Poll: Controversial Protests

[magicmonkeybars]

I know the gay marrige thing has been done to death, but I haven't gotten to comment yet, so here goes, because I am gay, and I've been against gay marrige since the whole concept came to the public media. Because the truth is God does hate fags. The religon hates homosexuals and thinks they should be stoned, drawn, and quartered. And the people that follow that religon(Hereafter referred to as zealots, you know who they are) take the religon into their own hands on a modern day crusade in their lords name to cleanse the earth of sin and abomination. And since marrige is a religous term, no, I don't think gays should get it. Let the zealots have their religon, and let them keep their religon until it'snot enough that they have it and they need to force it on others. Then shoot them in the head. But while they keep it to themselves, do not give gays marrige. Give them all the LEGAL and FEDERAL rights that marrige enjoys, and then tell the gays that if that's not good enough, stuff it.

...you do realize that there's more than one religion, right?

Westboro isn't really anything new. They're just a bunch of religious zealots giving Christians a bad name. Not really sure why they're protesting outside a high school though. Whatever, they're full of crap.

This is what christianity is, it is a perfect representation of christian values.
They just take their religion seriously rather then treating it like a hobby or some social network.
You can't find fault in their actions without finding fault in the teachings of the bible.

it's funny how only non-christians seem to think Westboro represents mainstream christian values.

Then let me ask you, What make a christian a christian ?
Why hold on to the bible as the word of god when you don't agree with it ?
How do you justify disregarding the words of your god ?
How can you call yourself a christian when deny the basis of this faith ?
Aren't people who say they're christians but don't follow the bible's teachings hypocrites.
Isaiah 29:13 I feel applies here

 

[Rigs83]

I believe homosexuals deserve the same rights as anyone else but I also defend peoples rights to disagree with me so yes and yes.

 

[magicmonkeybars]

Then let me ask you, What make a christian a christian ?
Why hold on to the bible as the word of god when you don't agree with it ?
How do you justify disregarding the words of your god ?
How can you call yourself a christian when deny the basis of this faith ?
Aren't people who say they're christians but don't follow the bible's teachings hypocrites.
Isaiah 29:13 I feel applies here

The bible isn't the word of God. The Bible is what MAN wrote, as the word of God. It's not an audiotape. Nor is it notorized.

So what kind of authority does the bible have then ?

 

[Jedoro]

There's no reason to protest outside schools. One, they can't really do anything about the law, and two, since when do teenagers respond well to hate mongering?

 

[Gaderael]

I completely agree that same sex marriages should be legalized. Let them be as miserable as the heterosexuals. Snark snark. It really bothers me when people feel they have the right to deny someone else's happiness when it's harming no one.

I do not agree with these protests. Yes, they have the right to preach their hate by protesting, and I'd defend that all the way, as I would have anyone protect my right to non-violent protest. That being said, these folks are a bunch of misguided fools, who are probably beyond the point of no return in regards to teaching them compassion for their fellows.

 

[madcap2112]

Westboro isn't really anything new. They're just a bunch of religious zealots giving Christians a bad name. Not really sure why they're protesting outside a high school though. Whatever, they're full of crap.

This is what christianity is, it is a perfect representation of christian values.
They just take their religion seriously rather then treating it like a hobby or some social network.
You can't find fault in their actions without finding fault in the teachings of the bible.

Um, I find that hard to agree with when I was taught that God loves us. "Smile, God loves you" and "Jesus Loves You" don't equal "God hates Fags" or "God hates you." The word "hate" is not a representation of Christian values, it doesn't matter how religious you are.

 

[cobra_ky]

I know the gay marrige thing has been done to death, but I haven't gotten to comment yet, so here goes, because I am gay, and I've been against gay marrige since the whole concept came to the public media. Because the truth is God does hate fags. The religon hates homosexuals and thinks they should be stoned, drawn, and quartered. And the people that follow that religon(Hereafter referred to as zealots, you know who they are) take the religon into their own hands on a modern day crusade in their lords name to cleanse the earth of sin and abomination. And since marrige is a religous term, no, I don't think gays should get it. Let the zealots have their religon, and let them keep their religon until it'snot enough that they have it and they need to force it on others. Then shoot them in the head. But while they keep it to themselves, do not give gays marrige. Give them all the LEGAL and FEDERAL rights that marrige enjoys, and then tell the gays that if that's not good enough, stuff it.

...you do realize that there's more than one religion, right?

Actually, I do realise there's more than one religon. I took a few years and delved into all religons. I've done some very thorough study into most of the painstream religons and a few of the fringe ones. I left scientology alone though, that stuff is just whacked. But this country was founded on Christianity, the founding papers were written in the name of God, and despite the seperation of chruch and state, if you go into court today, you still swear in on a bible. I'm not a religous person, but I'm not going to blind myself to the fact that this country is built upon and around God, and there really isn't a lot of room for other religons in it.

well first off, you're not required to swear on a bible. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmation_in_law

yes, the U.S. was founded under a belief in God. but "God hates fags" is nowhere near the truth. I've met gay catholics. i've met christians of all denominations who support gay rights. the vast majority of jews in america are supportive of gay marriage. even within the same congregation, people's religious beliefs vary wildly. trying to generalize them all as "the religion" is both foolish and naive.

