Happy Atheist Forum

Original story http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=80743 (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=80743)

"Worshippers at a Bible-teaching church in Lansing, Mich., were stunned when members of a pro-homosexual, pro-anarchy organization named Bash Back interrupted their service to fling propaganda and condoms around the sanctuary, drape a profane banner from the balcony and feature two lesbians making out at the pulpit."

I mean I know that none on this site would do such a thing, but its like whoa... Let me get some feedback from you guys.  

I hate crazy stupid people independent of race, religion, sexual preferences or whatever. What those gay anarchist have done is disgusting. I understand that guy people have all rights to be offended by Christian fundamentalism, but doing this kind of stupid actions won't help their case.

Although I am often one of the first to speak out against anyone who is bashing gays, that is not the way to positively support gay rights.  All they are doing is reinforcing the negative stereotype fundamentalists already have of homosexuals.  I think anarchists don't have a solid worldview (sorry if anyone here is one).

Quote from: "Tom62"I hate crazy stupid people independent of race, religion, sexual preferences or whatever. What those gay anarchist have done is disgusting. I understand that guy people have all rights to be offended by Christian fundamentalism, but doing this kind of stupid actions won't help their case.

Indeed. I feel exactly the same way about animal rights activists - well, the ones who dish out death threats and burn down houses..

I feel the same way about radicule right wing people. It just isn't helpfull. When you go down that route you just end up looking like a fool.

Quote from: "perspective"I mean I know that none on this site would do such a thing, but its like whoa... Let me get some feedback from you guys.  

Well that depends on what the church had been "teaching" doesn't it.

Kyu

It was stupid, pointless, and criminal.  Did you think we, as atheists, would condone that type of behavior?

I'm a firm supporter of the gay rights movement.  But it seems to me that it would be much more productive of the gay rights movement to get the support of the many churches that do support them, rather than attack some random church.  And if they really wanted to make a statement, they needed to target a Mormon church.

I'm pretty sure I, personally, wouldn't participate in a stunt like that...

HOWEVER...

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  SO many states are stripping them of their right to marry, something so basic, it's a disgrace that so many are voting FOR that type of thing.  Were I a lesbian (and I'm about half-way there...   ), I'd probably be making out on the pulpit.  

Yes, it's counterproductive... yes, it's insulting.  But so is sitting back and watching as an entire country tells you you aren't human enough to be legally joined to the person you love merely because some mythical fantasy being says so (or at least his earthly fans THINK that's what it says).

What they did wasn't wrong. It just wasn't smart.

Quote from: "Faithless"It was stupid, pointless, and criminal.  Did you think we, as atheists, would condone that type of behavior?

Yes, I would but it depends on what was being "taught" ... we already know that some fundy churches are anti-gay it seems to me that many more mainstream ones are going that way. This protest didn't actually harm anyone and if the church was teaching people something that was wrong, possibly very wrong, then I can see it might be a valid protest ... it just depends.

Kyu

Quote from: "Kyuuketsuki"

Quote from: "Faithless"It was stupid, pointless, and criminal.  Did you think we, as atheists, would condone that type of behavior?

Yes, I would but it depends on what was being "taught" ... we already know that some fundy churches are anti-gay it seems to me that many more mainstream ones are going that way. This protest didn't actually harm anyone and if the church was teaching people something that was wrong, possibly very wrong, then I can see it might be a valid protest ... it just depends.

Kyu

Yup. If America allows these idiots from Westborough Baptist to cause such disgusting, meaningless disruptions then this is nothing compared to that. :rant:

Quote from: "Sophus"Yup. If America allows these idiots from Westborough Baptist to cause such disgusting, meaningless disruptions then this is nothing compared to that. :rant:

It's people like that that drove someone to invent flamethrowers.

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages39.fotki.com%2Fv1227%2Fphotos%2F8%2F892548%2F6116196%2F1216199156503-vi.gif&hash=e9beb546be36c9daddd176becdf85fc38846d6d2)

What they did may not have been the best way to get their message across. But, we don't know the full story either. Like rlrose328 said, sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures.

And yes, if a church was "teaching" something I thought was horribly wrong and detrimental to my views, and in essence spreading it throughout my community, I would probably resort to some pretty militant actions.

Quote from: "Sophus"Yup. If America allows these idiots from Westborough Baptist to cause such disgusting, meaningless disruptions then this is nothing compared to that. :rant:

Was it Phelps & Co. whose church was targeted then? If so I absolutely support the protesters!

Kyu

Quote from: "Kyuuketsuki"

Quote from: "Sophus"Yup. If America allows these idiots from Westborough Baptist to cause such disgusting, meaningless disruptions then this is nothing compared to that. :rant:

Was it Phelps & Co. whose church was targeted then? If so I absolutely support the protesters!

Kyu

I don't think so. I was just showing by comparison the anti-gay protests have been far worse than this one time stunt.

awww... let em be. I don't see it as a gay thing, but rather as a youthful thing. Young people have such energy and enthusiasm for their task. Fundie youth included. Young people do stuff like this all the time. And they will, in turn grow up to regret it.  

I imagine the Bible study group was one of those wonderfully fundamentalist groups who interpret the Bible very literally. Such frustrated narrow-minded people do indeed believe that God instructed them to engage in homo-bashing, as in those wonderful passages in the bible such as:

QuoteIf a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads. (Leviticus 20:13 - from BibleGateway)

Even the "holy" Saint Paul preached that homosexuals and lesbians deserved death:

Quote26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. 28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:26-32 - from BibleGateway)

These are passages I have heard publicly quoted by television preachers during my visits in the USA. Good rousing stuff, if you happen to be a tub-thumping Christian looking for physical demons to attack. However, and fortunately for us all, not everyone believes in these passages. As theists, humanists, free-thinkers, or whatever we realize the value of all humans. Furthermore, these homosexuals have done their own cause no good by disrupting this prayer meeting. Instead of revealing the depths of Biblical depravity of this group, they descended to the same level as these very benighted people. A shame. An opportunity for peaceful and revealing picketing lost.