Marty Duren Parses “Cult”, or When I Would Rightly Pass as an Atheist

Recently Marty Duren called on the media to stop using church to describe Westboro Baptist Church. He took a bit of flack for suggesting what was and is gong on inside the Topeka compound as more than simple aberrations that could be counted as minor, or tertiary distinctions but instead a cult. I read his initial piece and he has since added two follow-up posts (first and second) containing a documentary on the group.

I finished watching the clips and can only comment that if one must follow their vision of God, then I would rightly pass as an atheist. My friend Tripp Fuller contends, “God has to be at least as nice as Jesus.” There is nothing nice about the contorted way Scripture is used to damn every human being living outside their compound.

The BBC reporter who provided the interviews for the documentary concluded that the people hurt the most are those inside the group. I agree. If you are given to prayer, maybe you would appeal to the plentiful mercy of God on behalf of the children and young people whose days include a steady diet of hating other human beings.

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