with some down time at the office, i did my usual cruise through the news websites. i ran across this article on cnn.com "Topeka retains anti-bias law." for those of you who don't know. topeka kansas is home to, what i call, the most hate filled church in the country, westboro baptist church. just visit their site and check out their domain name (i'll link it, but can't actually print it cause it burns me up so much) and you will know what their agenda is. i heard of these folks back in the 90's when they came to alabama and protested the funeral of a gay man in sylacauga, who was killed in a hate crime. they came not to protest the hate crime, but to let everyone know that he was in hell. anyhow, in conversation with a classmate (who happened to be lesbian) she mentioned this website. it grossed me out the memorial to matthew shepard (which is still there). i really struggle with people who hate and use the name of the same God i have come to understand to justify it.
anyhow, the article in cnn talks about how they were shown the door when it came to their appeal to have anti-bias laws taken off the books of law in topeka. yeah!! i'd like to say we didn't need to laws, but people are discriminated against and people deserve the fairness that these laws generally promote.
as for church & social justice issues that these topics swirl around. i had mentioned in an earlier post (idols of justice & idols of justice take 2) how we can easily get sucked into turning our social justice causes into idols. i think many of us can agree that any passion that takes our focus away from God is passion that becomes an idol, no matter how noble we may see it. anyhow, if you want to check out their site and get angry, go for it. apparently they have a new angst against sweden & they are pretty happy for the tsunami.
note: as i look over this, my heart breaks for these people. i, see them as filled with hate, and a misconception of what it means to live a life of Christ. however, i know that they call this "love" and they are bringing a message that saves people.
"My God, I frankly do not understand Your ways with me(us)." Thomas Merton
