Debate: Does God Hate Fags? and the Westboro Church

By Glenn and Jake

The Westboro Baptist Church are famous for many things, including their propensity to protest outside of controversial funerals.  They elicit strong reactions from people all long Kinsey’s sexual continuum.  One of their most questionable slogans/signs is the simple question “Does God Hate Fags?” The question itself is rife with presumptions and the answer may surprise you.  Read on as Jake and Glenn discuss the role the Westboro Church can play in our post-industrial society.

Glenn: Fred Phelps and the Westboro Church represent mainstream religious conservatism and just like that ideology they are under attack.  What other church can you think of whose members are persecuted with SPECIFIC laws preventing them from exercising their freedom to assemble? Westboro cares about the moral fabric of our society in the tradition of great men like John Calvin or Andrew Carnegie. Sometimes that involves a letter writing campaign, sometimes it involves group prayer and sometimes it involves protesting outside of a child's funeral.


Jake: I’m not 100% sure, but I think you are against this subject.  It’s hard to tell.  The Westboro Church are inherently wrong because God does not exist.  Anybody who believes in God is wrong.  Disregarding that fact, The Westboro Church has the right to believe whatever they want to believe.  Does God hate fags?  Sure, why not?  God doesn’t even fucking exist, so who cares?  Let these jerks believe what they want to believe.  If they want to protest funerals, then let them.  You get mad when people protest your Klan rallies.  The only thing protesting funerals of homosexuals does for the Westboro Church is make them seems tacky to large portion of the public.  Even the monsters that murdered Matthew Sheppard wouldn’t have protested his funeral.  Also, Country Strong dies in the end.


Glenn:  Thanks for spoiling the end to the movie Country Strong!  I am certainly in support of the Westboro Church even though I don’t agree with every aspect of their ideology.  I apologize if it was unclear, but I certainly believe them to be one of the most persecuted groups in our country.  Why does the ACLU not defend their right to protest at military funerals?  Where is Fox News bringing awareness to all the community work they do in Kansas?  Last time I checked, being a Christian and acting on those Christian beliefs is protected speech and action in AmeriKKKa!
For instance, I just tried to access www.godhatesfags.com at work and I got this message:

The Westboro Church has never committed an act of violence and is less racist than the average attendee at the yearly Conservative Political Atrophy Conference.


Jake:  Sorry that I ruined the movie “Country Strong,” but it is important to this debate.  Death is a natural part of life and that movie is a perfect example of the nature of death and the life of an alcoholic country star.  Is protesting a funeral in bad taste?  Obviously, it is.  Yet, it is not against the law, nor should it be.  It should not be encouraged, but it should not be met with the fervent disdain that we often ascribe to it.  The Westboro Church protesting the funeral of a dead homosexual is no worse than Christian missionaries trying to convert “savages,” or whatever they consider non-Christians.  I do not mean to sound controversial, but Fred Phelps is a hero.  He does what he thinks is right, and the only thing he hurts is feelings.  God may or may not hate fags.  We will never know because God doesn’t exist.  So Fred Phelps and the Westboro Church has the right to act on whatever God-induced insanity they feel is right, same as your parents.

Glenn: Thank you for bringing my parents into this, who are also alcoholic country stars.  On the sad but inevitable day they die, I’m sure Westboro will not be outside protesting their funeral.  This is partially due to the fact it will be held on the International Space Station but also because they are not homosexual or deviant in any way.  Westboro only protests the funerals of those who degrade our society with immoral behavior, such as shooting victims or Timothy McVeigh  They have crossed a few lines in their activity but what group is perfect? Even the Weatherman crossed the line when they bombed a non-violent organization like the NYPD. But we didn’t go after them as a society: beating them up, calling them names, making satirical viral photos about them.  We elected them as Democrats to Congress in the Class of ‘74.  And that’s exactly what we should do with Fred Phelps the next time he runs for office in Kansas.


Jake:  Fred Phelps should be elected to office, but not the office of President of the United States, like you indirectly imply.  Although, he would do better than Obama, who is not my president, even though I voted for him.  Fred Phelps is a true American.  He follows the word of God, or what he perceives it to be.  That is admirable in some ways and insane in others.  I would be afraid that Fred Phelps would declare war on homosexuality, much like Obama declared war on health care.  I would rather have John Cena (winner of the 2013 Royal Rumble) be president than either of those two jokers.  In summation: God hates fags because why not, Fred Phelps should not be president, the ACLU should stick up for the rights of people protesting gay funerals, and Country Strong dies at the end of the movie.