[Shaun]

I'm sure a topic on the Westboro Baptist Church has been posted before, as they've gained quite a lot of notoriety and infamy. They're basically a religious group (of which the Phelps family are the focal point) in Kansas, USA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro_Baptist_Church

There was a documentary recently done with Louis Theroux, as well as other media appearances on the Jeremy Kyle Show, countless CNN interviews and

Phelps Sr., his supporters and members of his church attend the aforementioned gatherings, as well as other gay-related events, with signs bearing anti-gay slogans. Phelps Sr. has characterized the AIDS Memorial Quilt as "100,000 living fags slobberin' around 45,000 dead fags" and declared Elizabeth Taylor, a fundraiser for AIDS research, to be a "world-famous filthy Jew *****." Other regular anti-gay slogans of Westboro include "Homosexuality = Death," "Fags Die, God Laughs," "Matthew Shepard Rots in Hell," "AIDS: Kills Fags Dead" and "Ellen DeGeneres is a Lesbian Slut."

In July 2005 the Westboro Baptist Church declared its intention to picket the memorial service of Cpl. Carrie French in Boise, Idaho. French, aged 19 years old, was killed on June 5 in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, where she served as an ammunition specialist with the 116th Brigade Combat Team's 145th Support Battalion. Her death is seen by the church as divine punishment of the United States. Phelps Sr. was quoted as saying, "Our attitude toward what's happening with the war is [that] the Lord is punishing this evil nation for abandoning all moral imperatives that are worth a dime."

The Westboro Baptist Church declared its intention to picket the funerals of other soldiers as well, and did so in August 2005. A group from the church protested at the funeral of Spc. Edward Myers, a soldier from St. Joseph, Missouri, who died in Iraq. Shirley Phelps-Roper (one of Phelps Sr.'s daughters and the main author of the WBC Epics and Hate Letters) told a television reporter, "Who would serve a nation that is Godless and has flipped off, defiantly defied, defiantly flipped off, the Lord their God?" She then reiterated her belief that Myers was burning in Hell.

According to the same wikipedia page, they are (thankfully) banned from entering the UK after intending to picket the production of "The Laramie Project", a play about the homophobic killing of Matthew Shepard.

Now, onto how this gets into a debate - should freedom of speech be allowed in this case?

[edit - changed the title of the thread because it'll get more attention :P]

[arista]

There is No God , anyway.
and this is very typical of America.

[Sticks]

It should be noted that various Baptist organisations have disowned and dissassociated themselves from this group

[Tom]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I don't think people should be so vocal about opinions that might cause mass upset when all of their beliefs rely on God and the bible, for which there is just as much evidence to suggest against than for.

[Shaun]

Sorry Sticks, should have mentioned that.

[arista]

Originally posted by Picto
Sorry Sticks, should have mentioned that.

Picto you are clever
you need this book.

[30stone]

I thought this would be about ciggarettes then lol.

[Zac]

Originally posted by Robin-Van-Perfect
I thought this would be about ciggarettes then lol.

Me too, when I saw the title. Lol.

[Sod_James]

Harsh.

but o well. im not botherd.

Proud to be gay and if God doesnt like it then he can go take a long walk off a short pier as far as im botherd.

[arista]

Originally posted by Sod_James
Harsh.

but o well. Im not botherd.

Proud to be gay and if God doesnt like it then he can go take a long walk off a short pier as far as Im botherd.

Your doing OK SJ
and there is NO God.

[Sticks]

Originally posted by arista

Picto you are clever
you need this book.

How about this book



Available from amazon

[arista]

Sticks
You know there is No God.

[BigOz]

I am belive in god, but I don't go to church, pray, etc.

[DamonJ]

I hate them too. Filthy queers

[Tom]

Originally posted by Sticks

How about this book



Available from amazon

God doesn't exist on the grounds of the inconsistent triad. That immediately pulls apart the idea of God, so if there is a God he isn't perfect, so does he really deserve worship? And thats before you read stuff. Most other things have some kind of alternative explanation.

[Hugo]

God is made up y'all.

[GhettoSuperstar]

God is dead so, up his!!! NAHNAHNAH!

