The term "hate group" has been defined by websites such as Wikipedia, as "an organized group or movement that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or other designated sector of society". Some religiously-affiliated groups that are classified as hate groups, may be characterized that way by some organizations which monitor such groups, simply on the basis of those groups having stood for Biblical values & principles. To characterize such groups as hate groups for standing up for their beliefs, can in itself be considered as hateful, because the group is being negatively characterized solely on the basis of their religious beliefs. I therefore did not include a definition of hate groups from such organizations. There are many groups out there however, for which the "hate group" classification applies, because of the hostile behavior such groups engage in. The Westboro Baptist Church is one such group. This group may have done more harm to the cause of Jesus Christ & turned people against Christianity more than any other group in American history.
In January 2011, a gunman shot 19 people in a Tucson shopping center, including Arizona's U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords who was severely injured, & killing 6, including a 9-year-old girl, Christina Taylor-Green. I have included the name of the little girl because she deserves to be remembered, as do all the victims of this terrible shooting. Later, in December 2012, a gunman killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School, including 20 children & 6 adults. Close to 7,000 American troops have died in service to their country in both Iraq & Afghanistan. In each of these instances, & whenever there is a tragedy, disaster, or loss of life, the Westboro Baptist Church has been near the scene of funerals, with their picket signs, shouting slogans of hate for those who died. They justify their hate speech by claiming that God hates America due to the sins of its people. They inflict untold amounts of pain to those who are grieving the loss of their loved ones. Following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, over a quarter of a million signatures were collected, for a petition to the White House to have the Westboro Baptist Church classified as a hate group. They certainly do fit the criteria, according to the definition as established by most organizations that monitor such groups.
The above example is an extreme case of hypocrisy by those calling themselves Christians. The majority of Christian churches & organizations who are aware of the activities of the Westboro folks, do not condone nor agree with their practices, nor do they consider them to be practicing true Christianity. The Baptist World Alliance & the Southern Baptist Convention, have denounced the Westboro Baptist Church. You know there's a problem with hypocrisy in a group claiming to be Christians when even the Klu Klux Klan has denounced them! Sadly though, many people whose only exposure to Christianity, may be from what they have seen through the behaviors of people such as these. In fact, some people will never want to have anything to do with church, God, or Christians, because of the extreme hatred displayed by those practicing hypocrisy to the extreme.
The mantra that seems to be the underlying message of this particular group, is that "God hates...", as they claim that God hates gay people, & America. When they say that God hates our troops, they will often hold up signs saying that God loves IEDs (improvised explosive devices, such as those used in Afghanistan & Iraq to kill our troops). The Bible is pretty clear about God's love for us - ALL of us, including those who bring dishonor to His name by propagating hatred toward those He sent His Son to die for. The Bible says in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life". How could God hate anyone, when He sent His perfect & blameless Son to step off His heavenly throne & live as a man, & then die a horrible, suffering death, in order to pay the price for the sins of all mankind? If God were to hate anyone, then He would not be true to who He is, for He would not love us all enough to send His Son to die for us, while at the same time hating us because of our sin. He would be contradicting Himself, & God does not do that. Jesus Christ paid the price for our sin. It is not for any of us to condemn others for their sin, when our Creator has already forgiven all those who believe & who accept this freely given sacrifice from His Son.
The mantra that seems to be the underlying message of this particular group, is that "God hates...", as they claim that God hates gay people, & America. When they say that God hates our troops, they will often hold up signs saying that God loves IEDs (improvised explosive devices, such as those used in Afghanistan & Iraq to kill our troops). The Bible is pretty clear about God's love for us - ALL of us, including those who bring dishonor to His name by propagating hatred toward those He sent His Son to die for. The Bible says in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life". How could God hate anyone, when He sent His perfect & blameless Son to step off His heavenly throne & live as a man, & then die a horrible, suffering death, in order to pay the price for the sins of all mankind? If God were to hate anyone, then He would not be true to who He is, for He would not love us all enough to send His Son to die for us, while at the same time hating us because of our sin. He would be contradicting Himself, & God does not do that. Jesus Christ paid the price for our sin. It is not for any of us to condemn others for their sin, when our Creator has already forgiven all those who believe & who accept this freely given sacrifice from His Son.
One of the things I have heard & read countless times from non-Christians, is that Christians are so quick to judge. Jesus set the example for us to follow. He alone is worthy to judge. Our very salvation is through God's grace, not through anything we have done on our own merits. We need to remember that. In Ephesians 2:8-9 of the Bible, it says "For by grace you have been saved, through faith, & that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast". How many of us have looked at a tattooed or pierced individual, or a person with a "rough-appearing" demeanor & through the way we looked at that person, we judged him or her? Do we think we were not noticed? Do we think that the person said to himself "oh my, that Christian doesn't approve of me. I should repent of my ways & turn to the Lord!"? We delude ourselves if we think that expressing judgment or disapproval toward someone, either through body language or words, is going to bring that person to the Lord & into a relationship with Jesus Christ. The opposite is what will happen.
