Oh, Just Go Away

The Phelps family is at it again. Kansas-based Baptist Rev. Fred and his church, comprised primarily of family members, has declared that they will picket outside Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland. Apparently there is some suspicion that Whitman may have been gay. The Phelps' feel it is their Christian duty not only to hate homosexuals, but to demonstrate their faithfulness at every opportunity. They are best known for carrying their signs at funerals for military personnel killed in combat, because, after all, these deaths wouldn't happen if our nation weren't so tolerant of gays in our society.

Yeah, it makes no sense to me, either. When nations choose war, itself an offense against God, as a way of promoting their interests or settling disputes, people get killed, including many civilians, but that's beside the point.

By having a school named after Walt Whitman, according to the Phelps family, we learn "ALOT about Maryland." Hmmm, perhaps we learn that Maryland is a place where poetry is valued as meaningful expression? No, according to the Phelps family, what we learn is that "The children that attend that high school are taught Rebellion Against God 101 every day in every way."

I know, it's ridiculous.

The school's principal sent a letter to parents letting them know about the protest, and that it would be a normal day at school even should the Phelps' appear. He described the poetry of Walt Whitman by saying, "Whitman celebrates individual spirit, celebrates our nation as the center of democratic values, and celebrates nature." The Phelps crowd would shelter our children from that -- especially since Whitman may have been a homosexual.

These "Christian" folks don't even know for sure. They must be running out of targets to attack.

I am embarrassed when people claiming to follow Jesus behave in this way. But, of course, it's easier to tear down than it is to build up, and given the changing times against which the church has struggled for forty or more years by now, the challenges in reaching out with the Good News of God's love and promise of new life are many and complex.

So, many shy away from stepping up to accept Christ's call to follow him.