God Hates Heath Ledger, Apparently
Remember that show Louis Theroux did with the charming folk of the Westboro Baptist Church, you know – the ones who picketed funerals of servicemen in Iraq and people who died of AiDS? Well, guess who’s gonna gatecrash Heath Ledger's funeral?
You see, Heath Ledger starred in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain as a gay man. And so, the Church (who, it must be said, do not represent the views of the Christian majority) have released a statement:
"Heath Ledger thought it was great fun defying God Almighty. [He] is now in Hell and has begun serving his eternal sentence there."
As if that wasn’t punishment enough, they confirm that 'WBC will picket this pervert's funeral in religious protest and warning'
It’s a tricky life being a Christian at the best of times. To a Christian the Bible, of course, is gospel: something accepted as unquestionably true. If you are of that mindset, then the following verses of Mr Leviticus may well turn you a little homophobic.
(18:22): And with a man you shall not lie with as a man lies with a woman; it is an abomination.
(20:13): If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
That’s the word of God, folks. True, he also said ‘turn the other cheek’, but it’s gospel, right? So a Christian has got to take both at face value. It’s enough to drive a man crazy to the point where his only salvation would be regarding the Bible as an interesting collection of stories, and nothing more.
Of course, the WBC are not to be taken seriously by any means; that would be the biggest crime of all. But undoubtedly, the TV crews outside Heath Ledger’s funeral are going to give the WBC the kind of free, worldwide advertisement that Nike could only dream about. The picket has been confirmed even before the 28-year-old's funeral date has been set. It’s an act of opportunitism that would even make Tony Blair shit a brick.
It’s also another example of the unbelievable privileges that religious views hold. It seems that you can quite freely turn up to a funeral – full of grieving friends and family – and scream from the outskirts that their dead son is going to burn in hell, all in the over-protected name of religion.
Everyone’s got a right to air there views, it’s true. And that includes you, so why not send the good folks of the Westboro Baptist Church a message on their delightfully-titled website, God Hates Fags.
It should be pointed out that they get a little hard-on when people express their hate – to them it feels like God’s love. So do it well – hit them where it hurts.
Read more:
Heath Ledger's funeral to be sabotaged by gay hate group – Now
Paul,
Now I don’t think you would appreciate anyone taking a piece of your article out of context to prove a point, and in that mindset, I would suspect you would be more careful when you do that with the Bible. That Verse in Leviticus is for the Jewish people, not the non-jewish people in that day. If you want to see the Bible’s condemnation of homosexual sin, you need to go to Romans Ch.1, but even there, it’s referring to all the sins of mankind, not just homosexuality. Among that list Paul lists, we can find one that we are all guilty of. The Bible paints homosexuality as a sin that is no better or no worse than a little white lie. Yet, in the midst of all the sin God lists, the Bible shows him reaching out to man to save them from it.
The people at Westboro Baptist Church don’t take the Bible in context either. They don’t see that Jesus ate with the most despised sinners of His day, and they believe they are the ones who have the right to judge, not Christ. If you want to get them where it hurts you’ll have to hit them with Jesus’ commands for what they would “dub” the enemies of Christ. Matt. 5: 43-44 teaches that believers should love, not only other people, but love those who oppose you. The reason they don’t act like Christ is because they don’t know him. Sickening on all accounts.
ah, god loves people so much, but if they spend their whole life doing good and yet spend their evenings touching the genitalia of a same sexed person without remorse then screw it all – they’re going to hell to burn for eternity. what a horrible, unloving attitude you and god have, bing. you’re not so much better than the WBC. and why is leviticus irrelevent? since when did gods word have a shelf life? and what could you possibly have against being gay, after all you spend your whole life worshipping a man far more than i’ve known any homosexual to. a little gay, don’t you think?
They’re not a church…it would be a sin to classify them under that. I think there lacks a structure/body/association to say, they are a church or they are just a group of nuts who claim to be “Christians.” As a Canadian I would just like to state that this is very appalling. How is it that American laws/policies have not shut down this kind of activity? Is it not a discrimination/hate crime? Something has gone awry here. This group hates Jews, Muslims, and other fellow Americans. I just visited their site and there is I hate Sweden links and I hate Canada links. Surely, this has gone too far. Be aware…if enough media coverage is provided for these lunatics it will only take so long for the rest of the world to think that those “lunatics” represent the general opinion of the United States of America.
