It was more than ironic. It was tragic. And thankfully it was avoided.
As the nation debated the role of extremist rhetoric in the Jan. 8 shooting in Tucson, Ariz., that left six dead and 13 wounded, Christina Taylor Green’s parents faced burying her while being picketed by one of America’s best-known perpetrators of hate speech.
Christina was the 9-year-old girl born Sept. 11 who lost her life in the hail of bullets unleashed at a Tucson supermarket. Her funeral was the first of the six funerals. It took place Jan. 13, the day after the community memorial service at which President Barack Obama challenged Americans to talk to each other “in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.”
That challenge did not resonate with members of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan. Pastor Fred Phelps announced that his group would be at the victims’ funerals, celebrating the deaths as God’s judgment for America allowing homosexual behavior.
Picketing funerals is nothing new for Phelps and members of his church. The group has gained national attention picketing military funerals with signs reading, “You’re going to hell,” “God hates you,” “Thank God for dead soldiers” and “God hates fags.” Desecrating the American flag is common, reports indicate.
The group’s message has caused many organizations, including the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, to label the church a “hate group.” Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary vice president and associate professor Thomas White recently released an article concluding the group was neither Baptist nor a church but only a purveyor of hate.
But that has not deterred Phelps and his family. Most of the members of Westboro are related to the pastor. The church boasts that it has conducted more than 30,000 pickets in all 50 states. Members have been involved in numerous confrontations and arrests have occurred. Lawsuits by and against Phelps and his family are commonplace.
When news media carried Phelps’ announcement that Westboro members would picket Christina’s funeral as well as the funerals of other victims, we received telephone calls asking why the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) did not stop the church from acting in such a despicable manner.
First, Westboro is not affiliated with the SBC. The church is not affiliated with any known Baptist convention or association.
Second, even if it were, the national convention would be powerless to act. Article IV of the SBC constitution states, “the convention does not claim and will never attempt to exercise any authority over any other Baptist body, whether church, auxiliary organization, association or convention.” In Southern Baptist life, all bodies serve the local church. No local church is subject to the decisions of an outside body.
One caller asked if Westboro could be forced to abandon the use of the Baptist name. Again, the answer is no. Baptist is not a trademarked name. It is used to describe people who hold certain beliefs about God, the Bible, salvation and the church. The term was used before there was a United States, let alone a SBC.
By one count, there are 62 national bodies that use the term “Baptist” in their official name. And there are thousands of individual churches like Westboro that call themselves Baptist but are affiliated with no body but themselves.
Southern Baptists have not escaped the ire of Phelps and Westboro. They have picketed the SBC’s annual meeting. SBC-related seminaries have been picketed. State convention-related colleges have been the focus of their wrath. Well-known churches have been picketed. One release from Westboro indicated members picket up to 15 churches on any given Sunday.
In 1999, messengers to the SBC’s annual meeting adopted a resolution that took a swipe at Phelps. While not calling him by name, messengers adopted a resolution that said, in part, “We publicly denounce and deplore all violent attacks upon homosexuals and … express our abhorrence of the teaching that God hates any person on account of an immoral lifestyle.”
Last year, Roger S. Oldham, vice president for convention communications and relations for the SBC Executive Committee, was not as tactful. In an April 7, 2010, Baptist Press story, Oldham said, “We repudiate the tactics used by Fred Phelps and his followers at Westboro and find them offensive.”
How one could even consider waving a sign at Christina’s parents blaring, “God hates you,” is beyond understanding. How could one parade such a placard at the funeral of Judge John Roll, who was on his way to church at the time he was gunned down. Dorwin Stoddard threw himself on top of his wife to protect her and, for his bravery, was murdered. How does one spout hatred at such a person?
Most Baptists I know prayed for these and the other victims of the massacre — Phyllis Schneck, Gabriel Zimmerman, Dorothy Morris and the 13 people wounded, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona. Most Baptists I know responded with concern and compassion. Most Baptists I know purposefully distance themselves from the hate-filled words and actions of Phelps and his family.
Simply stated, Phelps is not like any Baptist I know. Thankfully he agreed not to picket the funerals in exchange for an opportunity to speak on Mike Gallagher’s nationally syndicated radio show.
Whether the rekindled debate about the role of extremist rhetoric will make a lasting difference in the public square of American life remains to be seen. Still the teaching of the Bible is clear. Proverbs 15:1 says, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” That speaks to the goal of public discourse.
In verse 2, the writer added, “The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.” Is one after advancement or advantage?
The writer of Proverbs clearly teaches “the words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them” (Prov. 12:6).
In light of God’s Word, President Obama’s challenge that Americans learn to talk to each other “in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds” is not bad advice.
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