One of the biggest examples of this is the Westboro Baptist Church.
This church is the proud founder of the two sites: godhatesfags.com and godhatesamerica.com
They stand outside of soldier's funerals, picketting and celebrating the deaths because they believe those who die, deserve it because their sin.
They believe because our nation allows homosexuals, stuff like Hurricane Katrina and 9/11 happen.
this youtube video is probably the most enraging thing I have ever seen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9dD9v2cIMU
All I have to say is it's very important to accept the beliefs of others. Respect for other cultures is just a must. You don't have to believe what they believe, but you have no right to abuse them for their beliefs.
I've actually watched a documentary on these folks. They are, in my humble opinion, misguided. However, to play devil's advocate (there's a pun in there somewhere), do the people who go Westboro Baptist Church -- if I recollect, it's pretty much just the aging preacher and his large extended family -- represent a culture that is deserving of respect?
ReplyDeleteUltimately the larger question has to do with the way pluralistic ("relativist") and "fundamentalist" cultures co-exist, especially when their values are in direct opposition to each other.
A thorny but certainly interesting issue.