Im 15 and i am absolutely disgusted by this. i saw it on the news today and i actually cried. Im ment to be going out into this world in a few years and im serisouly not looking forward to it if there are people like this. Heath Ledger was an absolute legend and there going to go to his funeral and say that horrible stuff. its unbelievable.. im in shock and it makes me soooooo furious. I dont know wat else to say except i hope they get wats coming to them.
rest in peace heath ledger.
xx
WBC are a bunch of dick heads and i hope they get whats coming to them if they picket heath ledgers funeral.
Paul, theres no need to be disrespectful to christians and their god, just as theres no need for christians to be disrespectful to gay people. Apart from extremists such as WBC, modern christians accept homosexuality.
I’m starting to sound like a sycophant, but… well said Carmela!
The bible was written by a considerable number of people based on (allegedly) the commandments of God himself. Stands to reason that there would be a certain degree of bias involved in at least a few of these contributors, just the same as it’s likely that one or more of them held bigoted, hate-mongering views that they sought to inject into the collective moral psyche of the people of that day.
If god is real, I feel sorry for him. Even if the words of the bible were indeed handed down by him, over the past two millenia its meaning has been skewed and misrepresented countless times. God is now held accountable for things which he may well never have said, rather they were said by self-serving, ignorant and short-lived monsters whose presence is felt today in the form of bastards such as the WBC.
Can someone remind me why it’s illegal to shoot people like this?
Carmella: WBC are christians with the volume turned up to 11. Christians may only have theirr volume turned up to 2, they may even have a concience that limits their volume to 3, but they’re the same thing.
Thank God for Westboro!!!
The only thing that makes ledger’s boring death, interesting.
Well I thought the ‘ god hates Sweden’ bit was bloody hilarious, I mean exactly what does an anal Copulator look like? (apart from the King of Sweden that is) and oh those slutty grinning children…………I laughed until tears ran down my cheeks. Come on these people are clearly locked in a compound drinking each others urine, or else it is just a Brass eye comeback.
First of all, modern Christians do not ‘accept’ homosexuality. It is listed as a sin in the Bible to lie with someone of the same sex. However, true Christians are not bigots and hypocrites and while they recognize homosexualtiy as a sin FOR OTHER CHRISTIANS they do not parade around shouting about how all gay people are going to hell.
And Heath Ledger isn’t even gay.
I’m just saying, is all.
no. they keep it to themselves, laughing like maniacs on the inside instead. just because you don’t parade your thoughts around it doesn’t mean you’re far seperated from the self-righteous ball-less sons of pigs of the WBC.
With these people claiming to speak for God, sadly God needs a new PR agency. This is pathetic, and does those who truly know God’s love no justice. For those who might some day find God, it stands in the way. And for those suffering the pain of a lost loved one, it’s unforgiveable. The America these haters trash is the only one with the freedom to tollerate such out-of-the-mainstream behavior. Denfend their right to do it, but pity them for their lack of responsibility in refraining from it.
God is Love and God’s power is absolute. It transforms. Jesus knew that so He, Like God, loved his persecutors out of their modalities. Jesus said the sick are the ones who need the doctor: that in response to something to the effect of “If you’re so holy, why do you hang out with so many losers?” He lived what He preached and was faithful to the end.
And was a Jew.
Christians are supposed to live like Christ but humanity typically gets in the way of that. So God came with the provision: where sin abounds, Grace abounds all the more.
People who regard the Bible in the same way they regard a comic book are typically the ones least aware of what it even SAYS, and are usually prone to latching onto the verses most grating out of context and pumping them so full of drama it’s ridiculous.
If the Christ could come to earth and reserve judgment, love His persecutors and minister by example to those He identified as lost until they took His life, who the fark are the WBC to persecute anyone? I guess they’re just worth more – far more important to God’s plan than silly old Jesus.
P.S.: Duneating-
ROLMF[reaking]A[rse]OUMEBBYSD[arned]F!