Westboro Baptist Church: A group like no other

As an opinions writer, there have been times and issues in the past that presented me… As an opinions writer, there have been times and issues in the past that presented me with moral dilemmas. While many topics are worth writing about, some just don’t deserve the attention. For instance, a few weeks ago, the Dell kid was arrested for buying marijuana. Too easy. There’s no value in a story like that except the headline – “Dude, you’re gettin’ a cell.” Later, there was a string of drive-by anti-war statements made by celebrities, many of whom did so while accepting or presenting self-congratulatory awards. Too stupid. I don’t trust Fred Durst with foreign policy any more than I trust him to form complete sentences with real words.

So, there’s always a decision to be made regarding what is worth writing about versus what isn’t even worth thinking about.

Press releases from Westboro Baptist Church came to my desk along with the same predicament. On the one hand, they present a view so offensive that it demands a response. But at the same time, that view is so ludicrous and backward that it might be wrong to give it any additional press.

If you’re unfamiliar with the church, it breaks down like this: Located in Topeka, Kan., Westboro Baptist has become famous through public demonstrations and the Internet. Pastor Fred Phelps, with help from members of his congregation and family – he has 13 kids – has preached anti-homosexual sentiment all over the nation and through his Web site, godhatesfags.com. He became relevant to Pittsburghers in March, when he committed to picketing several city organizations linked to Fred Rogers, including WQED TV and Pitt’s Graduate School of Child Development.

With a barrage of vicious personal attacks, Phelps charges that Mr. Rogers praised homosexuality to children, not by what he said, but because didn’t condemn it outright.

After a few weeks of inner deliberation, I’ve decided to write about Phelps, not because I think he’s worth it, but because Christianity is worth it, and this man is a blemish. I don’t know how a creature like Fred Phelps is formed, but I do know that he and I don’t serve the same God.

The problem that Christians – and many other groups as well – have when interacting with the media is that there’s typically not much interaction unless something bad happens. “All is well in Christendom” doesn’t make for much of a headline. Rash, insensitive comments from the likes of Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson work better, and priest scandals are the best yet. So, while Christian groups and outreaches do great things for the friendless, the homeless and the hopeless every day of the week, Phelps makes the papers for celebrating Matthew Shepard’s death.

As a result of this misrepresentation, there is a tendency for all church-goin’ folks to get lumped together with the downfalls of a few, when really the discrepancies are enormous.

From what I’ve been reading of Phelps and his practices, he would first agree with my assessment, and then turn the tables, claiming that more mainstream Christian churches don’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as his own. Phelps has burned his fair share of bridges – all of them – to the Christian community because he feels it is unwilling to fulfill the divine mandate to persecute homosexuals. It’s an idea that is not only ridiculous, but sacrilegious.

It’s true that different denominations have different views on the issue – some more conservative groups will maintain that homosexuality is unnatural, perverse and sinful, while others ordain homosexual ministers. But throughout the entire range, all of these churches are different from Westboro in that they will not turn homosexuality into the key focus. As a bottom line, everyone is deserving of love and kindness, sinful or not.

The notion that being homosexual is some kind of super-sin that trumps all others is, I would argue, a matter of reassurance for those who swear by it. Since most of its proponents don’t struggle with homosexuality, it’s easy for them to condemn it, and in doing so, overlook the lust, dishonesty and selfishness that exists in their own lives. Phelps has done this well, deluding himself and others into believing that he is righteous and justified in his hate.

If some churches have gone soft, clinging to popular aspects of the faith while dismissing the contested, Westboro Baptist has jumped off the opposite deep end. It’s an organization of sensationalists; a walking publicity stunt that must first be distanced and then ignored. According to his Web site, Phelps has decided not to protest in Pittsburgh on April 13 as originally intended. Instead, he claims they will arrive on May 3. But whether he shows up or not, if he is counterprotested or if he isn’t, I will be satisfied to see him isolated in his egotism and the real message of Christ proclaimed instead: God hates hate.

Jerry Falwell has called Fred Phelps “a first class nut.” Eric Miller agrees, and can be reached at miller@pittnews.com.