To Hate or To Love?
Okay, I have to get back to the killings of the Amish school children one more time.
Have you heard about the church in Kansas that was planning to send members to Pennsylvania to protest at the funerals of the young Amish girls? You've probably heard of these people before. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church routinely picket military funerals, claiming that American servicemen and women are dying overseas because God is displeased that the United States tolerates homosexuals.
So why would they protest at the Amish funerals? Really, who could be more innocent than these girls?
The church claims that the Governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, is responsible for the girls' deaths. Apparently several months ago, Gov. Rendell made statements on a television show about Westboro Baptist Church and their protests at military funerals. In June, the Governor signed legislation making it a crime to protest within 500 feet of a military funeral or memorial service in Pennsylvania.
And because of this, the young Amish girls are dead? According to Westboro Baptist, yes.
Try doing a google search on this church. Go ahead, google "Westboro Baptist Church". I'll wait. Still haven't done it? Here, click this link. Look at the url for their website. It's not westborobaptistchurch.com. Shoot, I'm not even going to put the name here, as I don't want any crazy links or kooks coming back to my blog. But it's disgusting. If you go on to their website, it is full of hate.
How can this group call themselves a church? How can they call themselves Christians? I believe they are neither. The schedule of their "weekly church meetings"is hard to find on their website. It's buried. And once I did find it, it just says that they are held at 11:30 a.m. -- no day of the week given. They are nothing but a warped political-social movement. They are certainly not of God.
But hey, the ACLU is behind these nuts! Shouldn't they be proud! (please insert sarcasm here)
This "church" claims to preach against all forms of sin. Isn't this kind of like the pot calling the kettle black? Christians believe that there has only been one person to ever walk the earth who was free from sin. That person was Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Every single one of us, even the Pope, is of sin. The members of Westboro Baptist are not exempt.
But even Jesus Christ, being the only one who lived without sin, still loved the many. Scripture cites many examples of Jesus dining with the "tax collectors" (at the time, considered some of the dregs of society). When Jesus entered Jericho and said he would stay at the house of Zacchaeus, "All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' "" (Luke 19.7). He didn't protest when sinners died. He loved them.
I believe that through this tragedy, God has shown us what he expects of us. I don't believe that God wants us to be like the nuts at Westboro Baptist Church who preach hate. I believe he wants us to be like the Amish community of Pennsylvania, who through their grief, can still forgive and love.
Look at the funerals in Pennsylvania this past week. Westboro Baptist wanted to protest the funerals of the innocent Amish girls out of hate. Today, dozens of Amish neighbors came out to the funeral of the gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV. Not to protest, but to mourn with his family.
Who do you want to be like? Those who live to hate and condemn, or those who live to love and forgive?
Have you heard about the church in Kansas that was planning to send members to Pennsylvania to protest at the funerals of the young Amish girls? You've probably heard of these people before. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church routinely picket military funerals, claiming that American servicemen and women are dying overseas because God is displeased that the United States tolerates homosexuals.
So why would they protest at the Amish funerals? Really, who could be more innocent than these girls?
The church claims that the Governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, is responsible for the girls' deaths. Apparently several months ago, Gov. Rendell made statements on a television show about Westboro Baptist Church and their protests at military funerals. In June, the Governor signed legislation making it a crime to protest within 500 feet of a military funeral or memorial service in Pennsylvania.
And because of this, the young Amish girls are dead? According to Westboro Baptist, yes.
Try doing a google search on this church. Go ahead, google "Westboro Baptist Church". I'll wait. Still haven't done it? Here, click this link. Look at the url for their website. It's not westborobaptistchurch.com. Shoot, I'm not even going to put the name here, as I don't want any crazy links or kooks coming back to my blog. But it's disgusting. If you go on to their website, it is full of hate.
How can this group call themselves a church? How can they call themselves Christians? I believe they are neither. The schedule of their "weekly church meetings"is hard to find on their website. It's buried. And once I did find it, it just says that they are held at 11:30 a.m. -- no day of the week given. They are nothing but a warped political-social movement. They are certainly not of God.
But hey, the ACLU is behind these nuts! Shouldn't they be proud! (please insert sarcasm here)
This "church" claims to preach against all forms of sin. Isn't this kind of like the pot calling the kettle black? Christians believe that there has only been one person to ever walk the earth who was free from sin. That person was Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Every single one of us, even the Pope, is of sin. The members of Westboro Baptist are not exempt.
But even Jesus Christ, being the only one who lived without sin, still loved the many. Scripture cites many examples of Jesus dining with the "tax collectors" (at the time, considered some of the dregs of society). When Jesus entered Jericho and said he would stay at the house of Zacchaeus, "All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' "" (Luke 19.7). He didn't protest when sinners died. He loved them.
I believe that through this tragedy, God has shown us what he expects of us. I don't believe that God wants us to be like the nuts at Westboro Baptist Church who preach hate. I believe he wants us to be like the Amish community of Pennsylvania, who through their grief, can still forgive and love.
Look at the funerals in Pennsylvania this past week. Westboro Baptist wanted to protest the funerals of the innocent Amish girls out of hate. Today, dozens of Amish neighbors came out to the funeral of the gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV. Not to protest, but to mourn with his family.
Who do you want to be like? Those who live to hate and condemn, or those who live to love and forgive?
posted by Susan | 6:25 PM
1 Comments:
I don't always agree with you, but on this issue I say, "Amen!" Those Westboro people have disgusted me since they started protesting the funerals of U.S. fallen soldiers. They are not Christian, they are in fact the complete opposite of Christians. They are the same kind of people who destroy the tenets of the Koran. They are wrong. They are wrong. They are wrong.
Thanks for the post.
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