Fred Phelps is Up To No Good, Again!
Fred Phelps is at it again. He has found a way to do something that most people did not think was possible. He has found a way to sink even lower.
Phelps is a Reverend and the head of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. He became an infamous religious figure in 1998 when he protested at the funeral of gay rights icon, Mathew Shepard. Sheppard, a University of Wyoming student was brutally beaten by two men in October of 1998. These men drove Sheppard to a secluded area, beat him, and tied him to a fence where he was left for dead. After being found, Sheppard slipped into a coma and died just a few days later. The story of Mathew Sheppard has been the subject of a made for TV movie, as well as the film, The Laramie Project. Fred Phelps role in the story came into play at Sheppard's funeral where he and some of his followers protested by chanting and holding signs saying things like "God hates Fags," “Mathew Shepard Burns in Hell,“ as well as other hateful messages. But Phelps harassment didn't end there. In 2004 he pushed to have a monument erected in Casper, Wyoming that states the Mathew Sheppard is in Hell for defying God's Law. He also pushed to have this message put on a park bench in Topeka, as well as other parts of the country.
Well, Phelps is once again protesting at funerals, but this time it is different. He is not protesting at the funerals of homosexuals, no, now he is protesting at the funerals of American Soldiers. That’s right, he is protesting at the funerals of soldiers who died in Iraq. Phelps reason for doing so is that God is punishing our soldiers and our country. In Phelps view, 9/11 and our casualties in Iraq are part of God’s curse on our country for extending civil liberties to homosexuals, and for having the “don‘t ask, don‘t tell“ policy. So he and his followers are going to these funerals to celebrate the death of soldiers.
The insensitivity doesn’t stop there. Phelps’ website, www.godhatesfags.com has a list of recently deceased soldiers, their hometowns, and their funeral arrangements, as well as plans for their protest. Also on the web page is a copy of a flier that the WBC hands out. The flier is titled, “Thank God for 6 More Dead Troops; We Wish it Were 6,000,” and it lists the names of the deceased soldiers as the, “Roster of the Damned,” and states the WBC’s agenda. “WBC (Westboro Baptist Church) will picket their funerals in their hometowns, as well as memorial services for them elsewhere, when their body and/or body parts are returned from Iraq.” Also on the flier, there is a little rhyme, “They turned America over to Fags; and now they’re coming home in body bags.”
Phelps tried to defend his hateful views on MSNBC’s Scarborough Country on April 11, however Phelps was so defiant, and so ignorant that the guest host had to cut his microphone. Also on the show, they interviewed a woman whose husband was killed in Iraq, and had to deal with Phelps goons at his funeral. It’s just disgusting.
Phelps is becoming America’s foremost hatemonger, and is using religion as a framework for his psychotic ideology. The scary thing is that Phelps has supporters, people who support him both financially and ideologically, and the WBC is quite influential in Topeka, Kansas.
When will enough be enough? When will the baseless hatred stop? Phelps and his minions are disgusting. They shout their hateful rhetoric, while widows, children and parents bury their loved ones. They smirk in the faces of families that are being ripped apart. They shout from the rooftops about how homosexuals are the scourges of the earth. But it is not homosexuals; rather, it is people like Phelps that are the true scourge of the earth. The truly pathetic existence is that of one who is fueled by hatred, happy to indulge in the suffering of other.
There is hope out there for decent people. At Mathew Shepard’s funeral, decent people who stood in front of the hate mongers blocked Phelps protestors. The same has begun to happen at some of our soldier’s funerals, and that is a very positive sign. But more must be done. People must begin speaking out against his kind of hatred. People can no longer sit back and let people like this influence our society, and more importantly our legislature. Social awareness, communication, and understanding are they keys to fighting hatred, and we live in a time when all people should be more tolerant of one another, especially when you tout freedom and diversity the way we do in America.
