This week in class we talked about the diversity of religion
especially in the United States. In the
documentary we watched in class about the Westboro Baptist Church we had the
opportunity to learn more about the social identity theory and how it plays out
in a real situation. The social identity
theory is about how we form our own identity based on the different social
groups in which we identify with. Shirley, the head lady of day to day
operations for the church, is looked down upon by the rest of society because
of her extreme religious beliefs.
Shirley and her family identify themselves as part of the church and believe
that homosexuals will go to hell, including those who don’t disagree with
homosexuality. It seems as if Shirley
creates a deeper identify for herself as a church member as she sees the
opposition for the Church intensify. She
believes she is on a mission to spread this message while gaining more of a
desire to do this as non-church members tell her no. Shirley feels a strong connection to the
community of church members and has a strong identity with the church. She feels as if it’s all right to go against
the social norm because everyone else in the church is against the norm. It takes a strong identity to stand up to a
social norm especially going against many American’s religious beliefs.
The
Westboro Baptist Church can be classified as a religious organization. The
members of the church feel a sense of belonging in the church as they live near
each other, attend services and go out to picket with each other. Shirley’s daughters feel that they need to
stay together as the rest of society has the wrong beliefs. The church also believes deeply about their
mission of informing society that homosexuality is wrong. The behavior of the group is to have services
on Sundays and picket public events and places to share their message of the
evil doings of homosexuality. These are
the 3 B’s which makes the Westboro Baptist Church as a religious
organization.
You can see at 1:50 in this video the resentment the general
public has against the Westboro Baptist Church and how it goes against the
social norms of society. At 5:30 you can
listen to the Church member’s interviews about their belief in their religion. Each member keeps their social identity as a
member of the church by reaffirming their beliefs as part of the interviews.
This video provided an excellent narrative on what I think the Westboro Baptist Church actually aims for: sensationalism. I certainly agree that WBC could be classified as a religious orginization; however, I think it would be more accurate to refer to it as a cult given the way children within WBC are educated in terms of their religion. The children identify with a belief system which they don't fully understand and are brought along to picket lines oftentimes before they are even of an age to make educated decisions about their own beliefs (I think one child from the documentary was 5 years old at the picket line). Personally I think that WBC is a vehicle for its members to protest homosexuality--their religion in terms of spirituality takes a backseat to their social motives.
ReplyDeleteI have a question regarding their (members of WBC) belief in general that homosexuality is wrong: Do they claim to have interpreted the Bible to have reached such a truth? Saying anything concrete when it is not explicitly stated in the Bible is to claim some sort of higher knowledge--I don't think WBC members would accept this notion.