God Hates America

Clicking through from Raw Story, I came across the site Good As You where you'll come across a series of YouTube videos showing a documentary into the Phelps Family (the God Hates Fags folks) and I've only managed to watch a couple of the clips as honestly, I was sickened by what I saw since there's only so much exploitation of religion as well as condemnation of anyone and everyone who is not strictly in line with the Phelps manner of thinking.

While watching the videos I did watch, I noticed a number of people wearing shirts with The Sign Of The Times.net printed on them. Curious as to what it was, I clicked over. Here, take a look at their homepage...



Aside from a catchy little tune on the homepage, it's as far as I've gotten so far but it leaves me grasping for answers to questions that appear in my mind.

1. Whenever these folks are brought up, typically most people, right and left, agree that these people are absolutely crazy, not necessarily dangerous themselves but surely capable of inflating a propensity to violence, especially amongst those who are homophobic or who direct animosity at homosexuals for their own reasons. And yet when the discussion comes up, most people suggest not to pay any mind to them as giving them attention only reinforces their message and makes them more legitimate, at least in their own eyes.

2. From my experience, I've heard a lot more outrage about these folks from the Left but very little from the Right and yet, the Right tends to preach a similar message of intolerance, unacceptance and immorality with regards to homosexuality being a lifestyle.

I'll point out again, though, that with regards to more actively decrying the Phelps family's actions, the Right is no more or less guilty of not speaking up about them than the Left. I just tend to hear more impassioned outrage on the matter overall from the Left.

3. In the war on terror, I often hear those on the Right decrying the lack of American and/or moderate prominent Muslim speakers, imams and groups throughout the world speaking out against terrorism and the defilement and exploitation of Islam as a religion, especially with regards to jihad, terrorism, poor human and women's rights records and yet, the Phelps are a group that is, in a way, saying the same thing - you're not right in God's eye, you should die, it should be a wake-up call - yet the only real difference it seems is the word "infidel" has been replaced with "sinner". That and a lack of suicide vest wearing, IED planting Phelps family members but I think the point has been made.

Yet where are the prominent Catholics, the Christians, Jews, Buddhists, the Pope, cardinals, Bishops, Priests, etc to speak out against these actions? And not just those religious individuals that agree on homosexuality in accordance to the Bible, but also those religious individuals who have accepted homosexuals into their churches, brought them under their wing, and accepted them?

One might argue that a majority of religious individuals in this country probably agree with the Phelps simplistically; that homosexuality is a sin in the eyes of God, it's immoral, etc. And yet the Phelps seems to be the most outspoken, by far, in carrying that message far and wide and not only speaking it very publicly, but also tying it in by slandering the members of our armed forces as well as our country altogether.

Surely the religious aspect of that message could be vocalized differently, whether generally agreed upon by more mainstream religious individuals or not and yet...where are their voices? Either you agree and preach god's word, as the Phelps say they do or...what,

...you don't preach god's word for fear of losing followers?

...or you don't preach god's word in the same manner because deep down, you don't agree with it?

Here's God Hates America.com.



And the footer



I see a background of upside down flags and pictures of the WTC, George Bush, Dick Cheney, etc. They're all God loving, American loving people, right? The victims of 9/11 - we hold them in our prayers, right? We're supposed to be fighting not only to avenge their deaths, but also to prevent another attack like this while also trying to quell radical Islam, right?

Newt Gingrich is obviously an American loving person. So where is he to speak out against the Phelps for stating god hates America, especially after recently saying, while addressing the issue of bilingual education and immigration in America:

Our one nation under God grows and prospers by embracing and welcoming the newly arrived and helping them to adjust properly.

"Our nation under God" - I hear this often spoken by right wing politicians as well as left wing politicians; that we are a nation of God. There's a lot of talk about our Judea-Christian foundation, values, etc. Well, if that's the case, does Newt agree with the message the Phelps bring forth? Or does he disagree and feel that God loves America and supports her in her stature and actions?

Here's President Bush, speaking during an interview in October of 2004, said:

Bush says he doesn't believe the United States is in a religious battle when it comes to the war on terror. He says he wants to make it clear that America is fighting against groups of people who want to kill innocent people and not groups looking to practice their religion.

...

While President Bush is pretty clear-cut when it comes to his feelings on the war in Iraq, taxes and health care, when it comes to the motivation behind his own stand on same-sex marriage, the president seems more willing to leave room for a deeper discussion.

Bush told Gibson he's not sure if homosexuals are born with sexual preferences or whether those preferences develop later in life.

When asked to look at the topic from a nature versus nurture standpoint, Bush said that he's open to the possibility that nature could be the defining component when it comes to a person's sexual preference.

We all know Bush is a god fearing/loving American. It got him off drinking and on the road to recovery - does he agree with the message the Phelps bring forth? Or does he disagree and feel that God loves America and supports her in her stature and actions?

Regardless of either Bush's or Gingrich's views on homosexuals, the Phelps family is tarnishing the good name of the soldiers who are fighting "to defend our nation", which includes homosexuals and the Phelps (although the Phelps would probably state that God defends them, not soldiers), as well as stating that God hates America.

Now, I know Bush signed a law banning protests such as those that the Phelps put on from occurring within so many feet of a soldier's funeral, and that's well intentioned, but here we are fighting an enemy that probably agrees more with the Phelps on the issue of homosexuality and yet in 2005, a UL Muslim cleric who defended the execution of homosexuals was met with outrage from the Right and the Left for human rights violations.

Arshad Misbahi, a junior Imam at the city's Central Mosque is alleged to have confirmed that it is an acceptable punishment in Iraq and Iran.

His comments are said to have been made to psychotherapist Dr John Casson who is researching the persecution of gays in Islamic states. But they have been condemned as "encouraging conflict between the area's large gay and Muslim communities.

Dr Casson said: "He told me that in a true Islamic state, such punishments were part of Islam if the person had had a trial, at which four witnesses testified that they had seen the actual homosexual acts."

He went on: "I asked him what would be the British Muslim view and he repeated that in an Islamic state these punishments were justified.

"They might result in the deaths of thousands, but if this deterred millions from having sex and spreading disease, then it was worthwhile to protect the wider community."

It is understood Imam Misbahi believes his comments were taken out of context and misrepresented. He says will be issuing a statement to clarify his views.

Where is the public outrage towards the Phelps? Sure, they haven't killed anyone but I don't think they'd be losing any sleep over the death of a homosexual and would probably vocally rejoice over such an act.

We decry racism, hate crimes, segregation, poverty, inequality, murder, rape...why do the Phelps seemingly get a pass? Why don't more people speak up about them? Or are we encroaching on that whole "freedom of speech" issue now?

What happened to defending America from enemies, both foreign and domestic, both physically and idealistically? When we let people like the Phelps get away with what they say, are we not defending or sticking up for America's good name and what it means to be an American?

Or is it easier just to, ya know, write them off and say we just shouldn't talk about them since it legitimatizes their message in their own eyes?

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I suppose as a post-script, even I'm not sure exactly what I'm saying here and I assume as I read over this, that others might not be sure what I'm saying. Pretty stupid, huh?

Ultimately, I guess, we're engaged in a fight overseas right now against radicalism; in this case, Islamic radicalism. And yet nobody seems to be doing much about religious radicalism here in the case of the Phelps.

After all, it wasn't Osama bin Laden who personally flew aircraft into the WTC, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. But it was his radicalized view of his religion that set forth his followers to carry out those attacks and perhaps it is that which we are fighting - that radicalized message.

So why are we not fighting similar messages here?