Westboro Baptist and Equality House: The Lion and the Lamb

Equality House: Find out more about Planting Peace’s Mission and Westboro Baptist.

Appropriately titled considering the Westboro Baptist church strong stance on almost anything really but especially their holy war so to speak on the LGBT community with their anti-gay sentiments. If you are not familiar with the group let me help you out. The church has a sign hanging outside their church (the building above on the left) that reads, “GodHatesAmerica.com” and a fun fact for all of the newbies out there is the Westboro Baptist church is famous or I should say infamous for their protests of military funerals where they will shout slogan and carry signs within hearing or seeing distance while the funeral is underway making an already very unfortunate situation worse. Their slogans range from stick figures having sex to “God hates fags” or “Thank God for dead soldiers.” The church as well as its founder have become infamous for their protests and media attention drowning out their opposition however they can. Many groups have tried to drown out the noise with singing or their own peace loving slogans, but my favorite would be the group of bikers who showed up to a funeral of a soldiers whose young bride was scared of the group and already distraught over the death of her husband. In order to shield her from the verbal onslaught, the bikers drowned out the noise by revving the engine of their motorcycle cleverly protecting the young woman from the abuse. Apparently, several groups of bikers have made it their mission to show up to these funerals and the latest promise was for the Sandy Hook victims funerals in order to protect the innocent from the Westboro Baptist members.

The newest group who have decided to take on the church just happened to buy a house across the street…their name, Equality House, and Planting Peace’s mission is to directly challenge teachings of the church. How can he do this? Simple he has turned the house into a giant gay flag painted in bright colors with prime viewing directly across the street from the church. Aaron Jackson, one of the founders of Planting Peace, a charity that wears many hats in the past focused on rainforest conservation, opening orphanages and deworming programs, bought the house six months ago in Topeka, Kansas, and on March 19 the team of volunteers painted the house to match the gay pride flag. Jackson told the Huff Post about why he purchased the house:

“I read a story about Josef Miles, a 10-year-old kid who counter-protested the Westboro Baptist Church by holding the sign that says ‘God Hates No One.’ I didn’t know anything about the church or where they were located, but that story kept popping up. And one night I wondered, Where is this church? I got on Google Earth, and I was ‘walking down the road,’ and I did a 360 view. And I saw a ‘For Sale’ sign sitting in the front yard of a house. Right away it hit me, Oh my gosh, I could buy a house in front of the WBC! And immediately I thought: And I’m going to paint that thing the color of the pride flag. The reason I haven’t gotten into the gay rights activism is because, in a sense, it’s almost silly — it’s 2013, are we really still in this position? It just seems ludicrous,” he said. “But it is a real issue and kids are killing themselves. I’ve wanted to do something, and I knew when I saw that house for sale that it all came together. Everyone who knows me knows that I’m a little crazy and there’s no red tape in my charity. When I want to do something, I do it.”

Jackson, according to Huff Post, believes the Westboro Baptist Church and the Phelps family is well aware of his presence in the town and expecting some sort of action as he has already encounter members of the group and the Phelps family who has run the church since 1956. Surprisingly enough, he told the Huff Post that the family member have been quite pleasant toward him especially Shirley Phelps, the daughter of the church leader Fred Phelps, but Jackson has already seen several church member taking photos of the house especially the industrial flagpole he installed  that is in direct line of site of the Westboro Baptist Church’s pole that flies the pride flag and American flag upside down. The mission according to Jackson will be for Equality house not just to be symbol but take the negative attention of the Westboro Baptist Church and make it a positive by teaching people where there is hate, there is love. One last thought on the subject from Jackson himself reported by the Huff Post: “I love seeing all of these Republicans and all these people who have been anti-gay all this time jumping ship because they know they’re on the wrong side of history. It’s an amazing thing to see. I know we have a long way to go in fighting bigotry, but we all know the gays are going to win. It’s going to happen.”

Seattle’s Mars Hill Church Moves Close To Gay Neighborhood To Preach To Those ‘Infected By AIDS’

Seattle’s Mars Hill Church Moves Close To Gay Neighborhood To Preach To Those ‘Infected By AIDS’.

Wow this will leave you speechless for a moment. Why people feel the need to save everyone? Let people live their life and if they aren’t bugging you then don’t bother them. Mega church Mars Hill has moved to downtown Seattle which is southwest of Capital Hill a gay neighborhood, but the move has been called into question after a press release to KOMO news by the lead pastor, Tim Gaydos.

“This is an incredible opportunity to be a ministry hub for downtown Seattle as it will allow us to better serve the business men and women in our city, as well as the homeless and marginalized, as we’re closer to one of our ministry partners, Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. Also, being closer to Capitol Hill is a blessing as we are serving and ministering to those who are infected with AIDS on the hill.” (source Huffpost Gay Voice)

 

According to ThinkProgress an LGBT blog and news site, Mars Hill has always believed that homosexuality is a sin and that they can “save sinners” through the love of Jesus — has not indicated that it’s partnered with Lifelong AIDS Alliance, the Seattle-based advocacy group that serves people with HIV/AIDS, a red flag that the church’s only means of ministering to those “infected by AIDS” is to “pray the gay away.”

Whether their intention was good or bad, the Mars Hill church has already stated its feelings about homosexuality so its clear they are trying to save this neighborhood literally. The problem I have is the church was not there before the neighborhood and saying that they are going to target those infected by AIDS is assuming that homosexuality and AIDS go hand in hand. It would be helpful if church groups inform themselves on the topic before assuming that AIDS is a homosexual disease which it is clearly not. I just find the pray the gay away concept which there are actually church funded programs that do have pray the gay away camps is funny, sad, and childish.

 

 

Rush Limbaugh Compares Gay Marriage Acceptance To Pedophilia ‘Normalization’

Rush Limbaugh Compares Gay Marriage Acceptance To Pedophilia ‘Normalization’.

Sorry to bring this one up and I apologize for straight men like this who are so misinformed and stuck in the dark ages that I am embarrassed for him. Shout to my LGBTs out there love y’all and I am straight just to keep it straight. I think is sad in any country for anyone with any sway whether political, media, or entertainment to make such hateful comments when it is really no ones business but your own to make your own decision about your life. Freedom of speech in the U.S. I think is used and abused all the time and here is one of those times. If I hear one more person say that marriage is between a man and a woman, I will go crazy because again people that is not my business what you do. By the way side note, what happened to separation of church and state? Anywho, before i get too much more off topic Limbaugh the attention whore that he is stated that there is a movement to “normalize” pedophilia, a movement he says is similar to society’s “normalization” of same-sex marriage.

How can you compare the two and as far as I am concerned the two are very different subject with nothing in common. Limbaugh is oppose to gay marriage as he says Obama has waged war on traditional marriage. The comment was sparked because of a recent article in the Guardian discussing various lines of research on the brains of pedophiles. “There is a growing conviction, notably in Canada, that paedophilia should probably be classified as a distinct sexual orientation, like heterosexuality or homosexuality,” writes John Henley of the Guardian. Henley cites one researcher who says society may be wrong about the classification of pedophiles, but notes many who are against any such reclassification.

However, Limbaugh claimed such a discussion points to a “movement to normalize pedophilia” and likened such “normalization” to the recent progress that same-sex marriage has made in the U.S.