Quote
Religion itself cannot be held responsible for the spread of hate rather for me it is the individual and how that individual interprets what they are reading.
I absolutely agree, Crazy Babe. But I do think that some very hateful people get too much respect when they cloak their hate in the guise of religion. And they can do that because religions enjoy a lot of legal protection in society.

Thanks, Nancy, for explaining to me that the Westboro Baptist Church members aren't really Baptists. Believe me, I've never thought for a moment that these Westboro people represent some sort of mainstream Baptism. Most certainly they don't!

Anyway, why do the Westboro people hate Sweden? Okay, I'll try to explain. In 2003, a Swedish pastor named Åke Green said in a sermon in his church that homosexual people are a cancer on the body of society. Some people who heard this took offense and reported it to the police. The national prosecutor of Sweden took the case to court, calling it a hate crime. The case went through several courts in Sweden, but finally the High Court of Sweden ruled that Åke Green had been within his rights to preach in his own church according what he saw as the tenets of his religion. Åke Green was cleared of all charges.

[Linked Image]

Pastor Åke Green.

The Westboro Baptist Church members heard about this case and started a campaign against Sweden, calling us a nation of sinners and fag-lovers. In 2006, there was a monstrous tsunami hitting several countries in Asia, among them Thailand. Thailand happens to be the favorite tourist destination for Swedes, and since the tsunami hit during Christmastime when most Swedes are on holiday, tens of thousands of Swedes were in fact in Thailand on the day of the tsunami. About 500 Swedes were killed. The Westboro Baptist Church celebrated, thanking God for the tsunami.

Last summer, I visisted a church in Malmö to listen to a concert, and since I got to the church rather early, I strolled around in the churchyard, looking at the graves. Among the graves there was a memorial, full of sand, shells and pieces of flotsam. There were also a few small plastic toys, the kind that children bring to the beach to play with. I read the inscription on the memorial. It had been erected in memory of a young father and his two small boys who were drowned by the tsunami in Thailand. I found myself choking up. And when I read that those Westboro people had protested outside the Swedish embassy again, I remembered that memorial in a churchyard in Malmö and I just asked myself: How can people be so full of hate that they celebrate the deaths of little children in the name of God?

Ann