LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY gtonizuka)



Although I haven't seen it take place in widespread fashion on this journal, I just thought I'd drop my two cents here, and be done with it, especially in the wake of recent events in Virginia and the response written by the parties affiliated with and who are active members of Westboro Baptist Church. In truth, most of you here don't need to hear this, but for the newer users who might not know the drill, I thought I would point this perspective out-your own mileage may vary, and I may be off base, so if you don't agree, feel free to state so.

When I stumbled upon this thread, I did so for many reasons, with the primary reason being an utter disgust with seeing what passed for "christianity" these days in the public eye. I'm far from a role model in many respects, and would never claim to be an ideal christian of sorts, but I think I most recently remember Tracy Morrow saying "I judge a devil by his deeds"; the christians that we have seen rise up in force since the "election" of George Bush in 2000 have epitomized everything that is so unchristian in nature that I'm surprised that real christians en masse haven't turned violent. Much like a favorite musical form of mine, the image of christianity has been marred by people who do not epitomize the supposed love, tolerance, and patience that Jesus Christ had for people out of his humanity; these people condone hatred, unnecessary violence, and oppression, and epitomize everything that went wrong with Christianity at several points in history.

I had the pleasure of dining with a good friend while in SF for their birthday party, and met two Christians who were quite strong in their faith, but (*gasp*) didn't browbeat anyone with it. These were two people I respect, and will continue to do so; the male in the couple was also an advocate of many social justice ideals I held, and we bonded over such. This, I feel, epitomizes what America should be in terms of religion(and probably also falls in tune with my own Unitarian beliefs)-although we may not see God the same way, we should be free to worship him how we choose as long as that worship doesn't violate anyone else's civil or human rights. These two people were far from the dogmatic assholes that screamed for the death of Hugo Chavez, or harassed people at abortion clinics(even though they were pro-life!), and I almost felt sorry for the reputation that scum like the denzines of Westboro Baptist Church and pundits like Pat Robertson had created for them. I can only hope that Christians like this will continue to show their face and let their beliefs be known to counteract the ignorance on display;their voices will have more impact in spite of this due to their faith.

To attempt to communicate that I despise the "christian", the fake, pathetic, spineless shell who follows whatever a healthy dose of Fox News, ignorance, and his twisted version of god tells him is to try to quantify the history of the world into a single letter in english. The facist practice of these people's faith stands testament to their ignorance; their attempt to take over America with their ideals through legal means is hypocritical in itself considering their belief in the formation of a "one world government" under a single ideal that is supposed to present itself as anathema to Christianity and force people to worship a single god. I also find it particularly ironic as a person who was lambasted in 2000 for "hating america" due to speaking out against going to Iraq that a religious group such as Westboro hasn't seemed to have the same degree of negative press that anyone who spoke out in those times had despite having a site that literally has a web address that states how much "God Hates America"-shouldn't they be off behind a fence somewhere, or locked up?It was okay for these same hypocrites to lock up people who spoke out against Bush and his regime of cowards before-where's the vitrol and righteousness now?What's the problem?Do they have a problem finding where they're located?They could find Saddam Hussein in Iraq in a hole in the ground, and I'm sure the website displays their address-why not go lock them up?Oh, wait, that's right-they have a cross up over their building, so they get a pass, right?I guess it's the same one that Ted Haggard used......

My point is simple-I hate the fake christians that we see permeating our TV, attempting to take over our government, and attempting to browbeat us with badly colored signs just as much as anyone on this list. Despite this hatred, however, I encourage you to discern between the real christians, who simply want to worship their god in peace, and the fake christians who are trying to get a bigger flock to support their meth habit. I'd spit in Fred Phelps face if I could, but that doesn't mean that I'd treat the other Christians I met who really are trying to follow the example they feel Jesus set even close to the same.

Again, I know this has probably been said, but I felt I had to speak on it again. Forgive the spam.