Apparently the Lord God hates them all, according to the Phelpsians (though apparently largely derivatively of God’s hatred of gays). For the addition of us Jews, see this article; for the others, just Google a bit.
The overlap with this list is purely coincidental (I think). Note also the faint echo of this joke.
Thanks to Religion Clause for the pointer. (Warning: The author of that blog is apparently hated by God for at least two reasons, as is the author of this post.)
cirby says:
I always wanted to ask one of them if there was anyone outside of their own family who WAS going to Heaven.
November 15, 2009, 11:08 amDave N says:
You’re SWEDISH? Who knew?
November 15, 2009, 11:11 amCornellian says:
People who hate gay people for being gay never hate only gay people. It’s just a matter of time before you find out who else is on their list.
November 15, 2009, 11:58 amAndrew L says:
Wait…why?
November 15, 2009, 1:02 pmepignosis says:
Figures of speech (literary trops and schemes) often do not translate well. Moreover, when hate is attributed to God in scriptural translations, it is most likely an anthropopathism. This has resulted in much confusion.
Otherwise, there would be an almost irreconcilable inconsistency with “For God love the world so much that he gave his uniquely born son…”.
Hate, therefore, is describing a “finding of the court” in the sense that justice and righteousness have rendered a decision concerning a specific case.
November 15, 2009, 1:07 pmsubpatre says:
“They hate everyone except themselves” was the advice about a violent group once. So it seems with the Phelpsians, led by its disbarred lawyer.
Although I hate to prick the bubble of Eugene’s newfound notoriety, there’s only the Phelps family and a few friends; less than 100 people total.
No other church will admit affiliation, and every Baptist denomination has renounced Westboro. But ‘hatemongering Democrat attorney and cousins’ doesn’t make the same eye-catching headlines as ‘hatemongering Baptist Church’.
November 15, 2009, 1:15 pmDave N says:
Subparte,
You have to be wrong. Everyone knows that only Republicans can be homophobes, racists, and hatemongers.
November 15, 2009, 1:22 pmJohn Moore says:
To call this a “church” is a travesty – sort of like the “Church” of Scientology. This is a small cult run by the Phelps family. They probably decided to add Jews to their hate list to get more funding from neo-Nazis or something.
Giving them publicity both helps their hateful causes and hurts, by association, real religious organizations.
November 15, 2009, 1:43 pmBill Poser says:
John Moore@ Just because the Phelpsians are nasty and extreme doesn’t make them any less a religion, nor are “real religions” by any means innocent of similar beliefs and activities. Mainstream Christianity, through much of its history and in many of its forms has been extremely intolerant both of other religions and of gay people. Islam still is. Early Judaism was the same.
November 15, 2009, 1:58 pmdrunkdriver says:
It’s amazing how much attention the Phelpses have gotten from respectable outlets, including this one, given their lack of consequence and influence.
Every time I hear about them, I feel really sad for the little children in their cult, being dragged around at age 8 to these hateful protests, and taught these awful lies. The old man used his own children to support him, and choked off their social lives, and now he’s doing it to following generations. Hopefully when he dies some of these kids will find a way to lead a normal life.
November 15, 2009, 2:39 pmresh says:
Political humor, eh.
Joe Stalin was ready to kick, with little to leave his successor Nikita Khrushchev. Always the planner, he left him three envelopes, to be opened only during a crisis.
Crisis one soon emerged and Nikita K. hastily opened the first envelope. “Blame it all on Uncle Joe,” said the message inside.
Crisis two readily followed. “Blame it all on Uncle Joe, ” read the second message.
Soon after, crisis three greeted Khrushchev, and he couldn’t wait to read the final message.
“Get yourself three envelopes,” it said.
November 15, 2009, 2:45 pmJohn Moore says:
This is a rather perverse way of looking at it. The Phelpsians today are extremists, the Christian church has had extermist periods, so hey, they’re all the same thing.
Sorry, but that doesn’t wash.
Whatever criticisms or disagreements you have with mainstream Christianity are unrelated to the Phelpsian phenomenon.
November 15, 2009, 3:13 pmBarbara Skolaut says:
Congratulations, Eugene – being hated by those
November 15, 2009, 3:16 pmassholesidiots is a true badge of honor.LarryA says:
Phelps badly needs a visit by some Christmas ghosts, but I doubt he’d listen.
November 15, 2009, 3:43 pmepignosis says:
Anthropopathism – Take the criminal law, for illustration by example. The law does not “love” a person who abides, nor does it “hate” an offender. It does have provisions for judgement and occasionally, punishment. Capital punishment, for example, cannot be attributed to animosity of the law directed toward an individual.
Instances in scripture that ascribe hate to God engage the same concept. Those references are being distorted by that group.
November 15, 2009, 5:17 pmLeo Marvin says:
I don’t know what took him so long, but better late than never. It’s hard to take a professional bigot seriously who forgets to blame Jews for all our problems.
November 15, 2009, 5:51 pmPeteP says:
“(Warning: The author of that blog is apparently hated by God for at least two reasons, as is the author of this post.)”
I never knew you were Canadian, Eugene :-)
November 15, 2009, 6:52 pmJoseph Slater says:
I will personally vouch for the fact that the author of the Religion Clause blog, a former colleague of mine, is one of the least-hateable and indeed most admirable people I’ve ever met.
November 15, 2009, 11:02 pmRicardo says:
I think this passage from Wikipedia speaks for itself:
November 15, 2009, 11:51 pmAri says:
Wait a second … “per say”? Really, USA Today?
November 16, 2009, 1:35 pm