Saturday, January 14, 2006

God Hates Hate

Honestly, when I first heard these people speak, I thought it was some kind of sick joke. I heared an interview with Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of a radically anti-homosexual picketer and self-promoter Rev. Fred Phelps Sr. In the interview she gleefully spewed hatred at virtually every aspect of society that is not a part of their cult called Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. I have to admit, the thing that bothered me the most was her hatred of American Soldiers. She gleefully talked of them burning in hell. She and other cult members picket the funerals of American Soldiers, declaring they are in hell and a soldier's death should be celebrated. She says the families don't deserve to be spared their pickets and hate-filled words, after all, they raised these 'spawns of hell'. And to add insult to injury, they do this with such joy. All of the photos of the picketers portray signs written with raw hatred held by smiling, seemingly happy picketers - men, women and children.

Her words made me feel physically ill. I went to their webpages, still trying to convince myself that these people are not seriously celebrating the deaths of our soldiers, declaring they are burning in hell and celebrating that 'fact'. Unfortunately, it looks as though they are quite serious. There was an explanation as to their smiles and joy over the damnation they perceive has befallen their fellow citizens.

It is a sin NOT to take pleasure in the wrathful out pourings of God's justice on this nation. "The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked" (Ps. 58:10). Get used to it, America! It's only going to get worse. The more you persecute God's people, the more wrath He pours out on you!

I've read some of their writings here and here as well as some excerpts from Hatemongers, the HBO movie about Fred. It seems to me this cult throroughly enjoys in the reaction they receive from their foul - mouthed - outrageous -socially - unacceptable - hate - filled - cruel- demonizing - of -everyone - but - themselves. I do wonder ... are they doing it for the attention? Is it a sick joke to them? Do they just like getting interviews? Do they enjoy the fact they are able to anger people to violence? How much money are they making doing this? If it's the money, where's the money coming from? Who donates to them? Is it just the money they are making from their lawsuits? Are all these smiling faces in the photos family members? Do they really believe this? The more I have read of this group, the more it appears to me to be simply a cult of hate and they are clearly insane. They seem to thrive on hate. The cult is primarily populated by two very large families who reward each other for acts of violence against virtually anyone. Getting arrested is a badge of honor. Verbal and physical assault is their mode of operation. They are bullies who have law degrees and intimidate any efforts at restraining them with a barrage of lawsuits, pickets and public declarations that the person involved is a 'fag' and that 'God Hates [fill in the blank]'. Fred and his wife have 13 children who have had numerous children of their own. I don't know how many children the other cult family, the Hockenbargers, have. Sadly, they seem to all be very fertile. Most people would consider them 'white trash'. Wonder if God Hates Westboro Baptist Cult?

Hat tip to Jessica You can hear Shirley Phelps-Roper's interview here More info on Fred Phelps. More info on the Cult of Westboro Baptist Church.