Monday, June 14, 2010
Westboro Baptist Church family disowns daughter — 20/20 (June 4, 2010)
7-Year Old Spews Hate As Coached By Parents, Parents Disown Daughter
The Westboro Baptist Church has always had a reputation for being prejudice towards certain ethnicities, races, and religions. However, very few people realize how much discrimination this church really preaches. The video above is a chilling documentary about one family who belongs to the Westboro Baptist Church. Children are taught, from birth on, that certain groups of people such as Jews, homosexuals, and men and women who fight in the military are wicked and hated by God. Anyone who disagrees with their beliefs are banished from their families and communities. Take a look and post your thoughts.
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It was hard for me to watch people protesting America and claiming that God hates America. I am confused why these church members still live in the U.S. if it is so evil. I also found it very disturbing that it was so easy for the family to let Lauren go and pretend like she is no longer part of their family. I really hope that her siblings are able to see the love she has for them and that will cause them to ponder about the doctrine of their church. I don't understand how Lauren's parents can say they have no regrets when they have lost their own daughter. In our church if a family member strays we do everything in our power to love them and bring them back.
ReplyDeleteThis video was very disturbing to me. I am not familiar with the Baptist Church and I have never actually seen people protesting that God hates America or it's people. I felt anger and sadness for these people mostly because of the things that they are teaching their children. Children should not be standing on street corners telling others that they are horrible people who are going to hell, they should be playing and enjoying their youth. Ultimately the Lord will decide the fate of each of His children and it is not up to any human being to tell another what their fate will be.
ReplyDeleteIt was also very upsetting to see the manner in which Lauren's family was able to simply kick her out of their church and their family. These actions make me so thankful to be a member of such a family based and loving church. God does have mercy for us all and wants us to be good people, yet recognizes that we will make mistakes. I feel for these people and wish them the best in their lives.
This deeply saddens me. I feel so disitraught that these people are so heavy laden with hatred. I hope that the 24 year old daughter will be alright.
ReplyDeleteThese people's actions are clearly upsetting, and it's difficult to imagine what is going through their minds. At first, I thought it is amazing that they are so convinced of the "hatred" of God. But as I continued to think about religion and people's beliefs of God as a whole, it's almost not surprising that they are truly convinced of these beliefs. When people come together with a similar belief, talk about it unceasingly, and dwell upon it as they raise their children, then of course they will be thoroughly convinced of the teachings.
ReplyDeleteAs awful as this overall religion might seem, I think it is important to remember that this video overall only highlighted one family. Maybe many of the other families would not completely disown, abandon, and no longer love their own child for these reasons. Plenty of misconceptions about the LDS Church happen this way; one small detail or misconception is soon believed to be the overall doctrine of those who don't know better. But in general, it is truly sad to see American people focusing on hatred rather than happiness or forgiveness.
Wow. Crazy. Sucks for those kids. They're gonna be at a huge disadvantage when they get older. How do these people survive in society? I don't care who you are. You can't say things like that at a funeral. What kind of people go to a soldier's funeral to say bad things in front of the families. I don't feel bad for these nuts being chased away violently. They probably should be sent straight back to God so they can explain why they were so hateful.
ReplyDeleteSad as it is, I busted up laughing when they were singing about other faiths. That was so rediculous I still can't believe it. What a depressing religion.
These people are brain washing their children to believe that God doesn't love them. They are going to grow up believing that this world is an evil place because of the people that live in it. I feel bad for this family because they don't know the destruction they're building. They're creating a generation of racist and non believers. I feel bad for the kids that are still in this church because they aren't being shown the right things. The older daughter that left has a chance now to start a life and learn that God is merciful and that He does love this world.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't it also say in the bible to forgive and love one another? I find it interesting that so many different religions can use the same books to "support" their ideals, yet have each religion be so different. It seems completely contradictory. It amazes me that people are able to twist and corrupt doctrine to support such fanatic beliefs. How is it possible that people can use the Bible to create such love, while others find nothing but hate in its pages?
ReplyDeleteI also find it interesting that the girl in this video did not necessarily want to leave her family or even the religion. She only questioned some beliefs that she found contradictory, however questions were not allowed. There was no doubting what the preacher said was fact. I am glad to be a part of a religion where we are able to have questions and not only take them to others, but we can take them straight to the Lord through prayer and receive answers.
