I'm sure that by now everyone has heard of Fred Phelps,the man who's head of the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) of Topeka, Kansas. Phelps,along with his faithful followers also operate the notorious website:
GodHatesFags.com
Quoted from the sites' introduction:"We adhere to the teachings of the Bible, preach against all form of sin (e.g., fornication, adultery, sodomy), and insist that the doctrines of grace be taught publicly to all men".
Now,I'm not going to go and denie Phelps of his constitutional rights of free speech,or his choice to preach against Homosexuals,but what my problem with him and his so-called "Church" is what they have resorted to doing. Whether you agree with the Gay lifestyle or not,Phelps and his congregation have taken it upon themselves to do such things as:"Engage in daily peaceful sidewalk demonstrations opposing the homosexual lifestyle of soul-damning, nation-destroying filth". They can be found at homosexual parades and other events,and most recently protesting at funerals of dead soldiers. And now it seems that God hates Sweden also,along with America and the Space Shuttle Columbia.
There seems to be no end in sight to what this man can attribute:"Gods Wrath" to. Including September 11th.Yes,you heard me correctly...Phelps has it in his head that not only does God basically hate the entire world,he made the 9/11 attacks happen to "Punish America" for loving Homosexuals. And if this wasn't enough to get your blood boiling,remember Hurricane Katrina? Yep,God made that happen also.
Sure,everyone has a right to believe in what they want to, but no one should interfere with something this personal. When your exercising of rights interferes with my freedom to cherish the memory of someone who died in battle for this country,or volunteer to help those affected by a natural disaster;that's stepping out of line and is not only wrong..but is imposing your beliefs and opinions onto me.
"Freedom of Speech" does not guarantee everyone the right to be an asshole,or to use intimidation to scare people into believing what someone else wants.
I think the best explanation of what Phelps is doing was made by 'Wise Child':"Using God like an older sibling in pre-school - ..."And if you don't like it, he'll come beat you up".(This) belies a need to threaten others into joining them that suggests their point of view isn't up to much".
Phelps might think that God is on his side in hating "Fags",but the last time I checked God loves everyone-something Phelps doesn't want to admit.God might be on his side,but I beg to differ.
