Westboro Baptist Church Shenanigans

[HijabiGirl]

Carolina,

You have it right. Unfortunately people see folks like OBL and think he represents the norm for Muslims. OBL is actually the antithesis of what Islam teaches and is probably burning in hell as we speak. And yeah, I have complete access to my husband's money but he must ask permission to access mine. He is required by our religion to support me completely and I can do what I want with my own paycheck. Now we still work together and pay the bills as we go, but I am not obligated to do such a thing. I do it because we are a team and work together.

JGo,
Believe it or not but Muslims worship the same god of Jews and Christians, Allah is simply how you say god in Arabic. The Christians in Arabic speaking countries call God, Allah. Given the history of the Catholic church I could easily say that OBL would've fit in with their practices when they were doing the Inquisition, the witch hunts/burnings and the Crusades. My point is, rarely can you find a people that correctly portrays the religion in it's pure teachings. You have to take cultural and historical context when viewing a person's actions and not assume that they represent the religion.

[sheevaa]

Of course, we only hear about the crackpots in any religion, anyway. I sure never hear any stories in the paper about the Reverend down the street who quietly runs a small church:P

I meant to say before, but thank you @HijabiGirl for your insight. I think you've taught me more about the Muslim faith than I've learned anywhere else. I just really hope you're not messing with us, or we'll all be in trouble :P

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Of course, we only hear about the crackpots in any religion, anyway. I sure never hear any stories in the paper about the Reverend down the street who quietly runs a small church:P

Only in small town newspapers do you see that stuff. They don't have much else to report on unless Little Johnny got caught tagging the cop shop while skipping school or Mary Kinkhammer went to visit her sister in Fargo. No one wants to read everyday things in the paper.

And I'm with sheeva, thanks @HijabiGirl. Your insight all over the forum is much appreciated - and not just insights about Muslims.

[Rockin Ma]

I really think there would be more understanding if people tried. History channel has had two great documentaries about the Muslim religion, also what Jihad really means and when and where it morphed. Extremists are like a splinter group. The thing that puzzles me though is why they aren't splintered so much to be separate. I mean, it appears in all I've tried to read and watch that even though the extreme is almost another whole type of faith as far as holding to beliefs, more violent than peaceful etc., they still worship together. Like there's not really rift there.

[carolinablue]

Very interesting, don't know how I missed this history lesson: Mahasti showed me...Islam honors Jews and Christians as "People of the Book", and all prophets and teachers are also respected as bringing the Word of God to people. Jesus is not accepted as the literal son of God, but his teachings are revered, as are those of the Old Testament prophets. I got schooled! During the Inquisition, the King of Spain expelled all the Jews (those they didn't kill); the Muslim Sultan of Turkey welcomed them to his country and couldn't understand the fuss:

The most fortunate of the expelled Jews succeeded in escaping to Turkey. Sultan Bajazet welcomed them warmly. "How can you call Ferdinand of Aragon a wise king," he was fond of asking, "the same Ferdinand who impoverished his own land and enriched ours?" Among the most unfortunate refugees were those who fled to neighboring Portugal. In 1496, King Manuel of Portugal concluded an agreement to marry Isabella, the daughter of Spain's monarchs. As a condition of the marriage, the Spanish royal family insisted that Portugal expel her Jews. King Manuel agreed, although he was reluctant to lose his affluent and accomplished Jewish community.

SO! Now I have to find out when and where the rancor started. More history, yay!

Here's the link to a really interesting subject. I love history. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/...expulsion.html

[Whisper]

Area minister counters controversial church's protest

ALTON - A local minister is taking a stance against bigotry by urging the community to transform Westboro Baptist Church's message of hate into a pledge of support.

The Rev. Khleber Van Zandt, minister of First Unitarian Church of Alton, responded to the Rev. Fred Phelps and members from his Topeka, Kan.-based church's protest at a suburban St. Louis high school by rallying an online counter-demonstration.

