Baptist sectarians disrupt military funerals

Vivificat! - A Personal Catholic Blog of News, Commentary, Opinion, and Reflections ^ | 15 March 2006 | Teófilo

[Teófilo]

No difference between these Kansas' Baptists and other hate-filled jerks around the world.

Folks, according to Yahoo News / AFP:

FLUSHING, United States (AFP) - Five women sang and danced as they held up signs saying "thank God for dead soldiers" at the funeral of an army sergeant who was killed by an Iraqi bomb.

For them, it was the perfect way to spread God's word: America was being punished for tolerating homosexuality.

For the hundreds of flag waving bikers who came to this small town in Michigan Saturday to shield the soldier's family, it was disgusting.

"That could be me in that church," said Jackie Sandler whose son Keith is currently serving his second tour of duty in Iraq.

The fringe group of fire and brimstone Baptists from Kansas has been courting controversy for more than 15 years, traveling the country with their hateful signs and slogans.

The Westboro Baptist Church first gained national notoriety when they picked the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a Wyoming student who was murdered in 1998 for being gay.

They have since picketed the funerals of Frank Sinatra and Bill Clinton's mother, celebrated the terrorist attacks of September 11 as an act of God's wrath, and have even targeted Santa Claus and the Ku Klux Klan.

But it was the callousness and cruelty of harassing the grieving families of soldiers at dozens of funerals across the country that has sparked a grassroots movement of bikers determined to drown out the jeers and taunts.

Read the whole piece here.

Commentary. The behavior of these "Christian" sectarians offends me at so many levels, as a Catholic Christian, as a military man, as a human being, that I don't know where to start tearing into this pathetic clique of hateful fanatics. Our soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and coastguardmen are the ones who, through their sacrifice, have bought the freedom of speech these crackpots are abusing when they dare to soil with their presence the funerals of our men and women in uniform.

The problem here is that some people preach so much about God's "hate" that they feel entitled to hate sins and sinners themselves, confident of their eternal impunity. They are wrong.

God's "hate" is not our own. God doesn't "hate" like human beings do. God's "hatred" for sin moves him to Love the sinner inifinitely more, so much so that He gave His own Son, so that anyone who believes in Him, does not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16). These sectarians know Him not, for they do not show love for their neighbor and the love they feel from each other is tainted by their arrogance of divine "hate." Because of their willingness to hate, they are not from God, as the Bible declares, for God is Love (1 John 4:8).

I may get a motorcycle myself, just to be ready in case they make it to my neighborhood. Let us pray, pray for all of them, so that they repent, convert, and be healed.

[Teófilo]

Happy 2nd Anniversary to Vivificat!

Folks, yesterday was Vivificat's second anniversary or, "blogiversary." For two years, Vivificat! has been providing commentaries, opinions, prayers, and reflections on all sorts of issues to a wide audience. They've been two very interesting years! Deo Gratias! I want to thank all of you who have made Vivificat! a mandatory stop in your blog surfing. I am flattered, really. I'm looking forward to the next year, with the Lord's help. Please, keep me and my family in your prayers. Keep visiting!

As always: typos, blunders, mine.

-Theo

[Teófilo]

PING!

[Beth528]

These morons were not Christians..Not one Christian I know would do a thing like this..More than likely Devil worshipers..

[ahayes]

I'm happy to say that all of the Christians I hang out with online (many of them fundamentalists) think that this man Phelps and his cult are a disgrace.

[Mr. Brightside]

We have one of these people who makes posts here.

He (Coulter Fan) has been trying to tell me that the Christian thing to do is to execute homosexuals.

I asked him what he though of Eric Rudolph bombing abortion clinics. He responded, "Extreme circumstances demand an extreme response."

I think he is Fred Phelps, except for the fact that I have never heard that Fred Phelps believes in executing homosexuals.

[Hegemony Cricket]

Dadgumit! These freaks-of-nature are NOT Baptists! Calling themselves Baptists no more makes it so, than calling myself an SR-71 makes me one!

[Hegemony Cricket]

Also, I know a lot of Baptists, and the only thing they have in common with these unspeakables is that they are both carbon-based life-forms!

[elli1]

These morons were not Christians...

Forget that...they register a negative on the Human Being scale.

[Teófilo]

Also, I know a lot of Baptists, and the only thing they have in common with these unspeakables is that they are both carbon-based life-forms!

Or rather, "ugly bags of mostly water."

-Theo

[Teófilo]

Dadgumit! These freaks-of-nature are NOT Baptists! Calling themselves Baptists no more makes it so, than calling myself an SR-71 makes me one!

"Baptists" are a rather multifarous phenomenon. It seems to me that if they want to call themselves "Baptists," they ARE Baptists. IMHO, Protestantism's ground rules allow for the creative labeling of its diverse religious movements.

'Tis tougher to do with Catholicism. Although there are numerous "independent Catholic Churches" in existence, the Catholic Church is an entity with a clear origin and aims which can be contrasted clearly against the origins and aims of all these other "Catholic Churches."

-Theo

[Upbeat]

I wonder if you consider pro-choice Catholics as RC if thats what they call themselves? Just being a bit of a devil's advocate. God bless all those who are pro-life.

[Teófilo]

I wonder if you consider pro-choice Catholics as RC if thats what they call themselves? Just being a bit of a devil's advocate. God bless all those who are pro-life.

When they break the relevant canons, pro-aborts are no longer "Catholic." So, it depends, but in general, "no."

-Theo

[wmfights]

"Calling themselves Baptists no more makes it so, than calling myself an SR-71 makes me one!"
____________________________

Well said!

It is a fringe group that enjoys publicity. The media plays it up the same way they play up other problems in other churches to make Christians out to be unloving and backward. All this does is serve to help the media generate more supporters of "alternative lifestyles".

[Beth528]

I have never heard of him and I would say your christian friends are right...

[Beth528]

How true!

[Upbeat]

I suspect that the Baptists have the same reaction to this group that practicing and believing Catholics have toward those who claim to be Catholic and pro-choice. These people need the prayers of believing Christians as you have already suggested.

[Between the Lines]

From their website:

Manifesto of Westboro Baptist Church

We are a TULIP Baptist Church!
We believe -- and vigorously preach -- the 5 Points of Calvinism!
Anyone preaching otherwise is a Hell-bound false prophet, a messenger of
Satan, to whom we say, Anathema Maranatha! and, Let him be accursed of
God!

To every lover of Arminian lies -- believing and preaching that God loves
every individual of mankind -- we say, You are going to Hell! Period! End of
discussion! God's decree sending you to Hell is irreversible! Hypocrites! How
can ye escape the damnation of Hell?!

[bremenboy]

These files are just evil thats all there is to it. Their all most as bad as the press when it comes to showing disrespect to the families of our Hero's.

[bremenboy]

since they are Calviniest then what they are doing is what God had predestine them to do.

and if That be True then are they doing Gods will?

[Teófilo]

Wow. Horrible. Hideous. Thankfully, God is not a TULIPer.

-Theo