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Group Plans To Picket Va. Tech Funerals

Anti-Gay Religious Group Known For Protesting At Services For U.S. Soldiers Killed In Iraq
David Miller.

The families of those killed in the Virginia Tech massacre may not be able to grieve in peace at the funerals of those they lost. An anti-gay religious group known for protesting at the funerals of American soldiers killed in Iraq is planning on appearing at services for those killed on Monday as well.

The Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), which is not affiliated with any national Baptist organization, announced plans to protest at victims’ funerals only hours after 32 people were killed in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. They also may protest at other events on the Virginia Tech campus.

The organization, founded and led by Fred Phelps, believes the United States has condemned itself to destruction by accepting homosexuality and other “sins of the flesh.” Phelps’ daughter, Shirley Phelps-Roper, said the Virginia Tech teachers and students who died on Monday brought their fate upon themselves by not being true Christians.

“The evidence is they were not Christian. God does not do that to his servants,” Phelps-Roper said. “You don’t need to look any further for evidence those people are in hell.”

Cho Seung-Hui, the Virginia Tech student responsible for the killings who took his own life after the shootings, was sent by God to punish those he killed, and America as a whole, for moral decline, said Phelps-Roper, while adding that she believes Cho is also in hell for violating God’s commandment to not kill.

“He is in hell,” Phelps-Roper said. “But he was also fulfilling the word of God.”

Because of its virulent anti-gay message and condemnation of Catholics, Jews and other groups, the WBC has been classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and is monitored by the Anti-Defamation League.

Curtis Dahn, the president of Virginia Tech’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Alliance, said he reacted with immediate disgust upon hearing of the WBC's plans. “Thirty-three people are dead and they’re using people’s deaths and people’s grief to further their own agenda and it’s just disgusting,” he said.

Dahn was friends with Ryan Clark, a resident assistant in Ambler Johnston Hall, who was among the first people killed on Monday. He said he is working with other university leaders and officials to form a response to the WBC. Ideally, he said, the funerals will be nothing more than a chance for family and friends to mourn in peace.

“Part of it is that I don’t want the families to be affected by this at all,” he said. “I don’t even want the funerals’ locations to be public knowledge. I don’t want a protest, I don’t want a counter-protest. I want people to be able to grieve and have what they want, not be made into public displays and mockeries.”

Dahn and others may have the law on their side. In 2006, in response to protests at the funerals of dead U.S. soldiers, Virginia enacted a law that added funerals and memorial services to the state’s disorderly conduct statute. Other states have adopted similar measures to allow police to keep WBC protesters out of earshot.

Group Plans To Picket Va. Tech Funerals (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/18/national/main2699800.shtml?source=mostpop_story)

Some day someone's going to take a pot-shot at them. I'm surprised it hasn't happened already.  :-\

This is outrageous!  As if these families haven't suffered enough.  >:( >:(

I am hoping the Patriot Guard will be there to show those people the door. The Phelps group give Christianity a bad name.

That would be nice. I am a member of the Patriot Guard. Currently there is no mention of it by the Patriot Guard leadership.

need any volenteers??
:D

Bare, Just cause you live where they filmed Deliverance, don't mean you gotta act like em!!! ;)

:P PBBBbbbbbbbbbblllllllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeehhhh

I know, I know. Mom told me if I couldn't say anything nice, I shouldn't say anything at all! :)

LOL

So true....people like this definitely give Christianity and Christians a bad name....a very bad name.  This group is playing into the evil one's hands, and they don't even know it.

Let's all remember Jesus' words "love thy neighbor as thyself".  This doesn't mean we have to agree with immorality....but we do need to reach out to all with the love and forgiveness of Christ.

And people talk about me, hijacking threads........... ;D

Well Pplllluuuuuuphhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!! on both of y'all.......... ;D ;D ;D
That is also known as a *rasberry*

Yep it is :D  and to stay on topic so I won't be hijacking, when i get my harley fatboy, i'll be a patriot guard myself...

You don't have to have a bike to be a Patriot Guard. I have attended in my power wheelchair.    ;) ;D

ROFL...this is getting good.

