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Bible Study Title: Opinion piece about Westboro Baptist Church. Westboro Baptist Church preaches that all the world’s tragedies can be blamed on society’s tolerance of gays. Pastor Fred Phelps Sr. leads the Topeka, Kan., congregation of 70 to 80 members, most of whom are his children and grandchildren. Although Westboro identifies itself as Baptist, it is not affiliated with any known Baptist convention or association. The congregation has made headlines by picketing at military funerals, arguing that the soldiers’ deaths are God’s punishment for homosexuality. The group also protested at the Rev. Jerry Falwell’s funeral, calling him a “false prophet,” and recently in West Virginia, where 29 miners were killed, with signs that read, “Thank God for dead miners.” Albert Snyder, the grieving father of one fallen soldier, sued Westboro for invading his privacy and inflicting emotional distress (Snyder’s son was not gay). The legal dispute is now headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. There is no biblical defense for Westboro’s hateful message and insensitive demonstrations. The group’s philosophy and approach are riddled with contradictions. Westboro cannot truly believe in the Bible, which speaks of God’s love, mercy and grace. Jesus vehemently opposed earthly agents of condemnation. He said, in Matthew, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged. … Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye.” Westboro’s hate is a huge plank. Some argue that, although Westboro’s protests are despicable, they are not illegal. The fear is that if the high court restricts the group’s First Amendment right, it will have dire consequences for all of us. Private speech endorsing religion is protected under the Constitution’s Free Speech and Free Exercise clauses. People of faith always worry that a ruling limiting First Amendment rights could affect religious speech. It seems, therefore, that the only way to combat the Westboro radicals and other hate groups is through counter-protests. When Westboro showed up in West Virginia, counter-demonstrators staged a far bigger rally. While Westboro’s actions may be not be illegal, they are immoral and unethical. People of faith must remember that the law cannot be the sole decider of behavior. We should hold ourselves to a higher standard. The law may permit us to do certain things, but our religious convictions should restrain us. Corey J. Hodges is pastor of New Pilgrim Baptist Church. He can be reached at coreyjhodges@comcast.net. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 18. We, I'm glad to see you are doing your part to see His work is not perverted by hateful people. Even though you are posting this to disparage others, you are aligning your work with His. You just need to straighten out your attitude problem.
#6. To: Rudgear (#1) Even though you are posting this to disparage others, you are aligning your work with His. You just need to straighten out your attitude problem. Standing by your convictions is not easy sometimes, standing by unpopular convictions like the Word of God, can be dangersous at times, it takes guts, perserverance, and those who go through life in a fog, not knowing what, or who to believe in, they can't deal with it unless it's with anger, and an attitude...it's all they have, it's takes faith in something to behave any other way, all they have is raw emotions. jmo
#7. To: Murron (#6) I agree. Hate the sinful, perverted behavior but love the sinner. Libs hate that, for some sick reason.
#13. To: Rudgear, Murron (#7) Well, [war's] got to do something for attention, his multiple personalities aren't speaking to him any more, and his imaginary friends keep finding excuses not to come over. (Murron) Is that both of you expressing your love for me? [snicker]
#17. To: war (#13) That tag line just drives you to distraction, doesn't it? I think I'll keep it around awhile . . . :-P
#18. To: Rudgear (#17) That tag line just drives you to distraction, doesn't it? I think I'll keep it around awhile . . . Any tagline that is portrayed as an 'original' Murron quote is just too funny. Maybe you'd better try to find who she stole it from. I would guess BE.
Replies to Comment # 18. #22. To: mininggold, war (#18) Whining mold, I see you responded to whore's invitation to spam. Class shows through. If whore were honest and had virtue, he would have explained to you that I previously tried to iron out authorship with him (whore) and he devolved to catty name-calling. Frustrated by this, I returned Murron to the authorship since that is where I first read the quote. Don't like it or Murron? I don't care. Get a life and stop being at war's beck and call.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 18. Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest |
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