Does 'God Hate Fags' (And Apparently Soldiers, Too)?
So, you remember yesterday when I said there are some things I'm not necessarily against but just don't support? Yeah, well, this ain't one of them. I am necessarily against what this "church" does. The infamous Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas (you remember them, right? The "God Hates Fags" people?) have been busy picketing soldiers funerals and, you may have heard, has just lost a case where they were sued for $11 million. Here is an excerpt of the story from CBS News: On Friday, July 7, Army 1st Lieutenant Forrest P. Ewens was buried at a respectful ceremony in Arlington National Cemetery, which many consider to be the most hallowed ground in the United States. But the peace was disrupted by protests from members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas. In a cordoned-off area by the entrance to the cemetery, they carried signs with anti-gay and anti-American slogans and proclaimed that Ewens' death in Afghanistan on June 16 was another sign of God's impeding doom on the nation. Westboro has taken what it calls "love crusades" to military funerals across the country. The church was not protesting at the funeral because Ewens was gay, but because he died, in their view, serving a country that has incurred the wrath of God by accepting and tolerating homosexuality. Now the father of a slain serviceman whose funeral was disrupted is suing the church in an attempt to fight back against what he views as the abuse of military families with a message of hate.
I've been to their websites and, I assure, there is no "love crusade" going on here. Yes, they have a point that God's wrath is displayed against all ungodliness (Romans 1 is clear on this point), but it is not the job of any church to taunt and condemn the world. That's not what Jesus did. Instead, He met people where they were and called them to repentance. The ones He was most harsh with were the self-righteous religious establishment. This seems to be a case of hyper-calvinism, in which this group has a misunderstanding of reformed principles, believing that God hates those who are not elect and are damned to hell anyway and should, therefore, be judged here and now. These people see no reason to show love or compassion to those whom they have determined show evidence of being "of the world" and, thus, outside of God's saving grace.
OK, so here's my beef: Scripture clearly teaches the doctrine of election and that the only way we can get to God is for Him to reveal Himself to us. Salvation is the work of God from start to finish, not the slightest bit that can be credited to man and even our very faith is a gift from God (Eph. 2:8-9). I believe this. I believe Romans 9 that declares God makes a sovereign choice and some are not chosen for reasons only God knows and that He shows mercy on some and hardens others. This is hard to argue with as Jesus makes similar statements throughout the Gospel of John.
However, the Church is called to reach and love all people, as we are not God and have no idea who He will or will not show mercy to. I am not God, therefore any person I talk with may be moved to repentance by God leading to a saving knowledge of Him. It's not my work, it's God's. Think about it for a minute: following this church's judgment policies, the woman at the well would have been rejected along with the woman caught in adultery, at least most of the apostles and most certainly that murderous guy, Paul (you know, the one who wrote most of the New Testament). These would have been people who, in their pre-Christian state, would have been condemned by this church, not knowing God had other ideas for them.
Are these horrible events, such as droughts, floods, fires, war and global warming evidence of God's judgment? I don't know but find it doubtful. God's judgment in Scripture was usually preceded by clear calls for repentance and warning that God's judgment was coming in specific ways. To me, this sounds more like evidence of the "birth pangs" of the end times. Not to say that means that the sky is falling, but simply that, regardless of the abundance of sin, these type things are going to happen as we get closer and closer to the return of Christ.
As best I can tell, the wrath of God being poured out on sin described in Romans 1 has less to do with God bringing about disaster and more to do with God doing...nothing. Verse 24 says, "Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts...". In verse 26, Paul says, "For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions." (italics added) In other words, God did nothing. He no longer convicted; no longer warned; no longer stopped them. God did nothing which is the worst possible kind of expression of wrath.
Ironically, based upon their actions and attitudes, it could be that God has given this fringe group of religious zealots over to their own hatred...in His wrath.
Related: A very good article on the subject from the Boston Globe.
Labels: culture, David C. Price, God, religion
posted by DAVID C. PRICE at 11/01/2007 12:00:00 PM
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