People who "hate Americans"

[ILuvEire]

We also had Westboro Baptist Church come to my school in the US, which only gave me more experience of the Christian extremism.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?! What the hell kind of school allowed that? My high school, without fail, forced the Mormons off school grounds once a year (but that didn't stop them from clustering around places where students walked home, although eventually we made them stop doing it to the elementary kids—they used to harras little seven year-olds who were trying to walk home from school).

When I talk to people who went to school in other parts of Texas, I realize how liberal my education was as an Austinite.

[JackFrost]

I'm sorry, but as someone who was mostly educated in America, I also find it completely unthinkable that a school would allow those fuckers in.

[Jurgen Wullenwever]

I'm sorry, but as someone who was mostly educated in America, I also find it completely unthinkable that a school would allow those fuckers in.

Would every group be banned from coming to schools, then, or just some groups, and why?

It might be good for the pupils to hear other opinions, even if those opinions are non-mainstream.

[ILuvEire]

I think hate groups should be barred from schools, and the power of religious groups should be severely limited (so, like, I have nothing against a group of students forming a Bible study group or something like that, but I don't think it's appropriate to have religious officials harassing students, in particular children, into converting). This was the way it worked in my high school and I think it worked well.

[JackFrost]

Because it's not really allowed to preach on schoolgrounds. You'd be simply asked to stop or leave.

It might be good for the pupils to hear other opinions, even if those opinions are non-mainstream.

That church group? No. They use a form of hate speech that only serves nothing but to completely degrade me and my peers. And they try to assure that hatred for the gays be continued onto the next generation. For that reason, their opinion shouldn't be welcomed in schools.

[Kenny]

8 individuals + a crazy church in one year beats never having met a single one in 19 years back home in Norway.

You don't have Jehova's Witnesses over there? I wouldn't call them extremists or particularly unpleasant but they sure are insistent and from what I've experienced and heard it's impossible to convince them that they might be wrong.

[Aleco]

Grammatically, I thought I might get misunderstood by saying that the Westboro Baptist Church came to my school, but I figured you'd understand that no school would let them in. Then again, we do know that some schools in the US might very well do so... and I did mention that I lived in Texas... What I meant was that they came to my school to tell all of us we were going to burn in hell - from outside the fences

Kenny: We do have them, and as much as I've heard of people having them on their doorsteps (interestingly, all my classmates currently living in Tokyo have had them come to their apartments up to three times ), I've never seen it. We have more [seemingly] mute Eastern Europeans coming to sell paintings.

Jurgen: I understand your thought process very well, and it's very Scandinavian of you It's just that these people, as interesting as they are to observe, seem like they were more inclined to attacking us rather than having a discussion or even just talking.

[BlackZ]

What I meant was that they came to my school to tell all of us we were going to burn in hell - from outside the fences

What?! I don't get it, what's the point of doing that? To assure that everybody will hate them?!

So far I haven't met such extreme fanatics. Only some Jehovah Witness, but they'll stop if you make it clear that you don't want to become one (at least it worked with me). Oh, and we have some fanatic Neopentecostals with hate speeches against the Afro-Brazilian religions, claiming that everything bad that happens in their life must surely be caused by macumbas.

[linguoboy]

What I meant was that they came to my school to tell all of us we were going to burn in hell - from outside the fences

What?! I don't get it, what's the point of doing that? To assure that everybody will hate them?!

Like PETA, they seem to have lost sight of whatever their original purpose was and are now concerned solely with making headlines.

[Kenny]

BlackZ, looks like you're not familiar with those nutcases. They consider it their mission to spread the "Holy message of God's wrath" and think everyone other than the members of their sect is going to hell. So basically you're going to hell unless you join them and accept their message of hate.

There are two really interesting (in a "WTF, how have these people not been killed yet" way) documentaries about them by Louis Theroux. The most shocking part about this sect mostly made up of members of the extended family of its founder is how even children hold signs saying things like "God hates faggots" "God hates America" etc., picketing funerals of servicemen and then when they're asked about it they have no idea what it all means and just recite bullshit about God and the Bible. Indoctrination at its worst.

But hey, I'll give them one thing: at least they're consistent in their interpretation of the Bible. Whatever's in the Bible is the holy word of God, not just the hippy parts. (Or parts about homosexuality being a sin forgetting all the other shit God says is a sin.)

