Can you stomach this stuff spewing from WBC?

Question

I went to the Westboro Baptist Church website after answering another question and could not believe what I was seeing. Look at the following quote conderning the Virginia Tech shootings:

"The LORD your God sent a crazed madman to shoot at your children, and he didn't miss. Get this straight -- God sent this South Korean madman to kill 31 of your children at Virginia Tech. Was God asleep while this took place? Was He on vacation? Of course not. He willed this to happen to punish you for assailing His servants. "
from www.godhatesamerica.com

Underlying question here: would you be willing to lose some of your rights to free speech to stop these loonies? I am not sure I would but there has to be a way to deal with these nuts but then again, I may have answered my own question: You can't reason with nuts.

Answer 1

I am pretty sure that the 'baptist' denomination doesnt even claim these people as baptists. they are NOT christians in my point of view as they show NO COMPASSION for people at all.... how can they be Christian and go to a fallen soldiers funeral to PROTEST? you cannot... for you are not supporting people in times of need with prayer and love.... their 'fruit' shows they are not of Christ.. but of their own agenda...

Answer 2

I have seen Fred Phelps up close and personal and if there is a Satan, it is Fred Phelps.

The entire Westboro Baptist Cult is based on the judgemental, abusive rantings of a lunatic. ANYONE who supports this madman and believes his teachings is supporting someone who is in the same class as Hitler. The only difference between Hitler and Phelps is that Phelps doesn't have two live brain cells firing together so he isn't smart enough to really do the damage he could.

I would lose some of my rights to stop these spawns of Satan. Like you said, tho, you can't reason with nuts.

Normally, I don't say things like this, but I am positive that if the Christian myth is true - Fred Phelps will find himself in Hell for eternity.

Answer 3

Would I be willing to abdicate free speech in order to censor the Westboro Baptist Church? Absolutely not. I see no reason to censor them. They can say what they want. It's enough that they are held accountable for their actions. If they break the law, they will go to jail.

Frankly, I think they are performing a public service. Not in the way they think they are, of course, but every time Christians like Rev. Phelps and Pat Robertson open their mouths they encourage more moderate Christians to be less like them.

Answer 4

FORGET about Free Speech. These *people* are crazy and have NO Knowledge of God OR His Love and Mercy. IF they are what a Christian are supposed to be, COUNT ME OUT.
My God is Not that way, and I have NEVER read in His Word where He would approve of idiotic ramblings of this type. They are Spiritually Ignorant and Spiritually Dead. Being what I am, I cannot say what I feel about them truely in my heart.

Answer 5

These people give new meaning to the word "sick."

I'm willing to bet that they didn't even KNOW the people who were killed at VA Tech and they are telling the parents that the kids were killed because god willed it? That's just sick and disgusting and disturbing.

I wonder what they would say if one of THEIR kids were among the list of victims of one of these killings?! Would they say it was god's will? Would they say it was satan trying to keep them from doing god's work? What kind of ridiculous justification would they use to make their child's death sound more acceptable than what they are making the deaths of the VA Tech victims sound like?

These people are sicko's.

Answer 6

If this is the same group I am thinking of (and I shudder to think there may be more than one) a DJ has so far stopped two of their abusive rallies by making a deal with the loudmouth woman nut who tends to speak for them that he gives her one 4-hour shift on his radio program if they agree to stay home. They get the attention they seem to crave without hurting anyone as it is easier to turn off a radio than to try to ignore them at funerals, etc, where they spew their hate.

Answer 7

I have no problem with WBC being allowed to spew their hate. What I find more dangerous are the stealth tactics of the religious right to control the political arena. That stuff is harder to detect and actually affects our lives.

Answer 8

We can't escape the loonies. I would not be willing to give up some of my rights to free speech. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. So long as they don't hurt others to give it.

Answer 9

Free speech I would never give up. I disagree with may religous ideals and government strategies, but thank God you and I have te right to disagree with them openly and without worry of reprisal.

Answer 10

He's even worse than you know. A couple of his kids escaped his cult and told their story of being severley abused by that freak. He used to beat them with axe handles, for example. He made them sell candy, took the money, and beat the kid that sold the least amount.

Answer 11

We have forfeited sufficient of our freedoms since 9/11/2001; I would not willingly sacrifice more of them to silence the person whom you quote; as you suggest, he is not of sound mind, and those who would listen to and assimilate his rantings are most likely beyond the ability of legislation to persuade of the erroneousness of his thinking. Surely, his congregation is not so great as to have a potential major influence upon our society. Those who subscribed to his brand of "Christianity" must be of minimal intelligence, thus beyond conversion to rational thought!