Who's Crazier the Westboro Baptist Church or Charlie Sheen ?

The Westboro Baptist Church is a church that is gaining popularity in the news and not for good reasons.  The church is known for being against people that are Gay or Lesbian.  The church is located in Topeka, Kansas.  The church was started on November 27, 1955 with the first sermon held in front of the congregation.  In 1991 the church started making its opinion heard about being against homosexual people as they went to funerals and other public areas to picket or protest against this lifestyle.  Recently the church was in the news for their protests against gay military members funerlas. They also won a big  victory in the Supreme Court which ruled that it was acceptable for the church to protest out at these funerals.

The Westboro Baptist Church is currently headed by Fred Phelps.  He is considered a controversial person due to his strong views against minority groups, religions, and homosexuals.  Fred Phelps has been the leader of the church since it was founded in 1955 and used to be a lawyer in the past.

The Westboro Baptist Church has been involved in numerous protests and pickets at funerals and in other public arenas.  Some of the notable ones include protesting plays, they protested The Laramie Project, because it is a play that talks about a homosexual, Matthew Shepard that was killed for being gay.  The church has picketed funerals for people that served in the military.  A notable picketing was for Carrie French who had fought in Iraq.  Another picket was of a funeral for Matthew Snyder who was serving in Iraq and had died there.  The church protested at Michael Jackson’s funeral.  The church also was going to protest at the funeral of the young girl who was shot in Tucson, fortunately they were not allowed to protest at this function.      

The Westboro Baptist Church has strong opinions on various topics.  The church believes that if you are of a different Christian sect or of another faith you are practicing your way to an eternity of fire and brimstone.  The church also believes that homosexuality is not to be tolerated and is  the cause of all problems in the world.  The church is also against the President of the United States of America stating he is a character of evil.

References:

http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/WBC/default.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=3&item=WBC

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/228401_westboro14.html

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=14183549

Does The U.S. Have The Balls To Deal With North Korea?

Does North Korea have war on their mind? At this point we can only speculate. There's a lot of tough talk flying around, a lot of tests, a few people killed here and there. This morning, U.S. military officials told North Korea that the United States' commitment to help South Korea maintain their independence is "unquestioned." But when it comes down to it, what sort of clout does the U.S. really carry anymore?

"I do think what that we've seen there is an example of how provocative American weakness can be," Liz Cheney, daughter of former VP Dick Cheney, told Fox News this week. "And I think that unfortunately it is policy of weakness that has expanded back into the Bush administration -- into the last years of the Bush administration," she added, taking a surprising jab at her father's tenure in office.

In 2008, President Bush removed Korea from "the Axis of Evil" distinction and the terrorist list. Even when Kim Jong-il conducted 2001 tests of the Taepodong-1 missile and told Bush that he "wouldn't hesitate" to strike the U.S. first in a military attack, we remained silent. (Click here to see a timeline of our wimpy policy with North Korea.) In the wake of rising aggression, the best we can do is send Bill Richardson on an "unofficial visit" with no real news at all? If North Korea is testing the United States, then we have failed miserably. The truth is, we're more afraid of what China could do if they happened to side with North Korea. At the moment, we're stuck at the impotent round-table of six party talks, as per China's request.

"I think that we've seen time and time again North Korea -- they test a nuclear weapon, there are no consequences, they build a reactor for the Syrians, there are no consequences," Liz Cheney said. "And what they have learned is that their belligerence, in fact, often times yields from us capitulation and concessions. I think that it's time for us to put them back on the terrorist list."

Cheney's proposed solution of putting North Korea back on the terrorist list is a mere technicality. "Sanctions" may be a bargaining chip for minor details, but aren't effective in this situation. The military drills we're conducting with Japan is a smart move. Other bold deterrents might be increasing troop levels in the South Korean peninsula, seeking a UN resolution authorizing use of force should North Korea escalate tensions again, and to encourage talks with Russia that assure North Korea that they will not have access to Russian nukes.