Would you judge Christianity solely by the actions and words of the Westboro Baptist Church?

Question

I asked this before, but I think many people chose to miss the point.

Would you take the actions and words of Fred Phelps (www.godhatesamerica.com) and his church and judge the whole of Christianity by them? No? Then why judge Islam by jihadists and those that hurt and kill? Why assume that those who preach hate in Christianity are the whackos, but those who preach hate in Islam MUST be the accurate representations of their religion?

Answer 1

I agree. I'm horrified at how many people on this board try to spread their malicious and unjustified hatred of Islam.

Answer 2

Well, to start off with, Phelps group is a small group and are mostly one family. They are considered to be a radical group and just about every other church out there condemns their acts.
The media shows them as the hateful group of people they are.
Radical Islam is cheered in their home countries, the media does not talk about how hateful they are and for the most part, and if you ask many Muslims they say things like, "I can understand why the Muslims do the things they do, it because *they* (meaning everyone else) do this."

Whether they are accurate or not, they are tolerated, and cheered on.

Answer 3

Oh there are a few good reasons.

Fred Phelps never killed anyone the way that Muslims jihadists are.

Fred Phelps is not following the example set by Jesus. Muslim jihadists are following the example of Muhammad.

Christians have already denounced the Westboro place (I won't call it a church) and have actually stood between these hateful people and the funerals they were protesting, trying to protect the grieving families. Would Muslims do the same?

God Bless.

Answer 4

No, but I do see that kind of Christian ignorance spouted here every day. Phelps is not the only Christian bigot in the world.



I do judge Islam by the way that women are treated, however.

Answer 5

No, but there are also the words and deeds of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Pat Buchanan, James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Gary Bauer, Randall Terry (a former used car salesman--ha!), Philip Benham, Franklin Graham, Ralph Reed--well, you get the idea. I judge Christianity by guys like that, too.

Answer 6

Well as far as Westboro goes, they obviously aren't familiar with this verse:


Matthew 7:2 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society


2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Answer 7

Although I do not believe that Islam is the way God wants us to go, I do not judge people by what a few extremists do. Good and bad are found in all religions...and in all countries.

Answer 8

I personally don't judge Islam based on the jihadists and extremists. I know that every religion and culture have their extremes and that the majority are usually in the middle.

Answer 9

As a American who knows better no. If I was a alien from another planet, not knowing any better I might. The only people that have not heard about Christianity in this world are aliens from another planet. So as objectives observers they would judge Christianity by the first denomination they saw.

Answer 10

The analogy is complicated by Phelps, while being a sociopath, not actually killing anyone while Muslims kill each other (Bhutto's grave).

I agree with you in sentiment, but it seems more complex than you make it.