Loving Hate

This might be challenging. It was to me.

The Westboro Baptist Church was founded in 1955 by Fred Phelps. Since then, it has been in and out of the national spotlight for several reasons. They are vehemently anti-gay, anti-Catholic, anti-Islam and there are serious reasons to consider them anti-black and anti-semitic. As such, they are known mostly for picketing the funerals of homosexuals who were murdered or died of AIDS. They picket lesbian and gay weddings. They protest at the funerals of American soldiers who died in Iraq.

All of their actions are founded on strong beliefs in a few Old Testament passages, couples with an unnerving dedication to the closeness of Rapture. They hate America (and several other countries) because they feel the countries enable homosexuality. To them, this sin is above all others and stands as the principle cause of God's alleged hatred of these countries. Including the US.

Westboro could certainly be considered a cult by the broad and narrow definitions. In broad terms, a cult is a dedicated group of people that follow an ethos that stands outside the mainstream. In narrow terms, a cult is a dangerous mechanism of brainwashing, usually dedicated to a strong, central leader that uses dishonest tactics in order to bring others into the fold. The danger also moves beyond spewing hate-speech.

Phelps himself has been arrested for battery several times. His son speaks out against him, claiming that Phelps beat his children and wife in accordance with Old Testament law. His other son, however, is a dedicated follower who set up the first website for Westboro. Currently, the church runs sites including:

GodHatesFags.com
GodHatesAmerica.com

among others.

The list of vile things about this group is far too long to write down. A quick trip over to their wikipedia entry should enlighten if you need more reason to despise them.

They are getting headlines again for releasing several videos of songs they've written. One is a parody of We Are the World cleverly retitled God Hates the World (and it can be v iewed here.) Most people I've talked to consider this the worst of the videos because of the last twenty seconds.

Reading the literature on this group and watching their videos is guaranteed to make blood boil.

I got into a discussion with a friend of mine regarding the group in relation to my fears of religion. This group represents how far the pendulum can swing when religion is involved. For the most part, I realize that religion is a great help to the world. It creates an enlightenment about life that spreads joy and love. But in the wrong hands, it becomes incredibly dangerous - just like anything that elicits that sort of power.

My friend commented that what these people had was not religion, and I agree its a perversion, but its still based in religious belief. Hate them as much as you'd like, but what they believe in is still religious - they believe in God and believe in a certain way of living based on their interpretation of the Bible.

All of this aside, it brought me to the real puzzling question, and I hope it's something that puzzles you as well.

Christ calls on us to love one another. He teaches to feel compassion.

So how does one show compassion to this group?

It's easy to hate them. It's the natural response to the sort of vitriol and holier-than-thou-ness they exude. But hate isn't the correct response according to the teachings of Christ.

After your blood boils over from reading about this group or checking out their videos on youtube, how do you look at them with kindness and love? How do you love this group? How do you spread God's love to them?

Leaving a religious component aside for a moment, I'll say that I have the same question based on my beliefs. As someone that believes in humanity and its endeavors, I find myself concerned with how this group fits into the grand scheme, and how I can show love for them as fellow humans.

It's, for the moment, definitely got me stumped.