Standing Up for Jews, Gays and Mexicans: Why Should You?

Pastor Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas boasts of having held 43,660 peaceful demonstrations. This weekend he is staging a protest against Jews, gays, lesbians and Mexicans. We need to be unselfish to serve our selfish interests. Here is an opportunity for you to stand up for the rights of others and perhaps find a purpose in life to stand up for the rights of others.

Why should you stand up for others?

You may find answers in the following lines inspired by Martin Niemoller's eternal poem about co-existence:

First they expressed their hate for Jews,
it did not bother me because I am not a Jew;

Then they condemn Gays & Lesbians,
it did not bother me because I am not a Gay;

Then they deny the divinity of Catholicism,
it did not bother me because I am not a Catholic;

Then they want to look down upon Mexicans,
it did not bother me because I am not a Mexican;

Finally, they want to harass me the new immigrant,
It does bother me, that there is no one left to speak for me.

One of the most beautiful things that religions teach us is living for the sake of others. Seriously, when we are concerned about ourselves, and when we become utterly selfish and care about ourselves in the moments of our strength, then what happens to us in our vulnerable moments?

Religions help us sustain peace and balance in society in the times of our spiritual, physical and societal ups and downs. Living for the sake of others is not a charity or even a noble thing to brag about; it is indeed the pragmatic thing to do.

Jesus taught us how to co-exist in peace by removing prejudices and embracing every person that God has created -- not just the ones who act, eat and look like us, but those whom society has neglected. He embraced the then-socially-rejected prostitutes and lepers. Was that the limit of his compassion?

We hope the ministries of Westboro Baptist Church will seriously consider the role of Jesus in creating a world of love and peace. I request that they ponder the following questions:

1. What would Jesus do if he ran into a HIV-infected person? Would he condemn him or bless him?
2. What would Jesus do if he had a line-up of prostitutes, lepers, pious pastors, ordinary people, gays and lesbians, Mexicans and immigrants? Would he hug them or curse them?
3. Should we reduce Jesus to a partisan fellow who takes sides?
4. Would Jesus agree if God were to sign a deal behind others' backs?

One of the gifts of Jesus was his helping us create the kingdom of heaven on earth, where every one of God's creations lives in peace and love, without fear, and in unison with the cosmic universe. Can we follow Jesus and remove the fears and bring peace to all? Didn't he say, "A new commandment I give you -- Love one another as I have loved you so that all men may know you are my disciples" (John 13:34-35)? Are we to be known for our love and compassion, or for our hostility?

Didn't Jesus have the power to change the world by merely saying the word? Why did he not? Did he want to test us to see if we will follow him? Are we going to follow the path of compassion and forgiveness that he chose, or are we going to act out of fear and hatred for others?

Please show your solidarity by standing with the ones who need it now. Let there not be any hate for the men, women and children of the Westboro Baptist Church. We can always overcome ignorance with love and kindness, just as Jesus did.

As a Muslim, I am standing up for the rights of every human being; it is not against the individuals but against the ignorance. As a Muslim I have stood up for atheists, Baha'is, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Jews, Natives, Sikhs, Zoroastrians and many others in between.

I hope to meet the Jewish man whom I met at the Gaza Rally in downtown Dallas in December 2008. I was with the banner of the Dallas Peace Center and saw a Jewish teen taking pictures before getting into a heated discussion with a Palestinian. A police officer stepped in and told the teen to get out of there; I walked up to the officer and defended his right to be there as anyone else. The officer told me not to interfere, while I asserted that I would stand up with the teen. Then he told me that he would arrest me, and I was ready for it, but the Jewish teen went to the other side, and I followed him with my camera until he left behind the screen wall.

Unless we learn to stand up for the rights of others, we cannot claim to be just, and we have no right to expect others to stand up for us.

The folks form the Westboro Baptist Church are holding demonstrations at various places in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. A few of them are the Dallas Holocaust Museum, the Cathedral of Guadalupe, the Jewish Community Center, the Chabad of Dallas and several other places including Arlington. The complete list can be viewed here. I will be there at the Holocaust Museum and hopefully other places. Please join me for a prayer of peace and a prayer of co-existence. We have to live together; we might as well live with harmony and cohesion.

