Fred Phelps and the Gift of God's Hatred
Mar. 24th, 2014 09:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
valarltdFred Phelps is dead.
Some on the Religious Right are claiming it will make fighting the culture wars easier. Because Fred said out loud on the street corners what they preferred to preach in private sanctuaries to a willing congregation. Because Fred is no longer there to show their end-game: that God hates both sin and sinner.
Fred Phelps was many things, including a shyster lawyer. But a hypocrite he was not. He never hid behind the mealy-mouthed malarkey of "Love the sinner but hate the sin" which is so often used to cover hatred for both.
By speaking the flat truth, that there are people God hates, Phelps helped both the Christian and the QUIULTBAG communities. He set a minimum acceptable bar for Christian Brand Behavior. As long as your church wasn't picketing funerals, they were fine. They could talk about how all the queers were destroying marriage, how gays and Jane Fonda made us lose Vietnam (actual sermon), how America was turning into another Sodom, and it was FINE. Because they weren't holding signs at the funerals of American soldiers saying God hates everything.
He helped the QUILTBAG community in many ways. By the very openness of the message, "God hates you and you are going to Hell" he made Christian churches an uncomfortable place for many of us. Eventually, many of us quit pretending and found gods who did love us. There's a reason the pagan community in Memphis about 35% queer. Also, by the baldness of the message, he forced many Christians to take a look at the Bible, at their faith and decide what they believed about God and about other people. As a result, many more mainstream denominations grew more open and accepting, while the conservative denominations grew quieter about their hate, not wanting to be lumped together.
There are folks who will say I have it all wrong. That God is love and doesn't hate anything or anyone.
The Bible is explicit on the fact God hates, and it is a good and holy hatred.
There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. --Proverbs 6: 16-19 (NIV)
Now I can get behind hating those things. And I daresay most Christians can too. Those are things that damage people and lives and communities. But, you say, these are actions. It's perfectly normal to hate bad actions while loving the person doing them. Parents do it all the time.
http://livingtheway.org/43things.html also has a list of things God hates.
And when a person is mentioned twice on the list, for no other crime than NOT being his brother, I think it's hard to say that God doesn't hate people.
Gay people, witches, divination, cross-dressing, they all make the list right next to divorce, idolatry and ecumenicism (the deeds of the Nicolatians).
So good-bye, Reverend. May the next life you are granted be a happier and wiser one.
Some on the Religious Right are claiming it will make fighting the culture wars easier. Because Fred said out loud on the street corners what they preferred to preach in private sanctuaries to a willing congregation. Because Fred is no longer there to show their end-game: that God hates both sin and sinner.
Fred Phelps was many things, including a shyster lawyer. But a hypocrite he was not. He never hid behind the mealy-mouthed malarkey of "Love the sinner but hate the sin" which is so often used to cover hatred for both.
By speaking the flat truth, that there are people God hates, Phelps helped both the Christian and the QUIULTBAG communities. He set a minimum acceptable bar for Christian Brand Behavior. As long as your church wasn't picketing funerals, they were fine. They could talk about how all the queers were destroying marriage, how gays and Jane Fonda made us lose Vietnam (actual sermon), how America was turning into another Sodom, and it was FINE. Because they weren't holding signs at the funerals of American soldiers saying God hates everything.
He helped the QUILTBAG community in many ways. By the very openness of the message, "God hates you and you are going to Hell" he made Christian churches an uncomfortable place for many of us. Eventually, many of us quit pretending and found gods who did love us. There's a reason the pagan community in Memphis about 35% queer. Also, by the baldness of the message, he forced many Christians to take a look at the Bible, at their faith and decide what they believed about God and about other people. As a result, many more mainstream denominations grew more open and accepting, while the conservative denominations grew quieter about their hate, not wanting to be lumped together.
There are folks who will say I have it all wrong. That God is love and doesn't hate anything or anyone.
The Bible is explicit on the fact God hates, and it is a good and holy hatred.
There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. --Proverbs 6: 16-19 (NIV)
Now I can get behind hating those things. And I daresay most Christians can too. Those are things that damage people and lives and communities. But, you say, these are actions. It's perfectly normal to hate bad actions while loving the person doing them. Parents do it all the time.
http://livingtheway.org/43things.html also has a list of things God hates.
And when a person is mentioned twice on the list, for no other crime than NOT being his brother, I think it's hard to say that God doesn't hate people.
Gay people, witches, divination, cross-dressing, they all make the list right next to divorce, idolatry and ecumenicism (the deeds of the Nicolatians).
So good-bye, Reverend. May the next life you are granted be a happier and wiser one.
