You can’t make this stuff up.
A US hate group run by Fred Phelps is heading to Sweden.
Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church having nothing good to say about the country or it’s monarchy.
It started in 2003 when a 63 year old Swedish pentecostal named Ake Green preached a sermon to about 75 people in the town of Borgholm. He spoke against homosexuality and asked the local paper to publish what he said.
So they did. And he was indicted, convicted and sentenced to 30 days in jail for hate speech. He was freed on appeal in January.
Fred Phelps knows a cause celebre when he sees one.
Thing is when Ake Green heard that he was being supported by The Westboro Group he publically distanced himself.
Speaking to The Local, Green has told of his distress that the website is using his name in this way:
“I think it is appalling that people say things like that,” he said, “it is extremely unpleasant.”
Green said that he has contacted newspapers in the United States to distance himself from the comments on the website. He added that he is surprised that authorities in the United States have not intervened. “This harms Christianity,” he said.
Phelps and 20 of his supporters will be in the country in September, security is being stepped up around King Carl Gustaf and his family.
Green is scheduled to go on trial before the Supreme Court in November.
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While I’m not a big fan at all of Phelps, I do feel Green should not be in prison. For me I fault the Swedish gov’t more than I fault Pastor Green. When are people going to have the “free access of Religion”? I think the “hate group” is the Swedish gov’t. When are people going to wake up and realize that sin must not be promoted? However, the opposite by Phelps is bad. For me there is a balance. Can’t we say BOTH Seden AND Phelps are wrong? Christians need to wake up and not be influenced by the extremes and focus on the truth.
You’ve got to feel for Green, he wanted this fight and he got way more than he bargained for.
Sweden isn’t the US.
Green isn’t in prison, he asked to be published, he wanted this to go to court.
Fault anyone you want to DH.
*In a sermon delivered in 2003 the pastor said that homosexuality is a “cancer on the face of society”, and said that it could lead to bestiality and paedophilia. The details came to the attention of the prosecutor when Green himself distributed the text of the sermon to the local media in Borgholm, on the island of Öland.
In the original verdict, the court ruled that certain phrases in his sermon amounted to an attempt to stir up hatred of homosexuals.
But in January the appeal court in Jönköping overturned the verdict and Green was freed, a decision which gay rights groups described as “disturbing”.
In March the state prosecutor announced his decision to appeal against the not guilty verdict.
The case is being billed as a battle between gay rights and freedom of speech.*
Here is an article on the lower court ruling.
http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=960&date=20050211
Even the Swedish Pentecostal church acknowledges Green was careless and sweeping in how he used his words and pushed his views. It is acknowledged Green wanted to be a martyr.
“Cancer on the Face of Society”? I totally agree with this. When are Christians going to wake up. Did he go a little overboard? yes. People need to be able to say something about this rather than say the action is okay. If we focus only on the extreme we miss the accuracy of the statements. Just because Green went extreme doesn’t change the fact that the action is wrong. I know many preachers who are unable to say one word on the subject. For that I fault the Swedish government.
This issue is not a “cultural issue” but a Biblical one. So it doesn’t matter whether you are in Sweden, US, UK or Papua New Guinea
DH:
How Swedish Christians decide what they need to be doing in this challenge is not going to be helped by an US hate group showing up, and causing security problems.
I know you have been taught to see Europe as inferior to your faith, values, economics and culture, and the US facination with sex and violence makes it easy to interfere and to rationalize that interference, under the assumption every country operates like yours; history be damned.
There are no excuses or rationalizations for Phelps and his hate group.
None.
This is up to the Swedish people.
It stopped being just a sermon when Green went public.
I can’t discuss what was biblical or not, I have not read it, I’ve been unable to find it online, so all I can do is provide the information available.
Like I said, blame anyone you want to.
I agree there are no rationalizations for Phelps and his group but that doesn’t change the fact that this type of behavior is wrong in light of the bible. Fascination with Sex? how about Holland(red-light districts) or Sweden (where porn is on TV 24/7)? At least we have more people going to church than in Europe. I rather have people going to church than be Atheistic where less than 10% go to church. This isn’t from my culture but are the facts. I could go on legalized drugs (pharmekia being mentioned in the Bible as wrong), lack of freedom of Religion to share your Faith (sharing Faith being a commandment under the Great Commission), same-sex marriage being legalized throughout the country (Romans 1), etc.
My conclusion is: If you can’t find the sermon then why comment on it. Whether there is a sermon or not the fact remains preachers should be able to take a stance on this issue but not in the way Phelps group does for it it is the attitude that is important as well.
It is up to the Swedish people. You are correct. They need to redeem themselves from rpomoting this type of behavior.
What I said goes for any nation across the world including the US. We all have moral problems and this issue isn’t getting any better. I just totally dislike the promotion of these forms of immoralities. I also in the same breath dislike Phelps attitude and hate in saying what he is saying. They are equally bad. All I can say is “look at Sodom and Gomorrah”. This world entirely is promoting this junk and the US, Europe, and the rest of the world are to blame.