oy! a political discussion going on in a political thread...well done, everyone for keeping it in the correct forum!
for what its worth, Westboro Baptist Church is a religious entity in name only comprised mostly of the same family and close friends. They afford thier protest trips from a civil lawsuit they won against a city for not allowing them to do a protest and received a handsome punitive reward. Not only are they now wealthy, they also have a bit of legal muscle that makes most municipalities tremble and turn a blind eye. They are shunned by religious groups(christian, jewish, islamic etc...) They do, however, get that ridiculous benefit of non taxation afforded by religious organizations by calling themselves a religious organization.
i'm not a religious person by any creative stretch of the imagination but just because a hate group calls itself a church doesnt necessarily mean its a church, but it is a clever ruse, sham, hoodwink or whatever you want to call it.
i can change my name to mahatma mohamed buddah christ if i wanted to. then when folks came up to me to perform a miracle and i could not they could call me a sham and i'd be the fool. but then when those same people turned to the other religious group and said we just challenged your god and he failed, then who's the fool now? let me hit closer to home with that example....i could start a not for profit group called "Freeones Child Porn Now!" and then all the folks out there that don't follow freeones could easily say anyone that goes to freeones is for child porn.....but that wouldnt fucking be true...at least i hope it wouldnt.
im just saying that just because someone puts a label on themselves doesnt make them that label. if thats how it works i'm walking into the nearest bank and declaring i'm bill gates and request a massive withdrawal. read up on the westboro assholes and you'll see that they have nothing to do with religion but are in fact a hate group that hide behind a myth in order to get political and financial leverage and asylum. they are listed as a hate group on the watch lists of the FBI, Homeland Security and others. I doubt your local methodist church is listed there too. so im just saying, you should do some research on a group before you start to blindly attack anything you think may be associated with it.
as for me, i'm a frisbeetarian, i believe when i die my soul will get stuck on the roof and i won't get to play with it any more. i've yet to get my non-taxation benefit for this belief. fuckin sucks. and thats as religious as i get, so i have no agenda here except for a level playing field. carry on.