Westboro Baptist Church reject Homosexual Community as a “Protected Class”

Published on May 31, 2012 at 11:39 am by Pam-Ryan

The Westboro Baptist Church members picketed the Salina City Building on May 30 last. Beginning at 11:45am sharp the demonstration was planned to last for 30 minutes.

Such action is a direct result of homosexuals being added to the group of protected classes. In previous documentaries based on the group they have all expressed their extreme prejudice against the homosexual community and repeatedly use such derogatory terms like ‘fag’.

In a press statement released by the Westboro Baptist Church, its members tried to articulate and justify their thinking behind the demonstration using many quotations from the Bible; even paraphrasing Romans 1:32 into reading as: “God hates fags and their enablers.”

They describe the act of homosexual behaviour as an ‘abomination’ against God who has set out his standards in the sacred scripture. The statement reads as a threat more so than an advertisement for their activities: “You filthy fag-enablers of Salina are headed straight to hell for promoting what God Almighty calls abomination. The sin of sodomy dooms whole nations.” The group frequently use such derogatory and offensive language to articulate their beliefs.

They go on, not to give more details of their demonstration, but to compare present day America to ‘Pre-Flood’ society. They preach that the people, who were wiped out during the flood that Noah had warned of, were just as rebellious as the Americans, even recognising “counterfeit forms of marriage (filthy fag-couples etc).” It would seem that such a cult or ‘religious movement’ is far more regressive than we would hope to see in 2012.

The Kansas based group has created quite a storm in the media since their inception. Unlike many of the much larger world religions and religious movements, the Westboro Baptist Church has used social media to aid in their preaching.

The younger girls have created their own singing and dancing group called ‘The Saucy Seven’. Their hobby entails choosing popular and current chart hits and changing the lyrics to showcase their teachings in an offensive manner. Such topics include homosexuality, abortion and the pathway to hell. The group performs outdoors in public places and gratify themselves by making passersby feel uncomfortable, offended and angry. Not only are these actions disrespectful to the community in which they live, but also extremely disrespectful to the artists whose work they have so crudely altered.

Apart from this they have released many videos online depicting their hatred for the Jewish community through song, and even creating propaganda videos that claim President Barak Obama is the anti-Christ. In the documentary produced by the BBC, The Most Hated Family in America, one of its members argued that many of the attributes of the anti-Christ as described in the Bible, correspond with those of President Obama. For the purpose of this article I actually picked up a Bible to check this. As a self professed atheist my parents were quite confused. I found nothing but vague remarks about the anti-Christ or “man of lawlessness”, nothing at all that would point to any person specifically, let alone President Obama.

While I have no religious beliefs of my own, I have always accepted those of others. I have great respect for anyone who can find it in themselves to have faith in a higher power without scientific evidence. However the Westboro Baptist Church inflicts their beliefs upon people in a manner that is completely unacceptable. There is nothing encouraging about them or their recruitment methods. They seek only to upset people and make themselves feel morally superior.

The demonstration outside of the Selina City Building is not the first time the group members will have picketed in public. The group hold daily pickets, including at funerals. These demonstrations are to show that those who are not members of the church are all going to hell, claim the Westboro Baptist Church. Losing someone is difficult enough but this added stress can only make it unbearable. No one deserves to hear that their deceased loved ones are going to hell, while in the process of saying goodbye.

An American man sued the church for picketing his son’s funeral, claiming that free speech gave no one the right to inflict pain and suffering on the grieving. The father of the deceased soldier was awarded $13 million in damages. The ruling is currently under appeal.

Pam Ryan

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