Here are the Fred Phelps Websites, check them out, so you can see for yourself what a pig of a man he truly is.
www.godhatesfags.com
http://www.godhatesfags.com/fliers/apr2006/20060412_six-dead-troops.pdf (Dead Troops Flier)
www.smellthebrimstone.com
www.godhatesamerica.com
www.priestsrapeboys.com
www.godhatescanada.com
www.godhatessweden.com
Phelps is a Reverend and the head of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. He became an infamous religious figure in 1998 when he protested at the funeral of gay rights icon, Mathew Shepard. Sheppard, a University of Wyoming student was brutally beaten by two men in October of 1998. These men drove Sheppard to a secluded area, beat him, and tied him to a fence where he was left for dead. After being found, Sheppard slipped into a coma and died just a few days later. The story of Mathew Sheppard has been the subject of a made for TV movie, as well as the film, The Laramie Project. Fred Phelps role in the story came into play at Sheppard's funeral where he and some of his followers protested by chanting and holding signs saying things like "God hates Fags," “Mathew Shepard Burns in Hell,“ as well as other hateful messages. But Phelps harassment didn't end there. In 2004 he pushed to have a monument erected in Casper, Wyoming that states the Mathew Sheppard is in Hell for defying God's Law. He also pushed to have this message put on a park bench in Topeka, as well as other parts of the country.
Well, Phelps is once again protesting at funerals, but this time it is different. He is not protesting at the funerals of homosexuals, no, now he is protesting at the funerals of American Soldiers. That’s right, he is protesting at the funerals of soldiers who died in Iraq. Phelps reason for doing so is that God is punishing our soldiers and our country. In Phelps view, 9/11 and our casualties in Iraq are part of God’s curse on our country for extending civil liberties to homosexuals, and for having the “don‘t ask, don‘t tell“ policy. So he and his followers are going to these funerals to celebrate the death of soldiers.
The insensitivity doesn’t stop there. Phelps’ website, www.godhatesfags.com has a list of recently deceased soldiers, their hometowns, and their funeral arrangements, as well as plans for their protest. Also on the web page is a copy of a flier that the WBC hands out. The flier is titled, “Thank God for 6 More Dead Troops; We Wish it Were 6,000,” and it lists the names of the deceased soldiers as the, “Roster of the Damned,” and states the WBC’s agenda. “WBC (Westboro Baptist Church) will picket their funerals in their hometowns, as well as memorial services for them elsewhere, when their body and/or body parts are returned from Iraq.” Also on the flier, there is a little rhyme, “They turned America over to Fags; and now they’re coming home in body bags.”
Phelps tried to defend his hateful views on MSNBC’s Scarborough Country on April 11, however Phelps was so defiant, and so ignorant that the guest host had to cut his microphone. Also on the show, they interviewed a woman whose husband was killed in Iraq, and had to deal with Phelps goons at his funeral. It’s just disgusting.
Phelps is becoming America’s foremost hatemonger, and is using religion as a framework for his psychotic ideology. The scary thing is that Phelps has supporters, people who support him both financially and ideologically, and the WBC is quite influential in Topeka, Kansas.
When will enough be enough? When will the baseless hatred stop? Phelps and his minions are disgusting. They shout their hateful rhetoric, while widows, children and parents bury their loved ones. They smirk in the faces of families that are being ripped apart. They shout from the rooftops about how homosexuals are the scourges of the earth. But it is not homosexuals; rather, it is people like Phelps that are the true scourge of the earth. The truly pathetic existence is that of one who is fueled by hatred, happy to indulge in the suffering of other.
There is hope out there for decent people. At Mathew Shepard’s funeral, decent people who stood in front of the hate mongers blocked Phelps protestors. The same has begun to happen at some of our soldier’s funerals, and that is a very positive sign. But more must be done. People must begin speaking out against his kind of hatred. People can no longer sit back and let people like this influence our society, and more importantly our legislature. Social awareness, communication, and understanding are they keys to fighting hatred, and we live in a time when all people should be more tolerant of one another, especially when you tout freedom and diversity the way we do in America.
Here are the Fred Phelps Websites, check them out, so you can see for yourself what a pig of a man he truly is.
www.godhatesfags.com
http://www.godhatesfags.com/fliers/apr2006/20060412_six-dead-troops.pdf (Dead Troops Flier)
www.smellthebrimstone.com
www.godhatesamerica.com
www.priestsrapeboys.com
www.godhatescanada.com
www.godhatessweden.com
posted by Nick at 1:50 PM
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