Baptists in Sweden are offended by the web site of a controversial Baptist Church in Kansas because it claims the deaths of vacationing Swedes in the Asian tsunami disaster is a punishment from God.
About 20,000 Swedes were vacationing in the region when the deadly waves struck in December. Scores are dead while many are still unaccounted for. While many in Sweden are mourning their loss, Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., appears to be celebrating the deaths as an act of God.
In a statement printed on its web site, the American church described Sweden as the “land of the sodomite damned” because of its increasing acceptance of homosexuality. The Web site proclaimed, in capital letters, that “WE PRAY FOR ALL 20,000 SWEDES IN THE TSUNAMI'S WAKE TO BE DECLARED DEAD.” It added that, “God hates Sweden and all things Swedish.”
The head of the Swedish Baptist Union, Soren Carlsvard, has dismissed those statements as “completely out of order.”
“We don't think the catastrophe in Asia has anything to do with homosexuals,” said Carlsvard, adding that the opinions expressed on the web site run contrary to traditional Baptist values and goals, which emphasize God's love.
Carlsvard said his union complained to the Baptist World Alliance, only to discover that Westboro Baptist Church is not a member.
The church describes itself as an “Old School” or “Primitive” Baptist Church. Its founder, Fred Phelps, has outraged fellow Baptists in the past. For example, he appeared at the 1998 funeral of Matthew Shepard, a gay man beaten to death in Wyoming, holding a sign saying, “God hates fags.”
Religion News Service