Vitriolic minister Fred Phelps and his hate-crazed congregation of Westoro Baptist Church (WBC) have made the headlines once again. This time it was for picketing at the funeral of 20-year-old U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Matthew A. Snyder, who died from a non-combat-related vehicle accident in Iraq on March 3, 2006. The WBC members held up placards that said "Thank God for Dead Soldiers, "Semper Fi Fags," "God Hates You," and "America Is Doomed." Though Matthew Snyder was not gay, the Westboro Baptist congregation insists that U.S. military deaths are God's vengeance on the United States of America for its tolerance of homosexuality.
Albert Snyder, Matthew's father, sued Fred Phelps for defamation, intrusion upon seclusion, publicity given to private life, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Mr. Snyder, who said of his son, "He was a hero and he was the love of my life," said of the WBC protesters, "They turned this funeral into a media circus and they wanted to hurt my family. They wanted their message heard and they didn't care who they stepped over. My son should have been buried with dignity, not with a bunch of clowns outside."
Last Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that the Westboro congregation was constitutionally protected from Snyder's lawsuit, in light of the First Amendment.
This Wednesday, students here on the South Shore of Massachusetts partook in a discussion of this case, with the primary question being: Does the First Amendment right to freedom of speech protect protesters at a funeral, even though they are intentionally inflicting emotional distress on the family of the deceased? The two sides to this debate are summed up by the school administration as "Snyder's (The Dad) Argument" and "Phelp's (The Church) Argument."
The fall-out from this whole fiasco is apparent, summed up well by a Christian friend who serves on the school faculty/staff:
"This church is smearing the name of "Baptist" and more importantly Christianity. Most of the teachers and students will, in my guess, side with the father and will have further "cemented" in their minds that Christians are an intolerant, unloving, homophobic group."
Phelps and his congregation would do well to heed the warnings of the God they think they know so well. Jesus declared,
"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the heart of the sea. Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!"- Matthew 18:6-7
The "little ones" Jesus refers to in these verses are identified as new, impressionable believers. Jesus compares these spiritual children to physical children, for whom He also cares immensely, saying to His disciples, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19:14).
In commenting on Matthew 18:7 (quoted above), William MacDonald writes,
"The world, the flesh, and the devil are leagued to seduce and pervert. But if a person becomes an agent for the forces of evil, his guilt will be great."Indeed, Jesus says it would be better to die a violent death (i.e., having a millstone wrapped tied around your neck and be drowned in the ocean) than to destroy the innocence of another.
If anyone will suffer the judgment of God for such an offense, it will be a "minister" who in the name of God convinces children of his own congregation to carry hateful placards that grossly misrepresent the God of the Bible, and who creates confusion in the minds of school kids who are now convinced that all Baptists are homophobic bigots.
How do we counteract such atrocities? By faithfully living Gospel-centered lives. How important it is to show the world around us the essence of true Christianity! By God's grace we can do this, as we are filled with His Spirit and live according to His Word.
The evil influence of Fred Phelps and his disillusioned followers will be overcome by power of the gospel. May this encourage us and embolden us as Jesus' true ambassadors.
I'm going to post this on my FB. It's terrific! I was just so grieved in my spirit to see this unfold in the news.
ReplyDeleteThe good news is that Fred Phelps' congregation all have the same last name..... Phelps. For the most part at least. This guy makes my stomach churn.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that the founding fathers in their worst nightmares ever dreamed that the protection of free speech would include the venom that is spewed from Phelps & Co. But of course they also never imagined television and the adultery found in the dramas, the trivialization of sex in the sitcoms, and the fornication found in the music videos that so many of us hypocritically enjoy, would flood the nation (but that's an argument for another day).
ReplyDeleteI do see a bit of a dichotomy in this controversy. While Phelps' method is certainly wrong, not all of their message necessarily is. Specifically, as the Bible teaches, that homosexuality (and all sexual immorality) is a sin and does bring on the wrath of God; as poured out on Sodom, and even America, as John MacArthur explains here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfNOKvkVRHY
True Christians, if they have the courage to confront any sin with the truth of Scripture, need to get used to the fact that they will often be found by various people groups to be intolerant, unloving, and/or bigoted. Part of the reason for this is because it is partly true. The true gospel is a narrow, offensive, exclusive, damning stumbling block to all who reject it.
Our failure to confront sins, whether through our "tolerance" or our silence, is NOT an act of love, it is an act of hate. But at the same time, if we are to issue condemnation without compassion, we are no better than Phelps and his twisted followers.