 

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Comments

[RockyMissouri]

08:27 PM on 08/14/2010

Mike, thank you for your well-written article- you sound like a lovely human being..but, the Phelps family members do not want a dialog with anyone ---they live to hate, Fred Phelps (how he passed the bar, I'll never know!)at one time was an employed lawyer- if you can believe that! His children are proud (most of them) that while their father started his church when he was an older man- THEY have been raised on hatred! It is all they've ever known I can't imagine little children raised on such drivel- but it happens....and it's heartbreaking. His grandchildren are involved and they sing songs of hate---- while smiling. Creepy.

[pheonixcat]

02:59 PM on 07/21/2010

a lot of these groupsin the above have idolatry worship like the pope and the vatican, adultery and forny, getting rich and hoarding money and sneaking across the border to work and return 4 years later to buy a body shop,aka chop shop..they dont care about God or eventhis country. stop being a bleeding heart. ellen degenerate. whorge lopez sen schmo leiberman are producers of society along with the blights of columbus. selah

[Thinking Al]

09:03 AM on 07/21/2010

Fortunately many Christians have not heard of these Westboro folks. Of my acquaintances who have, all wish they would somehow go away. Westboro makes a bad name for the rest of Christianity.

Unfortunately, there must be some other bigots who agree with the Westboro bigots, otherwise they would stop.

Keep up with your excellent works.

[Mike Ghouse]

01:42 PM on 07/21/2010

Al,

They are a mix of the society, people like that will always be there and may be it is God's intenation to see how many of us wake up and be a wall to contain their hate.. and thank God most people are the wall.

[Jdaddy1951]

12:46 AM on 07/21/2010

This was a beautiful, well-reasoned article. It's a shame that it is wasted on people such as that crazy family -that makes up Westboro Baptist Church --- and the congregation IS, basically,l made up of just one family.

The phrases "pearls before swine" comes to mind. But your writing is appreciated, sir.

[Mike Ghouse]

01:41 PM on 07/21/2010

Jdaddy,

they were just about 15, but drew the media and many a people stayed back. The hate was repulsive. I have the pictures at this link - http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157624336357507/

[Jdaddy1951]

08:05 PM on 07/21/2010

Back in the 1970s, the American Psychiatric Association quit labeling homosexual people as being mentally ill. I say it's now time for them to re-evaluate homophobia and declare such bigotry a mental illness. Exhibit A will be Fred Phelps, his daughter Shirley Phelps-Roper, and the rest of the Phelps family, who are the primarily members of Westboro Baptist Church. Hate is learned behavior and in theory, at least, these people could be treated and taught to become non-threatening members of peaceful society, which they are not at present.

[Michael Zimmerman, Ph.D.]

07:41 PM on 07/20/2010

Welcome aboard as a blogger, Mike. I very much look forward to reading more of your writing. The Huffington Post religion pages are a richer place because you're here.

[Mike Ghouse]

01:39 PM on 07/21/2010

Michael,
Thanks for introducing me to the Huffington post, buddy, you got me here
and I hope to contribute articles from a pluralistic perspective

[chaya]

03:32 PM on 07/20/2010

I admire you for this. I frankly cannot help hating that group, since their own hatred leads to terrible grief. I wish we had a law against psychological terrorism.

Nevertheless, I know you're right. I took part in a peaceful anti-protest, along with my synagogue, when the Westboro group attacked a church in our town for being friendly to gays. We ignored them. Instead, we wore rainbows, escorted the elderly and fearful, hugged, and smiled at each other. The Westboro group stood alone in the rain, and I believe they felt their isolation.

[Mike Ghouse]

05:20 PM on 07/20/2010

Chaya, I am happy to hear that. We cannot fight ignorance with ignorance. In front of the the Holocaust Musuem in Dallas one fellow held a nasty placard, I walked up and asked him to take it away, it gives them the strenght and reason to match.

The most beautiful moment was when I was able to pull the founding father of the Museum, a few Holocaust suriviors and the members present inside the musuem to join me in the goodwill prayers. They all did and three places I went to, I gather people to pray with me and they did.