Recognizing this as an opportunity for an expression of support, Van Zandt created a website, www.khleber.com/justlovewins, to draw attention to the idea that love is more powerful than hate.

"Our congregation is dedicated to social action and social justice, so we want the students of Clayton High to know that the voices of hate don't speak for all of us," Van Zandt said. "It is unconscionable that statements of hate go unanswered."

The Westboro Baptist Church is an anti-gay extremist group notorious for protesting American values and the United States' involvement in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts at the funerals of military personnel nationwide.

[...]
Van Zandt's response reflects the Unitarian Church's larger commitment to social justice through an advocacy of the message, "Just Love Wins." All donations pledged will benefit the Gay Straight Alliance at Clayton High School, the group that Phelps specifically targeted Monday morning.

For each minute the protesters picket, Van Zandt suggested that people donate a dime, a quarter, 50 cents, $1 or $3, as they are able. The protesters were at the school for approximately 30 minutes.

The Alton minister's effort joins a growing fund-raising movement termed a "Phelps-A-Thon," a counter-protest designed to undermine Phelps' anti-gay message.

Phelps' son, Nate Phelps, 53, who broke away from his father as a teenager, lectured at Clayton High School last year against his father's beliefs.

Another of the Rev. Fred Phelps' sons, Fred Phelps Jr., and fellow church members stopped at the high school after picketing Sunday at the Super Bowl in Indianapolis.

"Our church is trying to show people that God is love," Van Zandt said. "This situation resonated with us because of the growing number of kids coming to our church.

"A few years ago, we had only 15 kids registered in our religious education program, and we're now approaching 100," he explained. "I saw one of our youth group members at Clayton High School this morning who showed up with bumper stickers that people could color and helping others to make signs. She was doing good stuff."

Van Zandt said he was proud to be a part of a church that was willing to find a peaceful way to protest hate.

"I'm glad we've been able to give people a voice," Van Zandt said. "People have been sending in small donations that total a couple hundred dollars, which means that people still want to do something good for one another."

http://www.thetelegraph.com/articles...#ixzz1lkiseh1q

[malq]

I have always had to laugh when they were on their God Hates Fags campaign.
After watching the Louis Theroux doc, "The most hated family in America" I have to agree I seriously think Phelps has a deep case of .
No one can be that paranoid.

[Rothase2]

I was tickled to see this thread pop up. I was at the counter-protest at Clayton High School Monday morning. There were only 5 or 6 WBC people with their nasty signs, and hundreds of counter-protesters. The atmosphere was one of camaraderie and positive messages. The school did not permit any hateful signs, there were people of all ages there, including a guy dressed as Chewbacca, I bought a t-shirt that says "Love Conquers Hate" and I am wearing it right now! It was a really powerful showing of folks, supporting our local LGTB community and telling the WBC asshats that we don't need them around here parts!

[Robynne]

Why didn't Adam open fire on these fucks instead of innocent children?

[Gaudy Butterfly]

Why didn't Adam open fire on these fucks instead of innocent children?

Because he was looking for easy targets to take out his anger/frustration/whatever out on? I guess people who could possibly fight back would have been no fun...

[thehesbomb]

Supposedly WBC is going to protest in Newtown. I hope they get their asses handed to them.

http://www.examiner.com/article/west...sunday?cid=rss

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=4332625;

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Some Twitter user:

If someone shot up Westboro Baptist Church, would they protest their own funerals?

Hackers attack Westboro Baptist Church for picketing Sandy Hook

Anonymous hacktivists target the Westboro Baptist Church after members announce plans to picket Sandy Hook Elementary School, where a gunman killed 20 school children and six adults on Friday, Dec. 14.

On Saturday, Dec. 15, Shirley Phelps-Roper announced that the Westboro Baptist Church would picket Sandy Hook Elementary School located in Newtown, Connecticut, with the following tweet:

Westboro will picket Sandy Hook Elementary School to sing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgment.

