Westboro Baptist Church

The values of WBC adhere very literally to the words of the Bible, which makes their actions seem extreme in today's society. They condemn ALL forms of sin, which include fornication, adultery, and sodomy. They state in their mission that God's sovereignty must be placed upon all men. They commit to the 5 points of Calvinism, which is interesting to me because one of the points describes "Limited Atonement," which means that they belief Jesus Christ died on the cross for "many, but not all." It seems contradicting to me that they believe this yet still insist on infringing and imposing their beliefs on other people's lives. If they don't believe there is hope for everyone, then why would they be so persistent and outspoken? One of their many signs reads "America is doomed," which seems to be a possible reflection of this "Limited Atonement" belief, but their intentions still seem puzzling to me.
My personal values reflect the world we live in today; with so much diversity, so much consistent change, it is simply impossible for there to be universal agreement on basically anything. I think that for the must part, all people seek happiness, or as we saw in the rank order of terminal values, a world at peace. A world at peace requires acceptance. Certain cultures, or groups that people belong to, are ultimately going to believe that their way is the right way, it is part of ethnocentrism. This becomes a problem when you believe your way is the ONLY way, which is why I think it would be extremely difficult to even begin to have a conversation with a member of the WBC; their values and beliefs are extremely narrow minded, and probably not easily altered. I don't believe that what they say or do is morally right-- but at the same time, they don't believe what I say or do it either. It is easy for me to look at their website in complete shock, just as it is easy for them to create a website in the hopes of gaining viewers and followers. The problem lies with the way they make themselves known, or at least in the way they inflict their beliefs onto people who have no interest in what they have to say.