Religion - SumBlog #3

The material that stood out the most to me in class this week was our discussion of religion and the Westboro Baptist Church. When we were asked to think about whether or not we are a Christian nation I debated that answer in my mind. I agreed mostly that our nation had quite a few Christian practices such as sayings like “in God we trust, God bless America, one nation under God” etc. There may be individuals who aren’t Christian but still may say those things. I know of individuals who aren’t Christian but still respect those sayings unlike the Westboro Baptist members.

I found the film of the Westboro Baptist Church very hard to watch. I found it so difficult because those individuals are so different from majority of the public. They don’t respect other religions because they believe the Westboro Baptist religion is the only correct religion. I understand that each religion is different from one another and may have different believes. I also understand that each individual has a right to believe what they want. However, in my opinion, this religion is difficult to understand. They have their believes and when they were asked why they believe what they do, it seemed as though they always answered with saying everyone else not in their religion was wrong and they are doing what God wants. It didn’t seem as if they had a clear cut answer.

I am confused with the Westboro Baptist religion because their views are opposite from some other religions. I know different religions that practice and preach different topics but overall those religions seem more similar than different, whereas the Westboro Baptist religion is so different. Even though people have different religions which may appear similar, individuals usually act in a more professional and appropriate manner while discussing their views. It was frustrating to hear that members of the Westboro Baptist community wouldn’t even listen to a different individual’s point of view without criticizing them.

I also had a hard time accepting the fact that they would throw flags to the ground and sing songs that represent America in a horrible way. Since I have been young it has always been known that one should never let the flag touch the ground and as Americans we show support and pride towards our country. In my opinion, it almost seemed as though members of the Westboro Baptist religion weren’t American by their actions. It was also very frustrating to see those individuals have signs which had messages indicating negative comments about dead soldiers. Again, as Americans we tend to be proud of our military members for all of their support. I can’t believe Westboro Baptist individuals didn’t respect the military and constantly wished for more dead soldiers. The video below stated their wishes for dead military members.

 

http://youtu.be/k56_o9XRQFQ