 

[cobra_ky]

I know the gay marrige thing has been done to death, but I haven't gotten to comment yet, so here goes, because I am gay, and I've been against gay marrige since the whole concept came to the public media. Because the truth is God does hate fags. The religon hates homosexuals and thinks they should be stoned, drawn, and quartered. And the people that follow that religon(Hereafter referred to as zealots, you know who they are) take the religon into their own hands on a modern day crusade in their lords name to cleanse the earth of sin and abomination. And since marrige is a religous term, no, I don't think gays should get it. Let the zealots have their religon, and let them keep their religon until it'snot enough that they have it and they need to force it on others. Then shoot them in the head. But while they keep it to themselves, do not give gays marrige. Give them all the LEGAL and FEDERAL rights that marrige enjoys, and then tell the gays that if that's not good enough, stuff it.

...you do realize that there's more than one religion, right?

Westboro isn't really anything new. They're just a bunch of religious zealots giving Christians a bad name. Not really sure why they're protesting outside a high school though. Whatever, they're full of crap.

This is what christianity is, it is a perfect representation of christian values.
They just take their religion seriously rather then treating it like a hobby or some social network.
You can't find fault in their actions without finding fault in the teachings of the bible.

it's funny how only non-christians seem to think Westboro represents mainstream christian values.

Then let me ask you, What make a christian a christian ?
Why hold on to the bible as the word of god when you don't agree with it ?
How do you justify disregarding the words of your god ?
How can you call yourself a christian when deny the basis of this faith ?
Aren't people who say they're christians but don't follow the bible's teachings hypocrites.
Isaiah 29:13 I feel applies here

Christianity is defined by belief in Christ and his teachings. it does not necessarily entail mindlessly obeying the literal text of a flawed translation of a millenia-old book.

Even if the bible was originally the word of god, it was dictated to men, written by men, translated by men, and interpreted by men. even if it is divinely inspired, the fidelity of the word is highly questionable.

EDIT:

as for Isaiah 29:13, that book was in the hebrew bible first, so jews would disagree with your interpretation right there. actually, i think that verse applies to westboro baptist fairly well. they claim to follow god's word, and they pray to him, but their hearts, as far as i can tell, are turned away from his teachings. they judge others. they hate when god commands they love. they fear god because they believe he ruthlessly smites people for the tiniest sins.

 

[Naeo]

I approve wholeheartedly of gay marriage. If it gets banned federally or in my state I will refuse to say the pledge/stand for the national anthem/etc because it voids the "with liberty and justice for all" and "land of the free" bits, respectively.

I disapprove of the protests. You have freedom of speech, yes, but you also have limitations, such as not treading on others' rights. And by saying things meant to condemn and upset other people, meant to cause anguish (their funerary protests), or meant to harass (everything they do) you are no longer allowed your freedom of speech because you have exceeded its limitations by forcing others to listen to your message that was of malicious intent.

And at a high school, this is simply atrocious. "Hey, kids, faggots all fucking die in hell, fucking gay ******-ass shits!" First, being high schoolers, they're likely to, or at least some of them, take that message in and use it as an excuse to harass/abuse gay students/suspected gay students/spread the hate speech further, therefore the Westboros have (intentionally or otherwise) caused physical/actual harm to come to someone else and they are liable for that. Also, they're protesting against a high school for something the stat legislature did...why? And they're going to be, basically, harassing/insulting/intntionally offending the children who attend school there, which is a brutally low hit.

 

[comet5002]

I know the gay marrige thing has been done to death, but I haven't gotten to comment yet, so here goes, because I am gay, and I've been against gay marrige since the whole concept came to the public media. Because the truth is God does hate fags. The religon hates homosexuals and thinks they should be stoned, drawn, and quartered. And the people that follow that religon(Hereafter referred to as zealots, you know who they are) take the religon into their own hands on a modern day crusade in their lords name to cleanse the earth of sin and abomination. And since marrige is a religous term, no, I don't think gays should get it. Let the zealots have their religon, and let them keep their religon until it'snot enough that they have it and they need to force it on others. Then shoot them in the head. But while they keep it to themselves, do not give gays marrige. Give them all the LEGAL and FEDERAL rights that marrige enjoys, and then tell the gays that if that's not good enough, stuff it.

Ok, I'm really confused.

I hate the expression "God hates fags" because I am a Christian, and that's probably the biggest BS in the world. While I am against gay marriage, I do not believe at ALL that God hates homosexuals, because I don't. In fact, I have very good gay friends. There's an expression in Christianity called "love the sinner, hate the sin". I don't want ANYONE to be stoned or beaten, and I'm pretty sure God doesn't either.

To answer the question at hand, I voted no, no, and the reason why is pretty self explanatory if you read the above paragraph. All the protesters are doing are separating themselves even further from the rest of the world, ticking off EVERYONE, and making Christians look bad.

 

[comet5002]

Stop.

