Some thoughts on Psalms & Secularism

My immediate reaction to the Westboro Baptist Church & anyone who supports them is violence and profanity.  But then I know that they do what they do because it ends up earning them money; they do what they do because they need the press, and when I react, I'm giving them what they want.  Not to mention the fact that people become alarmed when I say what I'm thinking sometimes.  I do have a certain...penchant for hyperbole. 

Whilst I was reading Psalms, I bookmarked these verses because this is scripture I appreciate.  This was a couple of weeks ago; I marked them with a whole different social issue in mind, but then the horror in Connecticut happened, and I have a more exigent issue to discuss. 

Psalms 37.1: Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
Psalms 37.2: For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.  (I know this will detract from the seriousness of my post, but I love the imagery of  a giant God-lawnmower cutting a path through the thick weeds.)

This verse actually brings me some peace.  It doesn't completely quell the furor I experience when I see headlines like this one: Westboro Baptist Church Says It Will Picket Vigil For Connecticut School Shooting Victim, but it does temper my thoughts.   

That being said, I do wish the cutting down would happen sooner rather than later.  Or the withering, or whatever.  Sometimes when I look at the daily news, I am overwhelmed by ugliness.  Obviously more so now than at other times, but I feel like we, as a nation, would be so much better off if we could just internalize these two verses.  I know I will be better off.  

I believe wholeheartedly in our secular society.   The separation of church & state is of fundamental importance to the freedoms of our citizens.  Look around the world at the countries where religious leaders  or groups are given power to dictate law in a society, and you'll see countries which are oppressive, misogynistic, & totalitarian.  (Iran, anybody?)  We have to take a secular approach to our schools, our laws, and the basic workings of our society.  The WBC people are wrong and monstrous on every level, but second to the pain and suffering they cause, I hate the fact that they try and impose their horrid "religion" upon our purposely secular society.  No good can come from that train of thought.  

It's the Psalms above that should allow even the most socially conservative Christians to live in our secular society without too much trouble. We should be able to accept other people for who they are, and allow them their sin with the understanding that nobody is perfect, and there is a higher power who will "cut down" the "workers of iniquity."  Something I need to work on, too.