10 Mar '05 - + 22 - 9 Addicted to Hate
In about 1995, I went to Topeka, Kansas for an exhibition on Russian
Imperial artwork. While there, I was surprised to see people
picketing the art exhibit with signs like "God Hates Fags" and "Fag =
Death". I didn't understand what it was all about, but an
ex-girlfriend from Topeka told me that it was just Fred Phelps up to
his old tricks. He's theoretically the pastor of a theoretical
church in Topeka, and his mission seems to be to offend everyone in the world.
I just read an
article from 1993
that helps me understand a lot more about Mr. Phelps and how sick and
twisted he really is. More than just hating homosexuals, he hates
us all, and his hatred has destroyed many lives in his family and
around beyond. The article is fascinating, and it helps me
understand the thinking behind a man whose church's website says of
Swedish tourists missing after the tsunami: "We sincerely hope and pray
that all 20,000 Swedes are dead."
The Anti-Defamation League has a
collection of choice quotes on gays, jews, blacks, other christians, and America in general. It's amazing.
I'm saddened how low humanity can sink.
Only one comment:
You can get people to do anything you want them to. It’s easy: Just give them a reason to feel superior to all others, e.g. Hitler. Or in this case tell them if they are more religious then they are better than others. One way to do this is to take an uncompromising position on supposed Christian positions such as homosexuality. Christ’s teachings on this subject amount to “Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin”. So the signs should have read “God Loves Gays” and “Christ = Life”.
Hijacking Christianity for ones personal goals is most certainly a sin and abhorrent. There is a special place in hell reserved for Mr. Phelps if he does not change his ways. But let’s hope Jesus can change his heart before it’s too late.
Christians categorically condemn Mr. Phelps’ teachings as well as other radicals actions such as bombing abortion clinics, etc. Furthermore, these acts are definitively contrary to Christ’s teachings to “Love thy neighbor” and “Put down the sword”.
Anyway, to summarize this rambling, Mr. Phelps is wrong and non-Christian. Furthermore, hatred is not that hard to understand in the context of the search for (and exploitation thereof) identity, fellowship, and self esteem in secular America.
Dan Lewis (email) - 27 April '05 - 09:25