Everyone here needs to realize this first!
There are only ten members in the Westboro Baptist Church.
Almost all of them are the family of Mr. Phelps.

Okay?

They're just dicks.

Oh, and for example of good Christians, remember when that milk-man shot and killed five little girls and then killed himself at an Amish school?

The families of the girls went to milk-man's funeral, offering their condolences, holding no grudges, and forgiving absolutely.

That's what Christianity is about.

As far as what Christianity is about, you are absolutely correct.

Amen.

 

[ShadowKatt]

I know the gay marrige thing has been done to death, but I haven't gotten to comment yet, so here goes, because I am gay, and I've been against gay marrige since the whole concept came to the public media. Because the truth is God does hate fags. The religon hates homosexuals and thinks they should be stoned, drawn, and quartered. And the people that follow that religon(Hereafter referred to as zealots, you know who they are) take the religon into their own hands on a modern day crusade in their lords name to cleanse the earth of sin and abomination. And since marrige is a religous term, no, I don't think gays should get it. Let the zealots have their religon, and let them keep their religon until it'snot enough that they have it and they need to force it on others. Then shoot them in the head. But while they keep it to themselves, do not give gays marrige. Give them all the LEGAL and FEDERAL rights that marrige enjoys, and then tell the gays that if that's not good enough, stuff it.

...you do realize that there's more than one religion, right?

Actually, I do realise there's more than one religon. I took a few years and delved into all religons. I've done some very thorough study into most of the painstream religons and a few of the fringe ones. I left scientology alone though, that stuff is just whacked. But this country was founded on Christianity, the founding papers were written in the name of God, and despite the seperation of chruch and state, if you go into court today, you still swear in on a bible. I'm not a religous person, but I'm not going to blind myself to the fact that this country is built upon and around God, and there really isn't a lot of room for other religons in it.

well first off, you're not required to swear on a bible. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmation_in_law

yes, the U.S. was founded under a belief in God. but "God hates fags" is nowhere near the truth. I've met gay catholics. i've met christians of all denominations who support gay rights. the vast majority of jews in america are supportive of gay marriage. even within the same congregation, people's religious beliefs vary wildly. trying to generalize them all as "the religion" is both foolish and naive.

Just reread my post. I accidently wrote "Most painstream religons". Typo, but still funny.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I recognise that "God Hates Fags" and whatever the name of the group is that they stem from is not what the religon stands for. They're not even what the people like. I'm 100% against christianity, but it's not because of the religon, it's because of the church. But that's just it. They're the ones out there protesting, they're the ones in the media, and that's the image they're painting of christians everywhere. I'll be the first to admit that my views of christianity are skewed because of people like them, fanatics that would like nothimg more than to draw and quarter me because of my beliefs or lack thereof. But here's the kicker: How do you tell one of them apart from one of the normal people? Both spout the same rhetoric, both tote the same beliefs, and for all intents and purposes, they ARE the same group. Just one part of them has gone WAY off the deep end and are ruining it for all the other people.

Now, to finish off the compliment sandwich, I think you can be a good person without being a good christian, because the 10 commandments are all common sense. Be a good person, and maybe you'll get to heaven, if it exists. But even if it doesn't, be a good person anyway, cause it's the right thing to do. At least the bible got that much right.

 

[cobra_ky]

Just reread my post. I accidently wrote "Most painstream religons". Typo, but still funny.

i loled.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I recognise that "God Hates Fags" and whatever the name of the group is that they stem from is not what the religon stands for. They're not even what the people like. I'm 100% against christianity, but it's not because of the religon, it's because of the church. But that's just it. They're the ones out there protesting, they're the ones in the media, and that's the image they're painting of christians everywhere. I'll be the first to admit that my views of christianity are skewed because of people like them, fanatics that would like nothimg more than to draw and quarter me because of my beliefs or lack thereof. But here's the kicker: How do you tell one of them apart from one of the normal people? Both spout the same rhetoric, both tote the same beliefs, and for all intents and purposes, they ARE the same group. Just one part of them has gone WAY off the deep end and are ruining it for all the other people.

they absolutely do not spout the same rhetoric or tote the same beliefs. the vast majority of christians do not believe that "god hates fags", even if they oppose homosexuality. they don't spout rhetoric about american soldiers dying overseas as god's punishment.

how do you tell the difference? LISTEN TO THEM. go find a christian (it shouldn't be hard.) ask them if they believe god hates america. ask them if they think god hates anyone at all.

the views espoused by the westboro baptist church are antithetical to every form of christianity. They hate methodists, presbyterians, lutherans, baptists, and episcopalians. they especially hate catholics. as many flavors of christianity as there are, the westboro baptist church is incompatible with all of them.

Now, to finish off the compliment sandwich, I think you can be a good person without being a good christian, because the 10 commandments are all common sense. Be a good person, and maybe you'll get to heaven, if it exists. But even if it doesn't, be a good person anyway, cause it's the right thing to do. At least the bible got that much right.

Word.

 

[SUPERtwinky]

They showed up, but were totally drowned out by the huge counter protests. 5-20 or so at UVM.