My Hero

Not really a fair criticism, especially given that I regularly call for killing terrorists. But, see, we don’t live in a part of the world where people regularly want to "debate" whether Christianity is a violent and oppressive religion and who want to cherry-pick scripture to make that happen, and who call anyone who responds to their cherry-picking liars, and who constantly confront Christians to answer for every evil perpetrated in the modern world by anyone who has a connection to Christianity. So, even though I have repeatedly and regularly defended Christians and Christianity for years, including while I was an atheist, it doesn’t seem necessary to do all the time. But by all means, if you feel the need go for it. My only concern is stopping people from drawing broad, sweeping, deplorable generalizations and holding innocent people accountable for others’ actions.

Do you take personal responsibility for the KKK? Why or why not?

Kevin: I would say that it’s a good point that Phelps should be pitied and prayed for. On the other hand, if we’re to hold our fellow Christians to higher standards, then we should be willing to take public stands against terrible people who say or do bad things. I have encountered people who try to smear all of Christianity, or all of fundamentalist Christianity (of which Phelps is undeniably a member if he is Christian at all), and I always let them know that’s terribly wrong and irresponsible.

I have also had the experience of people bashing the Catholic Church for the terrorist actions of the Irish Republican Army. Which was a major terrorist group in the UK for decades, and killed a lot of people, including schoolchildren. They were fiercely Catholic, and they had at least covert support from some Catholic clergy. The only benefit there was that at least the Catholic Church has a firm hierarchy, and the bishops and the Pope were able to step in and firmly let the clergy know that under no circumstances would that be tolerated. It had at least some impact, but it’s not like they can control every nutjob Catholic, priest or no.

There’s also, to me, the issue of hypocrisy. I am sensitive on this subject because I have at various times been singled out as an "apologist for Islam" by people whose clear agenda is to smear the entire faith–smear it as not just false (I don’t consider it a smear to call a faith false) but inherently more wicked and evil than most world religions, totally incompatible with freedom, democracy, tolerance, rule of law, or any of that other good stuff. When you’ve had multiple people repeatedly say things like that to you (it happened to me again just last week, from yet another person who challenged me to "debate" him and wanted to sling a bunch of prooftexted verses at me to give him immediate answers on or I would just be proving to him that I was a fool), whose "debate" tactic is basically to throw a bunch of shit on the wall and crow when some of it sticks, you lose patience really fast. Especially when they treat you like someone who must have all the answers or you don’t know what you’re talking about.

[Rant, rant. Sorry, I should be more patient.]

I think the Pope actually sets the best example on things like this; on Islam in general, he is quite firm (and quite correct) as a man who reads Arabic just fine and has studied it extensively in the original, probably more than any Pope in history, and he’s said basically Islam is not compatible with Christianity theologically, however, Muslims simply *must*, as a Christian mandate, be treated with kindness and with a broad engagement on areas where we do have shared values (and we do have a lot of those), and engage those folks in open dialogue. That’s probably why there’s an entire Department of Islamic Studies in the Vatican, with Muslim scholars full-time in residence there (and which I can promise you has been called proof of the Pope’s impending "dhimmitude" by some chuckleheads).

Anyway, to get back to whackjobs like Fred Phelps: I struggle to know what the right attitude is beyond making sure people know that he’s about as far out on the fringe of Christian whackiness as you can possibly get. That’s why I call him things like "my hero." It’s to be humorous, not really to slander him. I think he does a good enough job of that himself. But perhaps he does deserve more charity from me and others.

By the way, I meant it, this really is a very surprisingly interesting film. I thought I knew all I needed to know about Fred Phelps but I was wrong. He’s a much more complicated man than I would have imagined. He reminds me a whole lot of Larry Flynt, oddly enough. He even makes that comparison himself, but only to chuckle at it. What’s most fascinating is that the movie is almost nothing but candid interviews with him and his family, and it’s funny but it actually makes it hard to dislike them.

I’m serious. Give it a look. As the site says:

* You will hate what he says!
* You will hate the way he says it!
* You will hate yourself for halfway agreeing with him in places!
* You will hate yourself if you miss this film!
* You will hate yourself for watching it!
* This is a film you can’t resist!
* This is a film you must not miss!

I actually agree! Well except I don’t hate myself. Except I do. I’m such a bastard.