Theroux, Westboro and Christianity

So, I got round to watching the new Louis Theroux documentary. The one about a family of (Christian funda)mentalists. Two thoughts strike me about it.

Firstly, I really don't like the way Theroux undertakes his investigations. There seems to be an inherent contradiction within them. When interacting with his targets (and make no mistake about it, they are targets) he seems to be determined not to provoke, or even judge, them (except in the voiceovers). Indeed, one of the most painful yet enlightening moments in his most recent documentary is when he is forced to reveal what he actually thinks of the homophonic shitheads he's dealing with in front of them. Yet the whole premise of his programme judges them. In this case, they are the most hated family in America. In the past, they've been Nazis. Or Weird Weekends. The whole point of his work is that he believes he is dealing with freaks who should be investigated - that's how he selects them. So, as far as I am concerned, he should either engage with them and challenge them properly on the areas he finds weird or freakish, or he should redefine his work as being a broad and open-minded investigation of counter-culture. Not the weird.

But it seems almost counter-intuitive to complain about Louis Theroux's journalistic flaws when he is dealing with an organisation as appalling as the Westboro Baptist Church. Yeah, Theroux could do more to improve his journalistic integrity. The Westboro Baptist Church could do more to be fucking human. They are odious, ignorant people. They hide behind an idiosyncratic interpretation of the Bible to justify their homophobia and rage against America. Their leader is a nasty, hate-filled misanthrope. They are, in short, repugnant Christian fundamentalists.

Of course, it is tempting for an atheist like me to condemn Christianity as a whole based on these malign Christians. But to do so would be wrong. Yes, it is true that this "church" can find its justifications in the Bible, but much of the Bible contradicts itself. Large swathes of the Old Testament contradict the Ten Commandments, such as "Thou Shalt Not Kill" and Jesus's own favourite, "Love Thy Neighbour". And the Bible is not unique in that regard; chunks of the Koran, for example, do not fit with the beliefs of moderate Muslims. And this phenomenon is not solely applicable to religion. Taking Marx at his word is blueprint for dictatorship and for Stalinism, whereas a more critical, moderate and intelligent engagement with Marxism can still find moments of value even if the theory as a whole is fatally and fundamentally flawed. The problem with the Westboro lot is not that they are Christian, but rather that they are dogmatic about it. They refuse to allow for any deviation from their flawed and self-justifying reading of the Bible. Just as those Muslims who strap bombs to their chests and go into battle refuse to engage critically with the Koran, and the Stalinists refuse to allow for any deviation from their dictatorial reading of Marxism.

Therefore, the documentary shows that the problem is not Christianity, but the religious myopia of those who unthinkingly treat Christianity as dogma. The mentalists in the Westboro church are no more representative of moderate Christians than the actions of Timothy McVeigh are of those who legitimately question the scope of the state. I'm no Christian - I believe the worship of the Invisible Sky Fairy is no more rational than a belief in Santa or the Force - but I do get that the extremists lackwits of Westboro have little to do with the much more benign beliefs of moderate Christians.