The Most Hated Family in America
So I just watched a documentary on the Westboro Baptist Church and I’m not really sure how I felt about it. Last night Ashley and I were looking at their website and the things that they preach and it just made me angry. You definitely don’t have to be gay to be offended by their signs since they also hate Jews, soldiers, and America in general. However, after learning about the family members I really just feel bad for them. The church is made up of one big family plus a few outsiders. ”Gramps”, the pastor, is a dick, no doubt, but the majority of the dirty work is done by the grandchildren. The last interview in the documentary is of a 21-year-old granddaughter who really just sounds like she was so hated and ostracized by other children throughout her childhood, because of her family’s beliefs, that she found comfort in the only people who didn’t treat her this way: her family. It’s a vicious cycle with the Phelps family. During one of the pickets, the 7 year old grandson was pelted with a soft drink thrown by a driver who didn’t necessarily mean to hit one of the kids, but who took great offense to the signs. They then comfort the kid and blame it all on the evil people of the world when really they’re the ones who caused it. So in turn the kid grows to believe everyone else is evil and they can only trust their family.
I really just felt bad for them. They find joy in other people’s pain and don’t see anything wrong with that. If God really is going to punish all of America, why waste your time telling people when you’re also saying its too late to change God’s mind? And why be so incredibly negative about it that you turn people away from Christianity all together?
I dunno, just more late night thoughts…
