Maybe I can add a little bit of outsider perspective;
Phelps and his group are supralapsarianism Calvinists (not really related to Baptists) who believe that all actions are predestined by God, or God would not have allowed them to happen. Read about absolute predestination, as written by Jerome Zanchi (1516-1590). (Jerome was an influential Italian scholar who became too extreme in his views for the emerging Lutheran Reformers.) These hyper-Calvinists (and that tradition) also believe strongly in the doctrine of Total Depravity in that all humans are in a predestined fallen state because of original sin. The doctrine of total depravity claims that people are by nature not inclined to love God wholly with heart, mind, and strength, as God requires, but rather all are inclined to serve their own selfish interests over those of their neighbor and to reject the rule of God. Even constructs such as religion and philanthropic endeavors are corrupted and destructive to the extent that these originate from a human imagination, passions, and will. Also, a person is predestined to be "saved" or predestined to be "damned to hell", and there is not anything one can do about it. Of course, Phelps and crew believe they are in the saved group, and everyone else is in the damned to hell group. So, Phelps and group are not trying to imply that the soldier is gay, just that God is punishing America for its decadence by killing off its soldiers. I think they are trying to get attention to their ultra-minority viewpoint, and in that regard they are succeeding. In some ways, they are really another scary fringe Jim Jones says drink the koolaid, David Koresh is the messiah, Marshall Applewhite says to castrate ourselves and wait for the aliens to take us to heaven type of misguided cult, which unfortunately also makes a mockery of religion.
I believe they are totally and dangerously wrong in their interpretation of the belief and in their actions. By their measure, God really hated the Americans on Iwo Jima, for what? And, then again on the beaches at D-Day, because of what? Then also the population of Stalingrad at the hands of the Nazi's, why? He just hated everyone at the battle of the Bulge, but not because of homosexuality. There are times in WWII where thousands of soldiers died in a few days. There are times in wars where hundreds of thousands of innocents have died, sometimes instantaneously. It is only a fringe minority that would believe God had a hand in this kind of murderous death. Most Christians (much like Sgt. York) would wrestle morally with the American actions in war, and especially ones like dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima, and Nagasaki.
I'm usually standing for freedoms, but I think all people should be able to practice their ceremonies without disruption by external hostile protesters. Yes, the Supremes allowed Nazi's to parade down public streets, but do they allow them to parade around Synagogues during worship?
Phelps and his group are supralapsarianism Calvinists (not really related to Baptists) who believe that all actions are predestined by God, or God would not have allowed them to happen. Read about absolute predestination, as written by Jerome Zanchi (1516-1590). (Jerome was an influential Italian scholar who became too extreme in his views for the emerging Lutheran Reformers.) These hyper-Calvinists (and that tradition) also believe strongly in the doctrine of Total Depravity in that all humans are in a predestined fallen state because of original sin. The doctrine of total depravity claims that people are by nature not inclined to love God wholly with heart, mind, and strength, as God requires, but rather all are inclined to serve their own selfish interests over those of their neighbor and to reject the rule of God. Even constructs such as religion and philanthropic endeavors are corrupted and destructive to the extent that these originate from a human imagination, passions, and will. Also, a person is predestined to be "saved" or predestined to be "damned to hell", and there is not anything one can do about it. Of course, Phelps and crew believe they are in the saved group, and everyone else is in the damned to hell group. So, Phelps and group are not trying to imply that the soldier is gay, just that God is punishing America for its decadence by killing off its soldiers. I think they are trying to get attention to their ultra-minority viewpoint, and in that regard they are succeeding. In some ways, they are really another scary fringe Jim Jones says drink the koolaid, David Koresh is the messiah, Marshall Applewhite says to castrate ourselves and wait for the aliens to take us to heaven type of misguided cult, which unfortunately also makes a mockery of religion.
I believe they are totally and dangerously wrong in their interpretation of the belief and in their actions. By their measure, God really hated the Americans on Iwo Jima, for what? And, then again on the beaches at D-Day, because of what? Then also the population of Stalingrad at the hands of the Nazi's, why? He just hated everyone at the battle of the Bulge, but not because of homosexuality. There are times in WWII where thousands of soldiers died in a few days. There are times in wars where hundreds of thousands of innocents have died, sometimes instantaneously. It is only a fringe minority that would believe God had a hand in this kind of murderous death. Most Christians (much like Sgt. York) would wrestle morally with the American actions in war, and especially ones like dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima, and Nagasaki.
I'm usually standing for freedoms, but I think all people should be able to practice their ceremonies without disruption by external hostile protesters. Yes, the Supremes allowed Nazi's to parade down public streets, but do they allow them to parade around Synagogues during worship?
”There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio.
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