Dear Everyone in Westboro Baptist Church (except Fred Phelps),

I hear you are coming to protest a funeral in my area. I don’t know you and since I’m a skeptic by nature, I don’t believe everything I read. I wondered if you are really as angry a group as the media says you are. So I did some research.

I discovered there truly is anger in your group, along with fear … both of these stem from Fred. That is why I’m ignoring him … I don’t have time for people that are driven by anger and fear.

But after watching this well-done documentary by Louis Theroux about your family, I do have a few questions for the rest of you. Have you thought about any of Louis’ questions since he was there?

It’s okay to think … seriously, it is okay!

You believe God created you, which means he gave you a brain – right? Don’t you think he might want you to use it?

When a corner of your brain raises questions, don’t squelch them. It’s not evil to think for yourself. And you can doubt what you (and other people) do without doubting God. Separate the two.

No person should be controlled another person.

Have you ever noticed how you tense up when Fred’s around? How you often wonder what he’d think about this or that? How you tell the young children to behave extra nice when he’s around? That is NOT healthy behavior. That is Fred controlling you.

Since you are a person with a brain, why should anyone else control you?

Fred might be right about some things in life, but he is not right about everything. He is someone who has combined anger/fear with a few extreme religious ideas. More than likely, he is driven by a fear of failure, because time alone doesn’t heal and it had to be painful when his first church failed due to internal conflicts. At that time, everyone that wasn’t family left. (Allow yourself to think about that for more than two seconds!)

When the whole world seems wrong, you might want to take a look at yourself.

At this time, you are allowing Fred to force you to live in denial. Denial about who the real you is. You have been stuffing the true you for so long, you are buried. You don’t even know who you are. But you are there … and you can be found again. It’s never too late to change!

Pause, breathe, ask questions, allow yourself to think …

Seriously, it’s okay. You are allowed to think. Find a way to talk to someone outside the group …. maybe a counselor or a family member that has left. They are not evil. They aren’t selfish. Instead of fearing wrath and death, they are loving and living life … as we are all meant to, including YOU!

Think often – Think deep – Think!

.

Janet Oberholtzer