Are You Seriously That Prejudiced?

    I know that sometimes certain members of Christianity can be a little....narrow minded, but seriously, this is ridiculous.

    

    The Westboro Baptist Church is a congregation that was started in Topeka, Kansas sometime in the late 1960's. Some of their hobbies include: picketing and protests. And what are these protests and pickets about, you may ask? Oh nothing much, just their Anti-Semetic, homophobic, and other cynical views. People who are of the Jewish faith or gay community aren't the only ones that they pick on from their "bully pulpit." (that is taken from an actual quote said Shirley Phelps Roper while she was on the Tyra Banks Show. However, she was referring to normal society as the bully and was trying to portray WBC as the victim.) They also enjoy condemning soldiers, alive and dead alike, for fighting for a country as corrupt of the U.S.

    At their protests, each member carries multiple signs that say things like "Thank God for Dead Soldiers," "Thank God for IEDs," "Thank God for 9/11," "Pray for More Dead Soldiers," "9-11 Gift From God," and even "God is Your Enemy." 

In addition to the signs, sometimes they even disrespectfully step on American flags.

  

    In their eyes, America is apparently doomed because it endorses and supports sodomy and abortion, among other sinful things. They think that our soldiers deserve to die because they are protecting such 'corrupt' country...

   

    I don't think that I have ever seen a view so prejudiced, so delusional as that of the people of the WBC. They use passages from the Bible to justify their message of hatred, but if I'm not mistaken, didn't Jesus teach that the greatest of commandments to follow was to love God and NEIGHBOR with all your heart? Clearly, they don't understand that concept and are suffering from extreme cases of moral ambiguity. They think that God is pleased with the things they are doing because they say they are following His will and rules. God would be more pleased, I think, if these people would start respecting the human dignity of their fellow mankind, instead of twisting and manipulating His word (the Bible) to fit their immoral outcries.They should be doing good deeds of charity, as well.

   Here are another few examples of some of the WBC's picket signs: "God Hates You," "God Hates Fags," "God is Your Enemy."

   It is true that the Lord was more of a vengeful God of wrath in the Old Testament, but it is also true that with the sending of the promised Messiah in the New Testament, He is portrayed more as a loving and forgiving God by Jesus. 

Maybe it's not from the New Testament, but it is still a good example of my point

    Now once again, if I'm not mistaken, going against what Jesus taught can be considered going against the word of God, right? And showing contempt for those teachings should very well be considered blasphemy. The very thing they so adamantly oppose in other groups.  (Just to clarify here is the definition for blasphemy by the Catholic Encyclopedia:  http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02595a.htm and from Merriam-Webster: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blasphemy?show=0&t=1319058493).

    These people are just walking contradictions. As you very well know by now, the WBC strongly opposes the ethics and beliefs of 'doomed America.' However, they have no problem hiding behinds its laws. While they are protesting against the evils of the  U.S.A they wield their right of freedom of speech to continue to do so. Now that makes complete sense to be doing, huh?

   

    -"Can we really be saying these things, Shirley?"

    -"Oh, no problem we'll just use one of the best and greatest of rights that America gives to its citizens to our advantage, then we can condemn it!"

(This is just a completely hypothetical conversation, by the way.)

   

Other people agree about the WBC's ignorance

    One thing that I found today that made me extremely angry with the WBC was their sign that said: "Thank God for Breast Cancer." It's not that all of the other horrible things they have been saying don't make me mad too, but I can really sympathize with the families of and the people who suffer from any form of cancer. Breast cancer especially, because someone very near to me in my family fought through it. Having to watch someone battle through cancer, and then seeing the WBC condemn those innocents just because they have a frightening illnesses that they have no control over, is just more proof of the ignorance of the overzealous Westboro members. I personally don't think that God would ever punish someone with something so bad, it's something that just happens, unfortunately. 

This is the sign that I was referring to above

    

    The way to deal with the WBC is not with reciprocating hate, like is the usual response. (Like sensible people with good morals, the typical response to the WBC is instant disapproval. Sometimes they argue with the WBC members or flick them off, but sometimes it goes a little too far, and they damage property and lash out to harm the WBC members themselves.)

    Instead, I think that a good tactic to use when broaching the subject is to use humor, like some anti-WBC protesters do. There is a video I found with a group of people that get together across the street from a WBC protest, and protest against them with witty jokes and logic. I would post it here, but a few people in the video felt it necessary to use a few choice swear words. Another way people often 'fight back' is by making funny signs to make fools of the WBC. 

Example of said signs. My favorite has to be the "God Hates Kittens"

   

    

    However, I think the best way to get rid of the WBC is to just ignore them. They are only attention hungry and are thriving on all the media attention and, just like elementary school bullies, their ego's thrive on making people feel negative. I believe that God will forgive them, if they ever truly repent for their hateful words, but He ultimately will decide their fate. So eventually, they will get what they deserve. And with this in mind I refuse to write another word about them. ;) 

Some links used in research:
 http://www.godhatesfags.com/
http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/WBC/default.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=3&item=WBC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1Ck4m9EXeo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50r0CnKq7_k&feature=related

Cyber Bullying

    My last post was primarily about bullying and its effects, but also about how it needs to be stopped. However, stopping bullying in today's world is much more hard than it can initially sound, and that is because of one thing. Cyber bullying.

     Cyber bullying is a relatively new form of bullying that previous generations didn't have because it incorporates today's technology. Anytime a hateful message is sent via text or the internet, that counts as bullying. But the one crucial difference that sets it apart from 'traditional' bullying is the fact that there really is no escaping it. Computers and cell phones and all of their assets have become such an incorporated part of people and their daily lives that once someone starts to become cyber bullied, they see it everywhere they go. At school, at home, at a friends house; the possibilities are endless and that person can keep going back and seeing it written there over and over and over again. Someone can send a hateful message just once and it  can have the same effect of face to face insults that are received daily.

    That is another problem with cyber bullying though, it isn't just a one time thing. Otherwise it wouldn't really count as bullying would it?

Maybe not the perfect example of how cyber bullying is just as hurtful as other forms of bullying, but it gets the point across

    It seems to me that a lot of kids today are being given too much free reign to do whatever they want online, and they really aren't ready to use it-or anything else for that matter-responsibly. Because their actions aren't being curtailed, they are starting to feel entitled and powerful. The wall that separates the bullier from the bullied (via cyber bullying) makes them more bold and empowered to say things that they would possibly not have the guts to say in person. In my humble opinion, these are the most cowardly and spineless kind of bully there is, not that all bullies aren't cowards. 

Everyone has the power to help and stop cyber bullying.

    The reason I oppose this bullying the most out of all other kinds of bullying is because the person who is being bullied, in every essence of the word, has no escape from it. And other kids are really starting to recognize this and either are trying to speak out against it are use this to their advantage. Now if only the adults would see this too and help us do something about it.