This week, the little bubble of State College Pennsylvania was
shaken up. We lost a legend this week and while I can go on about the many
things he has done for the school, that is not what I wanted to focus on today.
Being in this aforementioned bubble, I happened to run across the news that
Westboro Baptist “Church” would once again be visiting the happiest of valleys.
Even though I come from a big city, one abundant with homosexuality, sexual
acts before marriage and many other forms of debauchery which this particular “church”
would consider the devil’s work, I have never come in contact with this entity.
Being as though they were returning to Penn State and have been pretty prevalent
in the media I decided to get some background on this “church”.
Before I focus on WBC’s rhetoric- or lack thereof- I would
like to first say that they disgust me. How
someone could follow the word “God” with “hates” is just incomprehensible to
me. It makes me sick to think that they would bring their messages of hate to
funerals or other places of mourning a fact which results in disgrace and sympathy
for the future of the human race.
Ok. I know I went a bit over the edge there but I had to get
that out. Now, for their attempt at rhetoric.
The thing that frustrates me most about this group of people
is that their approach to persuasion is to yell hate slurs such as “God hates
fags”, “You’re going to hell” “God hates America” essentially God hates everyone. While these are good ethos
(What God says is right seems to be an ethical truth) and pathos (emotional tug
realizing God hates you) examples, they are not very good in convincing people.
WBC’s tactics are judgmental and hurtful and makes you (or at least me) want to
throw rocks at their heads. They also take a stab at logos by providing
excerpts from scriptures that can be twisted in any way. This fails, however,
because anyone who knows the slightest about any holy reading understands that
the sole purpose is that God loves everyone and forgives sinners point blank.
These people yell and
scream instead of approaching the situation rationally then finish with
laughing at your demise. How welcoming. I must say I can never understand how
this brainwashed bunch can live a life full of hate, which is probably the one
thing God actually hates.
Ashley, thank you for posting this! I agree wholeheartedly; I've always been peeved at Westboro for preaching hate in the name of Christ. One interesting thing I learned about the group, though, is that it's more concerned with money than with God. In fact, I doubt that many of Westboro's protestors truly care about their "religion." The group's aim is basically to manipulate vulnerable crowds. Westboro makes money by suing those who attack them. Even though Westboro's "attackers" are always provoked, they get in trouble for resorting to violence. With that grim fact in mind, I have to disagree with you. Westboro is definitely practing rhetoric--just not in a way we'd expect. Instead of trying to persuade people to convert to Christianity, they're using religion as an excuse to incite profitable violence. It's sick and twisted, but it's rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you understood what I was trying to say. I do believe that they are practicing rhetoric I just do not believe that it is very successful. The entire church is made up of about 40 people most of which are relatives who were brainwashed from birth. Yes, they do have a few who joined later in life, but that is just a minority. Therefore, I was trying to argue that their use of rhetoric was not very successful. Given that I wrote this at about three in the morning, I may not have expressed that clearly.
DeleteHey Ashley. I definitely agree with your feelings regarding the Westboro Baptist Church. Extremist views of this nature are a disgusting representation of what people have the potential to become. However, I don't believe that they are aware of any aspect of successful rhetoric. You may believe this but I don't understand whether or not you do from the entry. I feel you on the 3 A.M. blogging though.
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