I watched this a week ago when it came on TV and I couldn't sit and watch all of it because it was disturbing to see how people believe in such things but then again, I know that many grow up being taught things like this and don't think anything is wrong but its sad a church like this was created. People sometimes go too far in interpreting the scriptures and it can really hurt them in actually understanding what God is trying to tell us. It was a lot of brainwashing and I just hope that they will one day understand that God does love us all.
ReplyDeleteThis clip made me want to cry. The literal foundation of my testimony is my knowledge that God loves me and that He loves all His children. The part where they were standing around with signs saying basically how glad they were that the soldiers had died made me sick to my stomach; I can hardly think of anything more disrespectful and disturbing. The only thing that comes to mind at the moment that can rival it would likely be the small children talking about their indoctrination that God doesn’t love everybody. That was seriously unnerving. My heart went out to the oldest daughter in the family who had been cut off from virtually all contact; I left for college when my youngest sister was three years old as well, and it is so hard only getting to see pictures and hear stories of her growing up. I can’t imagine never being allowed any type of contact.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that caught my attention was the reasons these people gave for their beliefs; they said that sin in America from homosexuals, divorce and abortion has caused God to hate America and virtually all her people. All I could think of was how clever Satan is in twisting truth. There is a lot of sin in our country, but that doesn’t mean that God hates people. It can cause God to be angry or can induce the wrath of God, but as any parent can tell you, anger, frustration, disappointment are not the symptoms of a God who hates, but one who loves His children and wants them to better themselves. And this is because He loves us so much He wants us to be with Him forever.
This is a perfect example of what can happen when individuals misinterpret what God would want to happen. Too many people think that they need to be so close minded to different ideas, without at least trying to understand. As far as I'm concerned, whether I agree with certain societal norms or not, I want to be as friendly and caring as possible.
ReplyDeleteHow can they call themselves Christian? I am not very familiar with the Baptist belief, but I am pretty sure that they believe strongly in the bible, which tells of Christ and His kindness towards everyone cast down or "minorities" in His society and taught love wherever He went. I am sickened that any religion would teach this sort of hatred, especially to young children, that the adults force opinions on their young minds and mold them into a person blinded by color, ethnicity,and religion.
ReplyDeleteI did a post back in October on the WBC.
ReplyDeleteHere is the link:
http://sociology113.blogspot.com/2009/10/hate-groups-and-religious-extremism.html
It includes the video "The Most Hated Family in America", an hour-long documentary on the Westboro Baptist Church.
I have shared that documentary with many of my friends, and find it interesting that people usually respond emotionally. The WBC has always given me some patriotism. While I am absolutely disgusted with their message, I will defend their right to say it.
Madilyn asked why would they live in the United States if they hate it so much. That's the point, isn't it? The United States is essentially the only country where you can say how much you hate it. The WBC tried to get into England a few years back, and they were banned. This is the only place where they can fully preach their message of hate. Ironic, no? Additionally, preaching in another country about the evils of the United States does not make much sense. They view themselves as modern-day prophets, just like Jeremiah - living in a city that is about to be destroyed.
This might be tangential, so I apologize. At BYU, I sometimes feel that liberal extremism is so absolutely detested and widely known. I think it is important to recognize its opposite can be just as harmful and poisonous.
Anyways, I highly recommend watching the documentary. It goes more in depth on the policies, practices, and views.
I do not understand how parents teach their children about to speak, think and act evil to different groups of people and more when they consider themselves Christians while having that mentality.God has love for each of his children and he is the only who can judge them. They are brainwashing these little children. Instead we are to try understanding others. God would not punish an entire country just because of certain people's actions. We are to understand what God really wants from each of us and not misinterpret it to something else. Satan is trying so hard to move us away from God, we are to not let that happen. We are to help those in need. Those who teach those evil things would be judged for them in their due time.
ReplyDeleteI too was deeply saddened by this. What struck me the most, however, was the awesome responsibility that comes with being a parent. Many of you mentioned how those kids are being brainwashed, which I also noticed. More than that, however, I noticed how willing-and anxious, even-the kids were to simply believe whatever their parents told them. Which made me wonder if my kids will be like that. Which scared the crap out of me, because what an awesome responsibility that is. (And by "awesome," I mean it is striking fear and awe into me.) It's one thing to choose to go down the wrong path yourself, but when you lead those down that path who are not yet able to choose for themselves... yikes.
ReplyDelete