Do you think the Westboro Baptist Church holds a mirror to the "mainstream" religious right, and they don't

Question

like what they see?

I.E. protesting military funerals because the troops died defending a country that permits homosexuality. That's the logical consequence of the Falwell/Robertson, etc. position, but that position also posits that anything connected with the (American) military is sacred. When the westboroians got to the logical extreme, the "mainstream" right just goes cuckoo bananas dealing with the contradiction.

I sometimes think the WBC are actually performance artists. They certainly drive home the point more effectively than some of the parody churches.

Answer 1

I think the Westboro Baptist Church is just a product of hate. I think the religious right abhors them just as much as everyone else does. Perhaps some of the religious right harbors the same feelings, but I doubt it's the majority.

Answer 2

I know that the "mainstream religious right" holds very conservative and often controversial views, but the Westboro Baptist Church is neither "Baptist" or "Christian" in my opinion. I was raised in the Baptist church and many Baptists, including Baptist ministers, will tell you that this "church" does not practice Baptist tenets. What they practice instead is hatred, bigotry, intolerance, persecution, strife, anger, venom, contention, impatience and a host of other angry, hateful adjectives. They are not representative of most fundamentalist Christian churches, nor of Baptist churches. They are more representative of a cult gone wild. They are very skilled at using the Bible to justify their hateful agenda.

I checked out their website, http://www.godhatesfags.com/ because I had seen them on the Tyra Banks show and had heard such shocking things about them and I wanted to see for myself what they stood for. After viewing their website, I felt I needed to take a shower. It was revolting. I am a Christian. I believe that homosexuality is a sin. I believe the Bible says so. Still, I also believe that we ALL sin and are all worthy of God's judgment. I believe we ought to not judge one another, but leave the judging to God. I believe we ought to love one another as Christ loves us. The Westboro Baptist Church does not practice true Christian love and I would hesitate to ever associate them with any "mainstream religious right" group, organization or individual. They don't even come close.

Answer 3

As far as I can see, Westboro Baptist Church is what it says it is. Sincere and horrific.

Now if you want a revealing mirror (even if there are arguments about its level of distortion) you need the Landover Baptist site.

Answer 4

Westboro only puts into action what the rest of the fundamentalists say....their rhetoric is the same, they use the same scripture...fundies say homosexuality is an abomination...Westboro says God hates gays...really no difference....

However, fundies try to distance themselves from Westboro because it makes them look bad...eventhough, they are alike.

Answer 5

The religious right don't want to admit it, but Westboro is following the bible as it is written, with nothing but literal and direct interpretation.

The bible is very clear on what we should do to homosexuals. It says we should kill them. Any Christian who denies this either has not read his bible, or does not follow it.

Either way, he is not a true Christian.

And for the record, that's one of many reasons I questioned my faith years ago, and eventually became an atheist.

Answer 6

I think they're more vocal than the rest of the religious right, and what the religious right hates is that it draws attention to the hypocrisy of their beliefs.

Answer 7

I think they exist solely as bait to provoke people into physically attacking them, so that they can sue them and make money.

Answer 8

I don't think those people like anything that isn't part of their group.

Answer 9

If there is a "hell" of sorts, Fred Phelps is sure to burn there.

Peace.

-Teh_Parret

Answer 10

they exist just to make sane people feel better about themselves