In response, Anonymous released the personal contact information of members of the Westboro Baptist Church, including the home address, email address and phone number of numerous church members.
[...]

In addition to the release of personal information belonging to the church, Anonymous is also promoting a petition at whitehouse.gov asking the Obama administration to legally recognize the Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group. The petition notes that the church “has been recognized as a hate group by organizations, such as The Southern Poverty Law Center, and has repeatedly displayed the actions typical of hate groups.”

Promoting the petition, Anonymous ‏@YourAnonNews sent the following tweet Saturday night:

If the #US govt were to officially recognize the #WBC as a hate group, maybe they would finally lose their tax exempt status.

http://www.examiner.com/article/anon...ptist-church-1

The petition:

we petition the obama administration to:
Legally recognize Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group.

This group has been recognized as a hate group by organizations, such as The Southern Poverty Law Center, and has repeatedly displayed the actions typical of hate groups.

Their actions have been directed at many groups, including homosexuals, military, Jewish people and even other Christians. They pose a threat to the welfare and treatment of others and will not improve without some form of imposed regulation.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/pet...group/DYf3pH2d

[Robynne]

Because he was looking for easy targets to take out his anger/frustration/whatever out on? I guess people who could possibly fight back would have been no fun...

Actually, what I meant was....
Why can't one crazy fucker that wants to commit a mass murder target Westboro instead of schools and malls? At least some people would praise them for it.

[HeatherHabilatory]

Actually, what I meant was....
Why can't one crazy fucker that wants to commit a mass murder target Westboro instead of schools and malls? At least some people would praise them for it.

...If I had nothing to live for... I'd do it. just putting it out there.

[sheevaa]

You know what the sad thing is, these idiots don't even get my blood boiling anymore. It's like the same old song and dance every time, now. Maybe 5 of them show up, are completely crowded out and made useless. Which is actually kind of funny, since they're just wasting their "parishioners" money flying all over the place to be made fools of.

They ever showed their asses over here, you can be damn sure I'd be a part of the wall, though.

[Jinxx]

Like most sane people, I am disgusted by the Westboro Baptist Church. After reading this article I was almost giddy with spite!

The most hateful church in America has some colorful new neighbors. This week, members of the Florida-based nonprofit Planting Peace unveiled a project months in the making: Equality House, an activism center located directly across from the Westboro Baptist Church outside Topeka, Kansas.

From now on, the group known for picketing the funerals of everyone from military members killed in action to Mr. Rogers, in protest of America’s tolerance of homosexuality, will wake up every morning and stare at an LGBT rainbow—after Equality House members painted the building to match the gay pride flag.

Project Peace director of operations Davis Hammet tells us the idea for the project originated months ago, after Planting Peace members heard about the protest of Josef Miles—a 9-year-old who took it upon himself to hold a sign in front of Westboro that read “God Hates No One.”

If 9-year-old Miles had the courage to hold a counter-protest—why couldn’t Planting Peace?

“Before we launched, we tried to keep quiet. Shortly after I moved in, someone from Wetsboro almost backed over me in her car. It was an accident, and she apologized. But it was bizarre—this hate-filled person smiling and waving at me.”

Since the unveiling, Hammet says Westboro has been similarly cordial.

“[Westboro spokesperson] Shirley Phelps-Roper walked by and was taking some pictures yesterday,” he says. “She mentioned she really like the colors. Then she laughed and went back in the church. It seemed like she had a sense of humor about the whole thing. I’m sure in her eyes she just thinks we’re all going to hell.”

[Krystal]

I only skimmed through the whole thread so I don't know if anyone mentioned this yet, but did anyone see where these wack-jobs threatened to protest a young child's funeral (she had died of cancer, I believe) and the Hell's Angels showed up? I do believe that is God's way of telling you to shut the fuck up!! Angels can be the best friends you will ever have but for all things good and holy NEVER piss one off!!