The TV documentary by Louis Theroux and BBC, The Most Hated Family in America, investigates the Westboro Baptist Church and their beliefs. The Westboro Baptist Church is a Christian group made up of almost an entire family. It is located in Topeka, Kansas, and the most controversial church there is. Fred "Gramps" Phelps is the pastor of the church, and one of his daughters, Shirley, helps him run it. Shirley has taught all of her eleven children to hate homosexuals, and that America is a doomed nation. The church believes that when you have a nation that says it is OK to be gay, that nation is doomed. They protest outside of funerals for soldiers who have died in Iraq because they say these soldiers are fighting for a nation that is "deprived and doomed." They hold signs that say things like "God hates fags" and chant things such as "God hates America! America is doomed!" The children of the church also participate in these protests, and they don't even know what their signs mean, or what they are chanting means. They always get negative feedback from these protests, and people yell and curse at them, and throw things at them. When Louis talks to the children, he asks them about friends. Their friends are members of the church. They don't have friends at school, most of the people hate them because the members of the church tell them they are going to hell. The children also aren't allowed to date, or "fornicate" in anyway. One of the older girls, Megan, said she doesn't want to get married, and has no desire to experience "fornication." From Louis's observations, the members bonds with each other seem to have been strengthened from the hostility of the outside world. The members of the Westboro Baptist Church are very radical Christians, who have a skewed interpretation of the Bible.
This documentary's main theme is culture. For the children being born into this church, they were taught from an early age that they are right and going to Heaven, and everyone else is wrong and going to hell. This is the only lifestyle that they have known. Since most of the members of the church are members of the same family, this shows that this is mainly only this one family's beliefs. When Louis asked Shirley if she would consider them a cult, she said no because there was no brainwashing going on. But, if the children are learning this from an early age, wouldn't they be being brainwashed into believing that this is the right interpretation of the Bible? Many outsiders see the church as crazy, radical people. They see themselves as living the way of God. They have so much anger and hate toward the gay community, which makes them feel the same way about America.
While watching this video, I was very angered. I didn't know what the Westboro Baptist Church was all about prior to watching the documentary, but now I can see why they are the most hated family in America. It is one thing to be against homosexuality. In other religions it is against the faith to be a homosexual. That doesn't mean those people are saying God hates fags and God hates America. They took it to a whole other level. What angered me the most was when they protested outside of the funerals for fallen soldiers in Iraq. The church members said the troops were sinful for fighting for a country that supports gays, so they protested outside of their funeral. That is extremely disrespectful. Those men and women were fighting for their freedom to express their religious opinions about gays and America, and then they go and protest outside of their funerals while their families are trying to mourn their death. I found that very wrong and very disgusting that people could even imagine doing such a thing.
Bibliography:
StolenArts Productions, dir. "The Most Hated Family In America." Youtube. Youtube, 18
November 2008. Web. 23 April 2014.
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