We may soon have the tools to treat this condition that seems to inexplicably make some people Christians.
I have had the enlightening experience of being both Christian and atheist in my 31 years on this planet, so I am able to look at the Westboro Baptist Church through both sets of eyes.
I followed the WBC story as I have always been intrigued by cults; particularly the way in which cults snare high functioning intelligent adults. Through my own studies regarding these issues, I came to the realisation that, as a Christian, I too was in a cult. I am now an outspoken atheist, free from the shackles of religion.
What I realise now when I look at the world's reaction to the WBC, I see that the people they anger the most, are indeed other Christians. I look upon the WBC's actions with utter disgust. But I don't believe that they are twisting the word of God. They are following the word of their god to the letter, as all Christians are supposed to do. And Christians get upset about this because they have been raised in differing sects of Christianity which have been designed and redesigned to suit the feelings and lifestyles of those who were not willing to follow every single word of God; but who rather chose to follow certain words of God. That is; the words of God that suited them; the words of God that could fit comfortably into their lifestyle.
The WBC do not do this. They follow the bible to the letter, and no one can deny that they are all well versed on their scripture.
Don't look at the WBC as hate-mongers, as psychos, as brainwashed freaks... view them as they are: true Christians. And then look at the ludicrously of Christianity as a whole. The God of the bible does not allow for selective judgement on his words. He has given his people free will to either follow him or reject him. He is not forgiving of middle ground, of luke-warmness, of selfish personal interpretation.
The Christian god is nasty, hateful, and jealous, as are his true followers, the members of the Westboro Baptist Chrurch.
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 archaeopteryx on January 15, 2013 at 3:20pm This just in:
JAN032013
by Mano Singham
We may soon have the tools to treat this condition that seems to inexplicably make some people Christians.
Comment by archaeopteryx on January 15, 2013 at 7:29pm I prefer to believe that god is not at the center of our creation.
Comment by RobertPiano 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
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
Started by Mercedes in Welcome to Think Atheist. Last reply by archaeopteryx 7 minutes ago. 517 Replies 0 Likes
Posted by Misty: Baytheist Living! on May 23, 2013 at 4:03pm 3 Comments 0 Likes
Check out our new mobile/tablet version of Think Atheist! www.ThinkAtheist.com/m
© 2013 Created by Morgan Matthew.

You need to be a member of Think Atheist to add comments!
Join Think Atheist