[Aleco]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure they have a website on every country in the world. I think I remember that they even believe they will go to hell themselves, from the second Louis Theroux documentary.

[BlackZ]

They consider it their mission to spread the "Holy message of God's wrath" and think everyone other than the members of their sect is going to hell. So basically you're going to hell unless you join them and accept their message of hate.

Sure, I've met some people who thinks the same (except for the wrath part). However:

The most shocking part about this sect mostly made up of members of the extended family of its founder is how even children hold signs saying things like "God hates faggots" "God hates America" etc., picketing funerals of servicemen and then when they're asked about it they have no idea what it all means and just recite bullshit about God and the Bible. Indoctrination at its worst.

This kind of thing is unthinkable in Brazil.

I've met this kind of people at internet, but I've always supposed they were just trolling (and probably they were). Anyway, it's weird to think that there's people who actually do that things.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure they have a website on every country in the world. I think I remember that they even believe they will go to hell themselves, from the second Louis Theroux documentary.

I laughed at their description of Brazil. And indeed, they created a page for each country in the world.

Yeah, they are worse than I thought...

[Varislintu]

But hey, I'll give them one thing: at least they're consistent in their interpretation of the Bible. Whatever's in the Bible is the holy word of God, not just the hippy parts. (Or parts about homosexuality being a sin forgetting all the other shit God says is a sin.)

I saw one of those Louis Theroux's visits with them, in the series where he visited "crazy" people. At least in comparison to the others he visited in that series, I was surprised at how the Westboroers stood out as not seeming to be as crazy as the others. Don't get me wrong, what they did was crazy and morally deplorable, and even their religious fanaticism could be called crazy, but the people themselves didn't seem have as obvious mental problems as some of the others on that show, and seemed pretty normal and functional "in private". It was eery.

I'll be undiplomatic and say I think it's because they don't have to battle with cognitive dissonance, because they just take the Bible literally and to its logical conclusion (at least in some areas). Their God is a hateful god, and everything follows from that.

[Michael]

I laughed at their description of Brazil. And indeed, they created a page for each country in the world.

Yeah, they are worse than I thought...

The Vatican exists to promote the idolatrous false religion of Roman Catholicism. Built on the false claim that the apostle Peter started that whore house, they have turned the worship of man into an art form. Full of dark shadows and corners, this vile place houses the pope – who claims to be an intercessor between God and man. In fact, he is a political hack, who covers the awful sins of thousands of priests who rape little boys.

Seems quite accurate to me, give or take a few details.

[Tenebrarum]

Don’t you know how these prideful fools are, they can’t keep quiet about their filth. They will boast about their abominations against their God until that country's leaders bow down to them. Don’t worry Vietnam, one day, in the very near future; your country will be worse than the majority of the other countries because you claim to have a standard about keeping things quiet.

Superbly prophetic, given that this country is already very near the rock bottom and getting worse by the day.

Fountain of comedy, that site. If only these people could be hired to annoy our Big Brother machinary on a daily basis.

[johnklepac]

God doesn't hate Latvia or Slovenia! Cool!

[Michael]

Some parts of this God-blessed nation never cease to amaze me with their commitment to scientific regression.

[md0]

Bloody hell, we are not even sinful enough for those guys
With few law recalls and we are a holiday destination for them.

[johnklepac]

Like PETA, they seem to have lost sight of whatever their original purpose was and are now concerned solely with making headlines.

I really, really want to like PETA, but every time I start feeling optimistic about them, they come out with another bizarre ad campaign.

I'd say I'm pretty conflicted on the WBC. They can be really threatening, but I saw an interview with them once and it seemed as though they really, honestly wanted to save people from damnation and were just tired of being made fun of and ignored. Overall, though, it's probably not a good idea to have them in schools, at least with younger kids, who are more likely to be scared than they are to critically evaluate what the WBC has to say.

You can probably tell I'm an American for not rejecting the WBC outright.

[Tenebrarum]

Crazy as they are, I'd still back PETA against abominations like Huntingdon Life Sciences any day. Those cruel animal testing labs are incredibly powerful. They can lobby to throw you into the harshest prison for years for just protesting against what they do and turning investors away. (They're behind absurd and easily exploited laws in the US like the Animal Enterprise Protection Act.)