This might surprise some people, but I attend a weekly bible study on Monday nights. Two weeks ago, the study involved us reading a couple of chapters from Leviticus which, for those who are un-churched, is filled with the laws of the Ancient Jewish society. Among the laws I read about were:
- (18:19) You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness.
- (18:22) You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
- (19:9-10) When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God.
- (19:13b) You shall not keep for yourself the wages of a labourer until morning.
- (19:19) You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your animals breed with a different kind; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; nor shall you put on a garment made of two different materials.
- (19:33-34) When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
The penalty for all these crimes was being “cut off from (your) people.” In today’s society, I see little shunning based on having sex with a woman on her period (although that is gross), or when farmers fail to open their fields to immigrants and homeless people. There aren’t protest marches related to bi-weekly payroll processing or against stores selling shirts made of blended fabric. And Randy Terrill not only goes without punishment, but he gets re-elected for crusading against Mexicans.
One of those laws, though, is not forgotten. While most of the other directives listed in Leviticus have been relegated to “ideally” or “optional” status, the decree against homosexual relations has been labeled as the eleventh commandment. Several denominations, not to mention a political movement, believe that this single line of scripture is the most pressing issue of our time.
This belief has spawned a minion of goons, led by a jackass named Fred Phelps, to create the Westboro Baptist Church. The WBC is no known so much for their “biblical teachings”, but more for their rally cry of “God Hates Fags” and their proclivity of showing up to funerals of homosexuals slaughtered by bigots. Because, really, if you can’t stand up on behalf of cold blooded murderers, who can you defend?
Phelps’ squad of hate mongers must have bored themselves of just ticking off liberals, because during the war in Iraq, they expanded their scope to include funerals for slain soldiers. In their “logic”, they concluded that American soldiers were dying because God was punishing our nation for the sin of homosexuality. I guess that makes sense, but you really have to want it.
Today, the group looks to upset everyone regardless of political leaning as they approach a new front. They are going to picket Moore High School. Why? Who knows. Maybe they believe Moore alum Toby Keith’s machismo act is just a shielding technique. Maybe they just threw a dart at a map and it hit that intersection. Regardless, they will subject their douche baggery on the undeserving teenagers whose concerns on a normal day revolve around whether they can get home in time to hide the cell phone bill from their parents.
So, when you’re praying to the God of Abraham that Phelps claims to be serving, make a mention of those poor Moore Lions who could really use some of His protection today.
It’s actually because Moore High School has a “Gay-Straight Alliance Club”.
What happened to “Love thy neighbor” or the realization that the sinner is not the sin? Oh, right; Bigotry creates tunnel vision.
Anyways, to move away from the serious business of this topic, let’s dance around the silly and inane. Is there a Westboro Church clown car for all them to come out of? And if so will Sally Kern show up as the Bearded Lady?
(Note to all those who plan to attend, don’t give them any excuse to sue you, because that’s how they make their money.)
these Westboro fools make me itch – and that’s never a good thing.
I can’t help but wonder if folks just ignored them (ie stop sending television crews and reporters out to their protests) if they would just go away or keep their protesting to their bathrooms. they love the attention, but i like to treat them like a tantrum-filled 3 year-old: ignore them and they eventually stop screaming and fall asleep.
Leviticus also lays out kosher dietary law. I’m surprised these Westboro people aren’t out protesting at Denny’s since they serve food that’s banned in Leviticus: pork.
I’m tempted to goto their protest and ask if Rev Phelps is a closeted homosexual – he reminds me of that neighbor from American Beauty.
Terrill isn’t crusading against Mexicans, he’s against illegal aliens, big difference.
So, you believe Terrill would be just as adament about driving out illegal aliens if they were rich, white, English speakers from Canada?
I think Terrill WOULD be just as driven to rid our land of illegal Canadian aliens, just to not look like a hypocrite, but Canadians can’t be identified by the color of their skin.
It’s ironic that the same 1st amendment that allows us to say pretty much whatever we want to on this and other sites, also allows these morons to spew their hatred wherever they want.
To get real insight into these folks, I believe there’s a long entry about them on Wikipedia, under Fred’s name. Crap, if they want to sue me, bring it on. They’ve got several unsatisfied judgments against their own bigoted self.
So, is the result of, or the cause of the brain drain?
Wait, some scriptures can be ignored while other vague scriptures are used to fuel hate? I’m confused.
And Terrill is an idiot. He had to file bankruptcy so he could buy important things like OU football tickets. But rest easy everyone, he is only in charge of our taxes.
“…As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that [b]they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication[/b]….” (Acts 21:20-26)
Bless their hearts, they’re just too stupid to read.
Clark:
Only if they can’t speak english, only french. Many people are opposed to illegal immigration, not just a few “kooks” on the right.
Thanks to illegal border crossings, the SW usa is becoming a hotbed of kidnappings, etc.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123518102536038463.html
Parkland Hospital in Dallas is spending almost 20% of their budget on “translation services”… Simply having concerns about illegal immigration doesn’t not mean that someone is “anti-mexican”.
Anyway, anyone going to counter-protest Rev Phelps?
Neal Boortz has called him “that little gay preacher from kansas” on his radio show….rather amusing
I’d just like to add my voice to those calling these assholes, umm, assholes. My head wants to explode every time I hear about these morons.
Do yourself a favor and DO NOT LOOK AT THEIR WEBSITE. It will only convince you that there just can not be a god, that there is no happiness anywhere in the world, and that Christina Hendricks will never show up at my house dressed up as her Mad Men character and ask me to adjust her bra. They actually have (or had when I looked at it a few years ago) a counter displaying the “number of days Matthew Shepard has been in hell.”
I can not understand how a whole group of people can put that much time and energy into actively hating people. Don’t they see the hypocrisy? Don’t they…..oh, for fuck’s sake…lksaflslsadlgkjbgasadmksdflkndfmlkgblkdgbdfsgb
*Head Explodes*
Newsflash, his 12:45 protest at the Capitol was moved ot 23rd & Santa Fe at the last minute.
Tricky Bastards… looks like the hippies from the peace house were swift enough to make that 3 block trek in time.
They didn’t have to proper permits to hold a demonstration at the Capitol Complex… so they moved it down the street. Surely affecting the income of the homeless that normally work that intersection.
Also Nermel… how the hell does a hospital spend “20%” of its budget on “translation services”? I think you got your numbers wrong.
I agree with re-ramblings, if we ignore these assholes they’ll spew their hatred elsewhere. That said, I did go over and shot a photo of the event.
Clark, great post. These people are idiots.
Nice job. I do want to point out, however, that you know you’re in Oklahoma when the most liberal, ironic local blogger admits to being a regular Bible study attendee…..
This reminds me of a story I heard about a Native American, I think it was in Howard Zinn’s book Voices of a People’s History of the United States, who, when told that if he didn’t convert to the Conquistador’s version of Christianity he would go to Hell, remarked that if the Spaniard’s were going to Heaven, he would much rather be in Hell. It sounded like a much more exciting place, anyway.
You can bet Satan has a cob waiting for each of these bastards.
Fear is the most powerful driving force in the history of man.