Hey i have my Murray Garden mower that i just rebuilt the 21hp motor and  turned it into a 25hp and regeared the transmission. That thing will fly down the road.

That'll work. It would look real good with a flag mounted on it.

uhmm Pastor Rodger i have two.  the US flag and Ole Bonnie Blue. :D

For the purpose of the Patriot Guard I think the U.S. flag would be most appropriate.

Their behavior kinda makes you wonder what Bible they're reading Cause didn't all sorts of bad things happen to Job and yet he was a rightious man. So there saying if any tragedy befalls you or your loved ones it's because you/they weren't really a Christian and God hates you and is punishing you well fallowing that logic God must have really hated half the people we read about in the Bible.

And didn't I also read a passage in the Bible that states that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. Sure God punishes wickedness and certain sins will cause God to remove the hedge of protection from around a person or nation but to torment a grieving family with such hatefull declarations is about as un-Christian as you can get.

Ok I challenge them on this one what about the girl who professed to being a Christian moments before being shot during I think it was Columbine doesn't the Bible say that anyone who confesses that Jesus is Lord and calls on his name shall be saved I mean the kid shot her for professing her faith and yet she still died.  What about those kids in that Amish school shooting they certainly weren't living an immoral life and their parents and community certainly don't support gay rights.

The sad truth that these mental midgets fail to miss is we live in a world filled with evil and the human race by nature is sinfull and sometimes even the good and the innocent are touched by hand of someone who has given themselves over to the darkness and evil of this world.

Hello VirginiaGirl77,

I see this is your first post, so WELCOME!


I sincerely hope that you enjoy Christians Unite.

We have all been negatively impacted from the forces of evil in many ways. Being a Christian doesn't make us immune from problems, and GOD certainly didn't promise us an easy time in this short life. However, Christians are just passing through this short life, an this world isn't our HOME.

Love In Christ,
Tom

 

Hey VirginiaGirl

And as BEP said, welcome to the forums.

And you are correct in all of your statements and as BEP said we are plagued with many false prophets, and this is not just the big names that are on TV and radio, this can also be the small time congregation of 8-10 that are being led by one claiming to have the revelation of God. 

And as Paul said to the Jews, they have made the name of God blasphemy among the Gentiles (unsaved).   A friend of mine has a little girl who has befriended another girl who's parents are "Christians" They have her sheltered so that she does not get to go out, she is home schooled, and is not allowed to watch TV, listen to the radio, and many other things.  I can understand protecting your children, but the impression this little girl gives my friend is that Christians want to close themselves off from the world, and that is NOT what Christ did, He went out into the world to reach lost souls.

Good Morning Brother Jerry,

Homeschooling by Christian parents is many times a GODLY and RIGHT decision. We have to be in this world, but we don't have to give the devil our children to train. Each Christian parent is completely responsible for their own decision. If I had small children, they wouldn't be in public schools for the same reason that I wouldn't use a witch for a babysitter. There's more than one facet to making this decision, and you're most welcome to decide however you wish. Depending on the age of the children and the school system, this will be an important decision that should involve prayer. Those making this decision won't be wrong simply because their decision doesn't agree with your decision.

Hello VirginiaGirl,

Welcome to Christians Unite forums.



Amen!

Closing our children off from the world and insuring that they have a Godly training is two different things. Homeschooling or placing them in a Godly private school is the only way to insure that training in todays world, especially with the evil indoctrination that our public schools are now forcing onto our children. The California schools are an example of this and many other states are starting to follow that path.

I agree and I was not speaking out about that.... I am all for homeschooling if possible. 

My point was more to show how the family in their "attempt" to shelter their children, have gone extreme on it and have sheltered themselves and their lives.  Basically taking an isolationists stance on their lives.

And how that was perceived by my friend and his family, who are not Christians.  This sort of potrayal by people who profess vocally their faith, but yet cut the world off like this are not presenting an image of Christ to the rest of the world.  Christ was in the world and in it up to his elbows.  He came to save the sinners not the saints.  We cannot reach the unsaved if we keep our doors closed and never venture outside the comfort zone of our own home.

