The hate-mongering Westboro Baptist Church clan is at it again.
At a time of year when Christians can shine the light of Jesus through service and sharing the Christmas message, the Fred Phelps clan is planning to picket this weekend's funeral for Elizabeth Edwards. Edwards, the wife of two-time presidential candidate John Edwards, died Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. She is scheduled to be buried Saturday in Raleigh, North Carolina, next to her son Wade, who was killed 14 years ago in a car accident.
Rev. Carl Helm of Marion Christian Church in Kansas has been a target of Westboro Baptist in the past and he offers the following advice to people encountering them:
- Do not approach them
- Do not try to reason with them
- Ignore them as much as possible
- Do not quote scripture
I like point No. 3. Let's just ignore them and get back to focusing on the true meaning of Christmas instead of a small, misguided group of people who choose to share hate over love.
Mr. Manson, these tips are most excellent from this minister. The Westboro church is preparing to protest and picket in front of our church in Mulvane, Kansas on Dec. 19th. As the pastor, I can really appreciate how this man’s church took the high road on their approach. God does hates sin, but He loves the sinner, as First John 4:20 says “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” The only reason that this church is picketing our church is because Mulvane, Kansas is the home and founding city of the Patriot Guard. Mulvane, Kansas is the home of the Patriot Guard, which consists of dozens and dozens of American veterans who ride on their motorcycles and use American flags to block this church’s protesting of veteran funerals. They protest as many veterans funerals that they possibly can, even if it’s a child of a veteran’s family who is deceased.