Not that he was real in the first place.

Liessssssssssssss.

[Shaun]

I don't think anyone's taking my debate seriously

[Z]

I absolutely hate groups of nut cases like the Westboro Baptist Church. I am not a Christian, so somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but:

If God really hated gay people, why do they exist? You can transfer this argument onto anything "evil" in the world - why does war exist? Why does poverty exist? Why do degenerative mental/physical illnesses exist? Why do people feel the need to categorise themselves as better/worse than others?

That does not take into account whether or not God is real, that is simply an argument that if God exists, clearly these things do not go against "His word" because He allows them to exist still.

I just think people need to learn some common courtesy; those morons have no respect for anything, I mean picketing is one thing but picketing a funeral? It makes me so angry that people could have such a lack of respect to intrude on a funeral. It's groups like them that ensure I'll never truly respect religion, I respect people who are religious, so long as they do not try to impose their views on me, because I find their commitment to religion absolutely brilliant, and whether or not God is real, I think any kind of long term commitment like that is always a good thing.

[Hugo]

I would, but I don't believe in God.

[MrGaryy]

I would still by by that freedom of speech should be allowed in this case. Anyone with a bit of sense can see that these people are total extremists and as gay it in no way bothers me if they feel the need air their opinions.

Besides if there was a Jesus, it certainly isn't the time of our Lord anymore so it's not like if one deluded group of people say this it will change public consensus.

[MrGaryy]

Originally posted by Zee
I absolutely hate groups of nut cases like the Westboro Baptist Church. I am not a Christian, so somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but:

If God really hated gay people, why do they exist? You can transfer this argument onto anything "evil" in the world - why does war exist? Why does poverty exist? Why do degenerative mental/physical illnesses exist? Why do people feel the need to categorise themselves as better/worse than others?
.

Well I'm not particularly knowledgable on the subject but referring to poverty and war, the reason they exist is because they are a result of poor or evil decisions and actions. God gave all free will to make their own decisions, right or wrong.

The gay and mental illness thing is unexplainable.

[Hugo]

I just don't get relegion anyways :/
There were loads of relegions before Christianity so why should one just be randomly written and everyone believes it. Noone belives in Greek or Eygptian gods anymore buttt what makes them so much more far fetched than a Christian god?
hmm

[Z]

Originally posted by Gazbo

Well I'm not particularly knowledgable on the subject but referring to poverty and war, the reason they exist is because they are a result of poor or evil decisions and actions. God gave all free will to make their own decisions, right or wrong.

The gay and mental illness thing is unexplainable.

I was generally just meaning "why doesn't He fix it if it bothers him so much?" I get what you're saying though, but yeah, I just don't think these people can justify being so over the top in their actions; what do they expect to achieve that God hasn't done? I'm fairly sure that counts as blasphemy, actually...

[Tom]

Originally posted by Zee
I absolutely hate groups of nut cases like the Westboro Baptist Church. I am not a Christian, so somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but:

If God really hated gay people, why do they exist? You can transfer this argument onto anything "evil" in the world - why does war exist? Why does poverty exist? Why do degenerative mental/physical illnesses exist? Why do people feel the need to categorise themselves as better/worse than others?

That does not take into account whether or not God is real, that is simply an argument that if God exists, clearly these things do not go against "His word" because He allows them to exist still.

I just think people need to learn some common courtesy; those morons have no respect for anything, I mean picketing is one thing but picketing a funeral? It makes me so angry that people could have such a lack of respect to intrude on a funeral. It's groups like them that ensure I'll never truly respect religion, I respect people who are religious, so long as they do not try to impose their views on me, because I find their commitment to religion absolutely brilliant, and whether or not God is real, I think any kind of long term commitment like that is always a good thing.

The argument is apparently because God has given us free will to do what we like (although that completely contradicts the idea that God has a plan for us all) and we will appreciate the positives more because we know what the negatives are like. Thats as well as this world being some kind of "test" for our morals and whether we go to heaven, hell, purgatory or whatever, although God is also apparently merciful which means everyone will redeem themselves and end up in heaven. So when you're dead and in heaven, say hello to Hitler for me.