Hello Brother Jerry,

Maybe you were thinking about extremes, but I further don't see anything extreme about turning off the television and radio and doing many other quite reasonable things to bring our children up in the ways of the LORD. The real question isn't about witnessing at all, rather about giving the devil 8 hours a day or more an opportunity to deceive and snare our children. As Christians, we had better believe that the devil is after our children. WHY? - They are young, immature, and much easier targets than mature Christians. This is why folks like Planned Parenthood and gay groups are so desperate to get into public schools.

The people I know who homeschool are quite reasonable in what they do or don't do with their children. I'm not suggesting anything radical or extreme, but the devil is. If we take a look at hard statistics involving our children, we should quickly note the horrendous cost of turning the devil loose with our children. The hard facts are staggering, and many of the children victims have self-professing Christians as parents. If things get much worse, it would be quite possible to lose almost entire generations. So, GENERALLY - whatever is being done by most parents MUST be WRONG. It's far too handy and easy to blame the kids, especially considering that their parents are directly responsible for most of the problems. The problems grow and escalate because the problem kids raise kids with more problems than they had. We're at the same time seeing an epidemic of BROKEN families professing to be Christians. In fact, we're seeing epidemics of many things, so the devil is having his way with Christians. As an obvious outcome, it's difficult and unbelievable for a Christian to witness from a devil's snare.

And BEP I agree with you completely.  However I also do not feel that we must remain cloistered up in our world of Christiandome and never reach out to those around us.  The Bible teaches that one of the biggest forms of witnessing we can do is act out our faith.  James preaches well about letting our faith show in our works.  Paul preaches of this as well.  We can have all the good intentions we want by keeping our children from the evil of the world, or keeping ourselves from it...but if all the world sees is people afraid to stand up for what they believe in and "fruitcakes" then we will not reach the world.  Homeschooling has had a long hard battle to get where it is, 20 years ago if you homeschooled you were one of those "fruitcake religious nuts"  Now days it does not carry near the stigma that it used too.  One of the big reasons is interaction between the homeschooling families and public schooling families...20 years ago homeschoolers generally (yes generally) stuck to themselves and did not socialize, they did not have sporting events, they did not participate in activities that the public schools did, nowdays they do.  There are home school groups now that get together officially and perform activities together for social bonding, as well as credits.

My point was that we as Christians have to understand that we are no longer of this world, but we are in this world.  Until Jesus comes to collect His church we are a part of this world and Jesus left us with a mission to spread his word in this world, and we cannot do that if we do not interchange with the people, and culture of this world. 

And just to site an example of the family that I was referring too....the teenage child had never heard of Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy.  I get the impression this is a group that came from a very strict Quaker group up there in Northeast..

Hello Brother Jerry and All,

Generally, what many Christians say that they understand and what they manage to get done are two different stories a big part of the time these days. It is quite possible for Christians to appropriately handle their responsibilities in the home and out of it, but increasingly they don't. Increasingly, Christians are so much like the world that it's hard to tell that they are Christians. Their failures also look like the world's failures, and they hurt just as much. Let's get real: many self-professing Christians are being consumed by the world and the devil. Many are so much like the world that they can't even handle their primary responsibilities in their own homes. We see the proof of this everywhere.

I don't see any stigma at all associated with homeschooling. If there is one, it would be from folks who place an ultimate priority of education about alternative lifestyles and other garbage that is taking over public schools. There is a long list of epidemics, and the victims are easy to count. By "epidemics", I would be talking about things like STDs, teen pregnancy, teen suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, and gross immorality just to start the list. These days, children from so-called Christian homes are just as likely to be among the victims as children from non-Christian homes. So, there is already a REALITY here that's impossible to miss.

If you'll notice, I haven't said anything against witnessing, and I won't. I will say that the obvious problems in Christian families have grown so large that it's long past time to prioritize missions. If Christians can't handle their own children and homes, how effective will they be witnessing to others? GOD has already given Christians instructions regarding their children and homes, and those instructions haven't changed. UM?, so what is it that's causing and contributing to the massive percentage of failures? Let's again get real: don't we know?

Agreed.