Did Jesus go up to the Samaritan woman at the well & say to her "Yo! Lady! You shameful person! You're going to hell if you don't repent of your sins. You've had 5 husbands, & the man you are with now is not your husband!"? Of course not! Instead, He talked with the woman, which was something that Jews did not do in that day, because Jews did not associate with Samaritans. So He already showed her kindness by talking with her. Then He told her about the Living Water that He as the Messiah could give so that she would never be thirsty again. She thought He was being literal, but He was speaking of the spiritual thirst we all have. Instead of condemning her for the sins of adultery, He matter-of-factly spoke about her past, to show her that He was who He said He was. He did not condemn her, nor did He condemn any of the Samaritans in the town. In fact, He stayed with them for two days, in their homes, & many became believers because of His words & example. Some of the people that Jesus associated with & counted as friends had been what the culture at the time, considered to be the scourges of society: tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers & so on. He talked about the sins of people, but He did so in the context of letting them know that He had come to save them, not to condemn them. That was great news!! As John 3:16-17 says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
Make no mistake. I am not saying that as Christians, we should not make judgments. There is nothing wrong with saying something is right or wrong. People do it all the time, whether they are Christians or not. All people should know what's right & wrong & be willing to take a stand when necessary. Making a judgment call in a given situation, means you are discerning whether or not to do a certain thing or whether or not a situation or person is safe, prudent, etc. We are called upon as Christians to stand up for what's right, which means speaking out against things the Bible says are wrong. We are not told however, that we must condemn others judgmentally, with an attitude of superiority or self-righteousness. Jesus Himself did not do that, & He is the only One qualified to do so. If a proposition is put on an electoral ballot, it is your responsibility as a Christian, to look at that proposition & hold it up to the standards laid out in the Bible by God. If it goes against the principles taught in the Bible, then you as a Christian have a moral obligation to make sure that your vote reflects your conscience according to the Word of God.
If you see someone blatantly sinning however, it is not your place to go up to that person, tell them they are sinning & will go to hell if they don't get right with God. We are supposed to be a "light in the darkness", as the Bible says, not a bullhorn of shame & condemnation. Nobody wants to be "pulled into the light" by being bullied there. If the Light is so loving & welcoming, our attitudes should reflect that love. I don't know about you, but I am not drawn to strobe lights. They hurt my eyes with their incessant flashing & brightness. We're not supposed to be a strobe light, hurting people into the love of Christ. Speak the Truth, but do so in love.
I'm going to write more in Part 2 of this series, but I want to address the fact that many Christians will "talk the talk" while not "walking the walk". When you are condemning others with your words & actions, while flipping someone off in traffic, losing your temper, being rude to a cashier in a store, or cussing in front of your children, then you are applying a double-standard. That double-standard is called "hypocrisy". Whatever message you have been trying to convey, becomes lost on the person you are trying to convey that message to. Your words no longer have value because your actions don't match up with your words. There will be more to come on this subject, in Part 2.
Did Jesus go up to the Samaritan woman at the well & say to her "Yo! Lady! You shameful person! You're going to hell if you don't repent of your sins. You've had 5 husbands, & the man you are with now is not your husband!"? Of course not! Instead, He talked with the woman, which was something that Jews did not do in that day, because Jews did not associate with Samaritans. So He already showed her kindness by talking with her. Then He told her about the Living Water that He as the Messiah could give so that she would never be thirsty again. She thought He was being literal, but He was speaking of the spiritual thirst we all have. Instead of condemning her for the sins of adultery, He matter-of-factly spoke about her past, to show her that He was who He said He was. He did not condemn her, nor did He condemn any of the Samaritans in the town. In fact, He stayed with them for two days, in their homes, & many became believers because of His words & example. Some of the people that Jesus associated with & counted as friends had been what the culture at the time, considered to be the scourges of society: tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers & so on. He talked about the sins of people, but He did so in the context of letting them know that He had come to save them, not to condemn them. That was great news!! As John 3:16-17 says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
Make no mistake. I am not saying that as Christians, we should not make judgments. There is nothing wrong with saying something is right or wrong. People do it all the time, whether they are Christians or not. All people should know what's right & wrong & be willing to take a stand when necessary. Making a judgment call in a given situation, means you are discerning whether or not to do a certain thing or whether or not a situation or person is safe, prudent, etc. We are called upon as Christians to stand up for what's right, which means speaking out against things the Bible says are wrong. We are not told however, that we must condemn others judgmentally, with an attitude of superiority or self-righteousness. Jesus Himself did not do that, & He is the only One qualified to do so. If a proposition is put on an electoral ballot, it is your responsibility as a Christian, to look at that proposition & hold it up to the standards laid out in the Bible by God. If it goes against the principles taught in the Bible, then you as a Christian have a moral obligation to make sure that your vote reflects your conscience according to the Word of God.
If you see someone blatantly sinning however, it is not your place to go up to that person, tell them they are sinning & will go to hell if they don't get right with God. We are supposed to be a "light in the darkness", as the Bible says, not a bullhorn of shame & condemnation. Nobody wants to be "pulled into the light" by being bullied there. If the Light is so loving & welcoming, our attitudes should reflect that love. I don't know about you, but I am not drawn to strobe lights. They hurt my eyes with their incessant flashing & brightness. We're not supposed to be a strobe light, hurting people into the love of Christ. Speak the Truth, but do so in love.
I'm going to write more in Part 2 of this series, but I want to address the fact that many Christians will "talk the talk" while not "walking the walk". When you are condemning others with your words & actions, while flipping someone off in traffic, losing your temper, being rude to a cashier in a store, or cussing in front of your children, then you are applying a double-standard. That double-standard is called "hypocrisy". Whatever message you have been trying to convey, becomes lost on the person you are trying to convey that message to. Your words no longer have value because your actions don't match up with your words. There will be more to come on this subject, in Part 2.
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