My God Told Me He Hates You

I'm sure many of you have already heard of the Westboro Baptist Church, of their protests at soldiers' funerals and hate-filled diatribes against those of the homosexual persuasion; I'm sure you've seen the faces of Fred Phelps Sr. and his daughter Shirley Phelps-Roper plastered all over the internet with various derisive comments attached. In this post, however, I'm not quite so concerned with their extreme hatred as I am with their extreme arrogance.

Of course, one must be arrogant to presume that one is more important or much better than another person simply because that other person is homosexual and/or believes differently. How, though, can you become so arrogant as to believe that you and only you and your church speak for the "Most High God" and "Father of humans"? Is this not a textbook definition of narcissism, or "inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity" (dictionary.com)? Is this sort of arrogance not the same vanity that Fred Phelps accuses everyone who does not attend his church of having?

Just so you know that I'm not pulling this idea of pompous self-importance out of thin air, let me quote something from the WBC's home page at godhatesfags.com: "Since 1955, Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) has taken forth the precious from the vile, and is therefore as the mouth of God (Jer. 15:19)." (italics added).

I'd like to point out what Jeremiah 15:19 says in the KJV Bible: "Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, [and] thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them." Oddly enough, in this verse, the Christian God is speaking specifically to Jeremiah against Jerusalem and her people, not to the yet-unborn Fred Phelps and his clan.

My point is this: when one person (or one group) claims to be the only true mouthpiece for the creator of the entire universe, one should be extremely wary and cautious. The arrogance found in the WBC's beliefs are blatant and obvious for all to see, but we all need to take care that we don't fall into a similar, more subtle trap. One person cannot hold all the answers; we cannot separate ourselves from others merely because we fear learning and changing our beliefs.

Pastor Fred, here's your clue.