How Does Fundamentalism Affect Our Modern Day Society?

Since its inception the Westboro Baptist Church has expressed an agenda of fanatical Baptism where they promote homophobia, anti-Semitism, and the message that God hates everyone but the WBC.

The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is known for their obscene protests where they display signs that discriminate towards homosexuals. Although the members of the WBC considered themselves a part of an actual church, the church mainly consists of the family members of its founder, Fred Phelps (Clay, 2016). The church holds beliefs that are similar to Calvinism, a denomination of Christianity. Similar to the Calvinists, the members of the church believe that they are a part of an elect group of people that God has chosen to be his own (Clay, 2016). Because they are a part of God’s elect, they feel they must speak against the homosexuality that is present in America and in other places of the world. They travel around the world protesting and shouting hurtful phrases that cause people to

Westboro Baptist Church is a Church full of many people who protest at many military funerals. There are many people like the people in Westboro Baptist Church, those are the type of people who hate America. In the year 2013, Westboro Baptist Church was counter-protested at a military funeral. People who hate America and the people who fought for them, should be removed from this country. Westboro Baptist Church is one of the many people who protest at military funerals, there are many more who hate America even though we send people out to fight for them, if those people think that America is not worth their love, then they should be removed and sent to the nearest country, People should be able to understand, that America is a country that fights for everyone’s freedom, and their rights.

Facts: Fred Phelps is the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church which is considered to be extremist. Phelps and his followers believe that God punishes those who are tolerant of homosexuality. Since, the United States has a high tolerance of homosexuality, they believe that the United States is damned. The military also has recently become more accepting of homosexuals in their ranks, thus the Westboro Baptist Church pickets many military funerals.

The Westboro Baptist Church has long been regarded in the media as a group filled with hate and detestation for virtually anyone who does not practice their teachings. In reality, the members of the Westboro Baptist Church hold a strong belief that the messages that are portrayed through their picketing and social media websites are actually acts of love that reveal the severity of the actions that most humans partake in. Most of the members were born into the Church and therefore believe that the words they proclaim are the absolute truth. Although most Americans do not agree with the teachings and practices that the Westboro Baptist Church preaches, it is important to learn about and try to understand the various aspects of the church in

Westboro Baptist church was established in 1955. Located in Topeka, Kansas, Their goal is to “preach the Word of God to this crooked and perverse generation”. They take on such goals by publically protesting these horrendous phrases on street corners, gay festivals, and more

(Westboro Baptist Church homepage) The members of the WBC, which consists of a small and close-knit group of people, believe that homosexuality is wrong, that anyone who is not an“old-school’’ (Westboro Baptist Church About Us page) baptist like them, (such as the Amish and Jews), are wrong, that God will punish everyone who doesn’t have their views. These people believe all these groups will burn in Hell. They protest funerals and take to the streets with their vile posters to scream their ideas to others. They persecute others because they trust genuinely in the righteousness of God.

Second of all, hate groups exist in every aspect of the United States. For example, the Westboro Baptist Church is symbol of hate,

Religions affect the lives of its followers greatly because if you're a Muslim you have to pray five times a day, if you're a Jew you can't have any other gods, and if you believe in Buddhism you have to follow the middle path to stop suffering. All these rules you have to follow can take away time from you and can make you give up stuff you have, even make you leave money behind.

With most churches believing in peace and other freedoms, the Westboro Baptist Church believes in an alternate form of God, a being that is malevolent and vindictive. From this, the church pickets and protests against many modern day events, such as the gay-rights movement and overseas war funerals, in which the church responds with hateful signs such as “America is Doomed, Fags Have no Rights, God Blew Up the Troops”, and other anti-American slogans. Because of these protests, the Church is regarded internationally as being a cult, which preaches hate. Unfortunately, the First Amendment, which allows them to, protects their speech, no matter how unpopular it is. As long as the Church follows all police and protesting laws, and as long as the speech does not fall under: defamation, true threats, incitement to lawless action, or obscenity, then the Church can protest what they wish, without prosecution of the

This society is built with a default, and that default is to shun the disliked, the unknown, and the minority. “So long as the most vulnerable people in our population are consigned to places that the rest of us will always shun and flee and view with fear, I am afraid that educational denial, medical and economic devastation, and aesthetic degradation will be inevitable" (Kozol). The question is, is that the right way to turn? The Dixie Chicks are one of many examples of people in modern day society who spoke out for what they believed in and who were punished by the default. While they may not fall under the medical denial or economic devastation that Kozol is referring to, they fall under the category of aesthetic degradation. The action

I had no idea hate groups were even in my area. Which makes me wonder what is really going on in my environment, especially being that there are six hate groups within an hour radius of where I live, Southern New Jersey. The group located the closet to my home is, the Nation of Islam. Thus, I did not even know the Nation of Islam was considered a hate group.

The Ku Klux Klan were a racist white supremacy group established by people who believed that white people were better and wanted to see black people remaining slaves. It began in the southern states at the end of the American Civil War in 1865. In the 1920’s there was a resurgence of the Klan whose members wore white masks and cloaks. Only a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant (a ‘WASP’) was eligible for membership. They were a danger to the community because they used violence and terror to scare any American black or white, who advocated equal rights. The Klan was not only hostile to blacks but to Catholics, Jews and immigrants also. Most Klansmen supported the upsurge of religious fundamentalism (A conservative movement in theology among 19th and 20th century Christians. Fundamentalists believe that the statements in the Bible are literally true.) By 1925, the Klan’s peak, they had 5 million members, including police officers, judges, and politicians. It was a powerful influence in several

Christianity is one of the largest religions to stand with more than 2.22 billion followers. However, not all Christians share the same stance on issues, whether it be political or moral. An example would be the Westboro Baptist Church; a hate group known for its hostility towards those who do not meet up to their standards, specifically members of the LGBT, Catholics, American soldiers, and Muslims. The church originally received national attention in October, 1998, for picketing the funeral of a man named Matthew Shepard who was beaten and tortured for being gay. Romaine Patterson, a friend of Shepard’s, recalled that she couldn’t take her eyes off of the neon signs that read, “God Hates Fags”, “Matt in Hell”, and “AIDS Cures Fags”. From there, the church had displayed Shepard in their memorial section on their website. The page states that the church does not support the fact he was murdered, but that they picketed in order

Fundamentalism and Religion For a vast majority, the term “fundamentalism” evokes images of hostage crises, embassies under siege, hijackings, and suicide bombers. But these images hardly present a comprehensive picture. People in the west associate fundamentalism with Islam, this is indeed a mistaken belief. Fundamentalism is defined as " the affirmation of religious authority as holistic and absolute, admitting of neither criticism nor reduction; it is expressed through the collective demand that specific creedal and ethical dictates derived from scripture be publicly recognized and legally enforced ." (Lawrence)