Oy. Just Oy. Phelps doesn't even deserve an "Oy Vey."
Read, if you please. Heather directed my attention to this one.
So, Phelps and his oh-so-brilliant followers are thanking god for IEDs because they're his way of punishing our nation for allowing homosexuality to exist. And they are doing this by showing up at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq.
Think about that logic for a second. Or maybe you don't want to, because there is no logic to be found.
Man, I hate fundamentalist yahoos. Think Brother Jed is among Phelps' crowd?
These poor families are grief-stricken enough over the loss of their sons and daughters in a wartime situation. Must this @$$hole and his followers hijack their attempt to cope with their misguided, imbicilic and ultimately useless protests?
Now, the Patriot Guard Riders, the anti-protest protestors, may ultimately be turning each funeral into even more of a circus as a result, but at least their hearts are in the right place. Roll on, brothers.
posted by Jeff Mac @ 11:46 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Dude. Those aren't fundamentalists. Those are whack-jobs using some cariacture of fundamentalism. Just saying.
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Sorry, my last response was short and glib, and I really didn't like it as soon as I posted it. Sorry, I was being snippy.
But I did not mean to imply (and, in fact, don't think I did) that all fundamentalists are like Phelps and his happy band of hateists. Hence the inclusion of the word "yahoos" in my description of them. I was not bashing all fundamentalists, only the yahoo fringe which insists upon displaying their beliefs in manners just like this one.
Brother Jed, for the uninitiated, was a preacher who visited BGSU on a regular basis and preached to the masses about how we were all going to hell except for him. He also stars in my favorite Seth story ever - ask me if you haven't heard it.
Hey, both of you, wake up! In case you haven't noticed, the word "fundamentalist" covers as much ground as the word "political"! (If you're political, does it mean liberal, conservative, somewhere in between?) The Amish are fundamentalists, as are the Taleban! Actions speak much louder than anything spoken at a pulpit! On an individual basis, David Coresh was as much a fundamentalist as Bin Laden! (They both killed people in ways they thought were justified.) The change from one text to another didn't leave different results! My own personal test is easy...are they imposing their belief on anyone other than themselves? I've never minded someone telling me of their own faith as long as they don't insist I have to believe, too. If Phelps wants to get a permit and march downtown, I'll defend his freedom to do that. Carrying it to a family in mourning at the graveside isn't illegal, but it's about the most offensive thing I've heard in a very long time!
Again, I can't totally agree. The definition I accept for "fundamentalist" is a person who abides by the strict, traditional readings of their particular religion. If these people are claiming to be fundamentalist Christians, it doesn't wash. NO strict reading of the Bible will celebrate a soldier's death as punishment for the US supporting gay rights. The only way you can come to that conclusion is by twisting the text for your own agenda. Which means you are no longer a fundamentalist. You're dangerous.
Jeff, I never read your first post, so no apolgies required.
As for this part: "But I did not mean to imply (and, in fact, don't think I did) that all fundamentalists are like Phelps and his happy band of hateists."
I never said you did. I just stated that nutbars like those guys don't fit the term. And I'd love to hear your Brother Jed story. :)
I agree with you about the definition. What I disagree with you about is the strictly positive conotation. You know as well as I do that it isn't the text that makes the difference, it's the interpretation. If everyone got their religious education by reading a text, thinking about it, and making their own judgement call about what is "proper", no two people would see the text the same! (Just think about a book or film you and your friends have debated about!) It's the acts that matter. If you want to believe that there is a cyclops that will devour the world whole if more than 30% of people are hungry at any point in time, okay. I'd think you were nutty, but you're allowed your beliefs. If that belief lead to you working hard to see that starving people got fed, I'd still think you were a nut, but a kind-hearted nut who was doing some good. If that belief lead you to try to kill large groups of people to keep the numbers down, I'd think you were a nut who needed to be removed from society.
Avery, everything is open to interpretation. If you see the Christian Bible as the "one true holy text", the next question is prose or poetry? Is it a literal historic document or is it stories collected to help guide your life? What about all the parts and pieces that were left out, like the Thomas gospel? Even if you see it as historic fact, evidence questions aside, what is in those pages contradicts itself. All of it was oral tradition for generations before being put on paper, what may have been lost in translation? It all comes down to faith, doesn't it? And Phelps thinks he found justification in those pages.
Phelps is labelled a fundamentalist because it's what he calls himself. I consider him an extremist. Pick your own adjective.
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