I was wondering whether anyone had watched the programme about the Westboro Baptist Church? I've started this thread in the Christian forum only because they consider themselves to be Christian, but their practices seem to have very little to do with the teachings of Jesus...
There's another thread about the Florida preacher burning the Koran, but apparently the Westboro Baptist Church have been burning the Koran for a while.
People say religions start wars, but this programme proves that people can find an excuse for their hatred wherever they want. As one ex member says during the programme; it's about ego, control, and a sense of superiority. For a certain type of person religion is just a convenient excuse to justify any cruelty.
As I watched I was shaking my head and thinking the whole way through that this is 'the anti-Christ', all compassion and love in the Bible ignored and substituted with hatred. Apparently they had been looking around for signs of 'The Beast'. They should have looked in the mirror.
Hey Barafundle,
Just wanted to say I couldn't agree with you more. This is not Christianity, and it's not truly about religion at all. As you say, it's just religion being twisted as an excuse to indulge human ego and hatred. It's certainly nothing to do with what Christ Jesus taught. (The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew ch. 5-7, is the best primer for this... one wonders why so many who call themselves "Christians" don't seem too familiar with it.)
I'm just praying to know that this kind of evil thought (what the Bible calls the "carnal mind") is not natural to anyone, however much it's indulged. It's only coming to the surface to be seen for the wrong it is. So many Christians - and more and more Muslims, too! - are standing up and rejecting the idea that hatred and brutality have anything to do with God, or with how the true, divine nature of being guides us to act towards our brothers and sisters. That's a momentum we can all support, each in our own way, whatever our background or path in life.
All love, Charis
Oy Barafundle - as a Christian I object to being called "bonkers"!! 😮 You could have titled this thread "Bonkers fundamentalists" or something - those folks ain't Christians, that's for sure. 😡
Were you up late last night too? (It came on at 11.20 last night, but I now realise I missed it earlier on Sunday). I wanted to go to bed but it was so horrific, I felt I needed to be informed so watched it. The one good thing that came out of it was that the "church" is losing its members left, right and centre. Let's hope there will be none of them left soon.
One thing I found a bit creepy was that they and their homes looked so "normal". I guess I was expecting them to be attired like the klu Klux klan or something!
This is an article that Louis Theroux wrote about it.
As you've both said, this is nothing whatsoever to do genuine Christianity.
Mary Baker Eddy addresses this subject on pages 96 &7 of Science and Health, but from a very different perspective. Here are a few excerpts:
[COLOR="Blue"] Love will finally mark the hour of harmony, and spiritualization will follow, for Love is Spirit. Before error is wholly destroyed, there will be interruptions of the general material routine. Earth will become dreary and desolate, but summer and winter, seedtime and harvest (though in changed forms), will continue unto the end,--until the final spiritualization of all things. "The darkest hour precedes the dawn."
Mortal error will vanish in a moral chemicalization. This mental fermentation has begun, and will continue until all errors of belief yield to understanding. Belief is changeable, but spiritual understanding is changeless.
We need to pray to know that God, good is supreme and that what counterfeits goodness cannot stand, because it has no real foundation. And God is speaking his Truth to all HisHer children and they CAN hear it! There's a bit I love from Psalm 37, which shows the impotence of evil: Evil destroys itself.
[COLOR="Purple"]Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
... I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
Love and peace,
Judy
Left me dumbfounded Graham.:confused:
Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.... I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
Thanks for this Judy, I can't remember ever having read it, and so, am glad that you posted it 🙂
.
Hello Barafundle,
I recall there being some controversy a couple of years ago about the UK's determinaton not to allow this odious woman and her 'followers' into the country but quite rightly it was decided that it would be undemocratic not to let her in so she came and ended up on the Jeremy Kyle show where her behaviour was so off the scale I thought it was staged until I saw the programme about her and her family (the Louie Thearuax one has been shown before) there were a great many things that made me think this woman is nausiating but the one that stood out the most was the indoctrination of her own children she even had the teeny ones stood there giving it out at the funerals of US soldiers while their grieving families stood round the grave.
The only thing that surprises me is how nobody has yet pointed out that the person who started the 'movement' her dad, is actually in the closet.
Love
Rebecca x
Oy Barafundle - as a Christian I object to being called "bonkers"!! 😮 You could have titled this thread "Bonkers fundamentalists" or something
🙂 Just to make it absolutely clear, the inverted commas are meant to imply an ironic use of the term 'Christian'.
Were you up late last night too? (It came on at 11.20 last night, but I now realise I missed it earlier on Sunday).
No, I wasn't up late, Judy. Before the programme was broadcast I'd read the Louis Theroux article you gave the link to, and I made a point of watching it later on iplayer.
One thing I found a bit creepy was that they and their homes looked so "normal". I guess I was expecting them to be attired like the klu Klux klan or something!
That normality made me think of the terrible acts carried out in recent history by otherwise 'normal' people, and usually in the the name of a 'righteous' cause. They think they are good people, in fact they believe they are the only good people in the world!
From a social anthropological point of view they are fascinating, though I'm glad I live on a different continent. It made me wonder what Louis Theroux's first encounter with them was like, and it's much of the same...
Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
I like the Mary Baker Eddy quote, and the Psalm, Judy. Thanks for those.
Left me dumbfounded Graham.:confused:
Hiya Rog! I was dumbfounded too. The [url]Hutaree 'Christian militia'[/url] had the same effect when I read about them a while ago. They were carrying out military training in preparation for the Apocalypse.
They'd apparently planned on taking their 'Christianity' one step further than the Westboro crowd by killing a random local policeman, and then attacking the law enforcement officers who gathered for the funeral. Like all of these groups the anti-Christ is whoever they decide it is.
It's interesting that these strange, twisted brands of Christian fundamentalism seem to be a peculiarly American phenomenon.
The only thing that surprises me is how nobody has yet pointed out that the person who started the 'movement' her dad, is actually in the closet.
They do seem to be extraordinarily preoccupied with sex, Becky, especially homosexuality.
It's interesting that these strange, twisted brands of Christian fundamentalism seem to be a peculiarly American phenomenon.
Yes - odd, isn't it... Mind you, the brand of Christianity I (and Judy) follow, Christian Science - which is the complete opposite of all this twisted, fanatical stuff - started in America too. So I guess they can't be all bad. 😉
The only "good" (?) thing I can see in this kind of fanaticism is that no-one in their right mind could mistake it for a rational (let alone spiritual) teaching. If they're losing members in droves, obviously it's already starting to burn itself out. The more extreme evil becomes, the closer it is to its own self-destruction.
That said, end-times prophecies do seem to be becoming more and more popular lately, and not just among would-be Christians. But these sorts of predictions have come up all throughout history - often during turbulent times, when human fear gets stirred up - and the one thing they all have in common is that none of them have ever come true. 🙂
All love, Charis
Apologies, I thought the programme you are all talking about was the one from 2006 and it had been repeated, I have just realised it's an update and Louie Theroux has gone back to see them for an update.
I've just watched it on the i player and wondered again like I did last time why there is no mention of social services becoming involved, surely indoctrinating those children is abuse?
Love
Rebecca x
I remember Kieth allen doing a documentary on the same people a few years back...being Kieth he was a lot more direct in is filming, adds the extra *dark* humour...but the main thing that strikes me is how scary the level of hate these people have
Heres a clip of Kieth allens time there incase anyones interested
xx
I remember Kieth allen doing a documentary on the same people a few years back...being Kieth he was a lot more direct in is filming, adds the extra *dark* humour
I wasn't too comfortable with Kieth Allen's own confrontational style myself. Both sides shouting at each other just makes noise. I thought Louis Theroux's attitude of polite, bemused spectator allowed the Westboro congregation to condemn themselves.
The Westboro people say their public demonstrations aren't intended to 'save' anyone, or to enlarge their congregation. If that's true then I wondered why, if they're really not interested in changing anyone's beliefs of lifestyle, they bothered with the demonstrations?
Their abusive and callous style can only be intended to draw a hostile response. The insensitive public gloating at the misfortune of others reinforces the barrier they've built between themselves and the rest of the world. It seems the more isolated and despised they make themselves, the more justified they can consider themselves to be in their beliefs. They do expect to be kicked out of America at some time in the not too distant future. I'd love to know what a psychologist would have to say about it all.
I listened to a programme today about Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi who organised and oversaw the transportation and murder of six million people. He considered himself to be an 'idealist', and his last words before his execution in 1962 were, "I die believing in God".
What staggering, horrendous delusions must rule these people's lives.
I was wondering whether anyone had watched the programme about the Westboro Baptist Church? I've started this thread in the Christian forum only because they consider themselves to be Christian, but their practices seem to have very little to do with the teachings of Jesus...
There's another thread about the Florida preacher burning the Koran, but apparently the Westboro Baptist Church have been burning the Koran for a while.
People say religions start wars, but this programme proves that people can find an excuse for their hatred wherever they want. As one ex member says during the programme; it's about ego, control, and a sense of superiority. For a certain type of person religion is just a convenient excuse to justify any cruelty.
As I watched I was shaking my head and thinking the whole way through that this is 'the anti-Christ', all compassion and love in the Bible ignored and substituted with hatred. Apparently they had been looking around for signs of 'The Beast'. They should have looked in the mirror.
Westboro Baptist Church is basically made up of one family in Kansas. A lot of them have law degrees and they make it a point of stirring up trouble - but they are smart about it, as they usually cannot be sued for anything. Most all Baptist churches or any other Christian churches are embarrassed and condemn what they are doing. However, those who hate Christianity try to paint everyone with a broad brush by using Westboro as some type of example.
Interesting that they are only one family - that didn't really come across in the programme. Well they certainly have had their 15 minutes of fame! I hope you don't mean anyone on this thread when you speak of painting with a broad brush Ace! After all, Barafundle did (as he pointed out to me) put 'Christians' in inverted commas and wrote:
I've started this thread in the Christian forum only because they consider themselves to be Christian, but their practices seem to have very little to do with the teachings of Jesus...
Love and peace,
Judy