Sending the wrong message

The Westboro Baptist Church from Kansas has been ordered to pay 11 million dollars in damages for protesting Marine Lance Cpl Mathew Snyder’s funeral. The father of Corporal Snyder sued because several members of the church disrupted the service last year. What should have been a time of grieving for all who attended turned into a hate session lead by the leader and other church members. This church has taken it upon themselves to picket funerals and proclaiming such things as “Thank God for Dead soldiers” and “God hates fags.”

This kind of protests angers me for a couple reasons. For one it sends the wrong message about what a true follower of Christ, a Christian is supposed to be. The Bible is clear about Jesus’ purpose. He came to save us all from our sins. He did not come to judge and ridicule as these so called Baptist Church people are doing. It’s one thing to preach what the Bible says but quite another to rewrite it or tell it your own way. God gives us all free will to choose. All throughout the Old and New Testament he stood with open arms to welcome his people if they repented. What this church is doing is standing in Judgment. That is not their place. Only God will judge.

Apparently, when the ruling came these same church members held a demonstration outside the federal courthouse. They held up signs stating “God is your enemy” and stood on an American flag while singing “God Hates America,” to the tune of “God Bless America.” What kind of church does that? I don’t think one that God would bless.

I’m not in favor of a society where suing is the very thing to do. We have too much of that now. But the attitude of these so called Baptist people needs to be changed. To willfully disrupt a time of grieving goes against the very things I know about the Baptist beliefs. These church people don’t seem to understand God’s word at all. Love, Joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, these are the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). That’s the message they should be speaking about. In fact, verse 5:26 tells us not to be provoking. This young man gave his life for his country and deserved a proper service with his father and family. Instead of protesting they should have been offering compassion.

Finally, when people like this disrespect the flag and insult the very country that has provided them their freedoms they have enjoyed all there lives I get really upset. If they hate this country and the people so much then I suggest they look elsewhere to live. Let us not find more reasons to hate as they have done but find more ways to love. It’s Christ’s way and should be everyone’s. If 11 million dollars as a penalty doesn’t do that then maybe they will never get it.