Comment by Strega on January 15, 2013 at 12:56pm

Lovely post.  I have never been a Christian (or any other "---ian" as far as religion goes) and I had not therefore looked at the WBC as anything but lunatics in search of attention.  I think you are right, though.  If you followed the letter of the bible as closely as you can (bearing in mind contradictions) then you would end up like the WBC.  And it is a marvelously unarguable point.

Thank you for that, I shall file it in my head, for later and frequent airing :)

Comment by Val Wuthrich on January 15, 2013 at 3:30pm

Well said. The whole law of the Holy Bible still applies today, as God says in the, you guest it, the HB. I haven't seen so much schism as I do in the Christian faith, which I'm very familiar with. Why so many? You can hear one of the sides at CSN radio, worth a listen, would like to know what you think!

The schism of religion with science and reason started when we reasoned and realized we aren't at the center of Gods creation.

Comment by _Robert_ on January 15, 2013 at 7:30pm

Thanks Arch, I needed a laugh !

Brenda is correct. We are lucky that most Christians do not practice what is preached.  I don't think the WBC will end with machine guns or cool aid, but you never know!

Comment by Dale Headley on January 15, 2013 at 7:40pm

Brenda;  I certainly agree with your assessment of the WBC.  They do, in fact, follow a literal, albeit selective interpretation of the Bible, which says a lot about the Bible, doesn’t it?

I do, however, disagree with you on one point.  I absolutely DO believe that this vicious family's prime motivation is hate.  I think they cite the worst excesses of Old Testament theology in order to provide justification for their despicable brand of bigotry.  In the U.S., though, this is pretty much true of most of the evangelical, fundamentalist communities, though perhaps not taken to the insane extent as do Fred Phelps and his inbred kin.     

Judging by your spelling, I assume you’re a Brit.  So you folks over there are aware of our shame: the WBC.  

I would be equally interested in what you think of our greater shame: a cowardly acceptance that shooting people down in multiple numbers in schools, theaters, malls, businesses, and streets with military-style weaponry is a cultural norm to be celebrated in our “exceptional” country.  The Bible-thumping right wing in America believes that the ripping to shreds of 20 helpless, innocent babes is a small price to pay for maintaining the fiction that the 2nd Amendment was intended by old slave-owners in powdered wigs to assure that everyone (except slaves) had unhindered access to whatever weaponry they desired, aside from the muskets stored in a central armory for the use of a well-regulated militia in each state.

Fred Phelps and his odious clan are almost as low as you can get - almost as low as the NRA, which gleefully sacrifices little children to the greed of the manufacturers and sellers of weapons and ammunition.

Comment by Gallup's Mirror on January 16, 2013 at 3:35am

[The WBC] follow[s] the bible to the letter...

I don't think so. They use Leviticus to justify the 'God Hates Fags' routine. Followed to the letter the same passage of Leviticus that says God hates gay men requires them to kill gay men. (The Bible makes no mention of picketing.) The same goes for people who have affairs, insult their parents, have sex with animals, or say God damn it: kill them.

God is especially tough on fortune-tellers: pelt them with stones until they are dead. But He goes easy on men who see their wives naked during their menstrual periods: banishment. 

The Bible says God abhors people who do all of these things (Lev 20:23) not just gay men. So the WBC is grossly uneven in their selection of scapegoats. For instance, why don't they picket family courts? Or picket mediums? They're not supposed to bug lesbians at all: God specifies men and women pertaining to bestiality but only men pertaining to homosexuality.

The WBC has a GodHatesFags.com site, but they are strangely absent the other requisite sites;  GodHatesDivorcees.com, GodHatesFortuneTellers.com, GodHatesSheepFuckers.com, GodHatesPeopleWhoSwear.com, GodHatesPeopleWhoInsultParents.com and GodHatesPeriodPeepers.com.  

WBC is not following the Bible to the letter. They're just another strain of religious crackpots who want the Bible to say what they mean, rather than say what it actually says.

- - - Leviticus 20 - - - 

9 ‘If there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother, his bloodguiltiness is upon him.

10 ‘If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

13 ‘If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.

15 & 16 ‘If there is a man who lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; you shall also kill the animal. If there is a woman who approaches any animal to mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.

18 ‘If there is a man who lies with a menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her flow, and she has exposed the flow of her blood; thus both of them shall be cut off from among their people.19

27 ‘Now a man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.’”

22 ‘You are therefore to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to live will not spew you out.

23 ‘Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I will drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them.

Comment by Suzanne Olson-Hyde on January 16, 2013 at 4:54am

@Dale Headley@Brenda Lee

One man, Fred Phelps, has a mental problem. Why pick just one rule in the bible. Why become fixated with just one. His Atheist son, who left the group of about seventy, was asked 'Did he think his father was gay", and the son said, "I don't think so". Yes he is full of hatred, but I think there is another agenda here. He is certainly more outspoken about gays, with his placard drawings etc. and he loves the limelight, he loves the power he has over his congregation. To me, he is a typical theist, just more outspoken, and by being so hateful and vicious, brings sane people together. Theists agree with Fred, just not so vocally. It is also when he goes overboard by picketing funerals of soldiers etc, he is mentally unbalanced.

The god of the bible does not allow for selective judgement - but that is exactly what Fred is doing. His daughters and wife do not cover their head, as they should

- For if the woman is not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it is a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. This is just one many things Fred and followers do not follow.
Cor 11:6

Following the bible, certainly, but he is still mentally unbalanced, the rest of his group, the usual brainwashing from the time they were babies.

It would be a good idea if he played with snakes and drank poison to prove his faith - Mark 16:18

Comment by Yahweh on January 16, 2013 at 6:15am

"The Christian god is nasty, hateful, and jealous, as are his true followers, the members of the Westboro Baptist Chrurch. "

Not only followers of WBC exhibit hate like their god. It goes the same to all christian faith. I've been saying this all along, that if you believe in something so terrible, then you're the same type of person. Besides, their god is a representation of who and what they are. They're not fooling anyone when they say they're not hateful and deceitful. 

Comment by onyango makagutu on January 16, 2013 at 6:22am

Yahweh is this true about you lol?

ION, christians are better despite their god's law. if they lived according to that god's law, there would be no one left except pastors

Comment by Logicallunatic on January 16, 2013 at 7:16am

I think the whole thing is probably a charade to make money.  The vile cretins are mostly made up of lawyers I believe. 

http://kanewj.com/wbc/

Comment by SteveInCO on January 16, 2013 at 8:02am

Not only followers of WBC exhibit hate like their god. It goes the same to all christian faith. I've been saying this all along, that if you believe in something so terrible, then you're the same type of person. Besides, their god is a representation of who and what they are. They're not fooling anyone when they say they're not hateful and deceitful.

[emphasis mine] It's funny how god always agrees with his believers' prejudices   Darkmatter2525 has an interesting theory. (I heartily recommend his entire channel, much of it is humorous though this particular one is in dead earnest.)

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