Anti-Gay Church Protests at GI Funerals:
Members of a church say God is punishing American soldiers for defending a country that harbors gays, and they brought their anti-gay message to the funerals Saturday of two Tennessee soldiers killed in Iraq.Some of these independent Baptist congregations are off the wall. This is a disgusting manipulation of the Bible.The church members were met with scorn from local residents. They chased the church members cars' down a highway, waving flags and screaming "God bless America."
"My husband is over there, so I'm here to show my support," 41-year-old Connie Ditmore said as she waved and American flag and as tears came to her eyes. "To do this at a funeral is disrespectful of a family, no matter what your beliefs are."
The Rev. Fred Phelps, founder of Westboro Baptist in Kansas, contends that American soldiers are being killed in Iraq as vengeance from God for protecting a country that harbors gays. The church, which is not affiliated with a larger denomination, is made up mostly of Phelps' children, grandchildren and in-laws.
The church members carried signs and shouted things such as "God hates fags" and "God hates you."
And the problem (well, one of the many) with stories like these, is that to the non-Christian, this often seems like "business as usual." --- they could not be more wrong.
God hates the SIN, not the SINNER.
I am going to throw these wackos in the same pot as those "Christians" who claim 9-11 was the work of God's vengence for being allied with the Jews/Israel, being an immoral nation, or anything other ridiculous reason as those.
Lord only knows what I would do if somebody tried to pull a stunt like that at a military funeral with me in attendance.