of these pickets you can see little children-no older than six-holding signs
with words they don't know the meanings to. They can't possibly wrap their minds around the layers of hate their parents have entangled in them. They recite "the lords word" like robots, until it's drummed into their brain with such conviction. These opinions are presented like
the sky is blue. It's all they know. These ideas represent home. They represent
the only life they've ever known, and if a member had enough independent thought
to deviate from the clan, one of two things would happen. a.) they would be disowned and
shunned. b.) they would be dragged back home and beat into submission. No
matter how sure the grown up children are, it's not fair that that's the only
life they've ever known. Little kids that have no say in the matter are forced into a cruel and judgemental life, most likely to be avoided by any possible friends.

Hate groups like the WBC are one of my biggest petpeeves. How dare they call
themselves christians. How dare they say they are following God's will. If you
are going to preach the word of Jesus Christ, understand who Christ was. He was
an ordinary man who stuck up for sinners. He loved prostitutes, and he washed
the feet of even the lowliest of people. Christ lived a life full of love and
aacceptance. Christian or not, as a human it's only right to love one another.
I feel sorry for the WBC, because they'll never understand what it is like to
unconditionally love a human being, or how to recieve love.

This is not a shout out to the WBC, rather a plea to everyone else who loves
the world and all the people in it.

Here is my call to action. I say the only way to beat out the hypocrites is
to ignore them. By fighting back, by yelling hateful words and sporting violent
signs, we're doing them =a favor. We're proving to them that we are the vile
beings that they say we are. Fight back with love. Not just to the WBC, but to
anyone who has ever done you wrong. Don't give these people any more of a reason
to hate you. Why kick a dead horse? Stand up for the ones that have stood up for
you. Prove that we are a nation of people with so much to offer. Prove that we
don't need to memorize and morph scripture to be deserving, and that any God
worth loving loves everyone. We'll show them what love is.