Fred Phelps, founder and leader of Westboro Baptist Church has died, according to family. Hopefully, his family will be able to bury their dead father without the horrible, nasty protests that the Phelps family has inflicted on others.
Phelps rose to fame (or infamy) for his decades-long work of “opposing the homosexual lifestyle of soul-damning, nation-destroying filth,” according to the church Web site. He expressed that opposition by picketing the funerals of military servicemen and women who in his view had been killed in wartime by a vengeful God punishing the United States for its increasing acceptance of gay rights. Many a grieving family had to put a loved one to rest within view of Phelps and others holding signs saying, “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” “Thank God for 9/11” and his signature slogan, “God hates fags.”
Phelps and his family have ultimately probably done more to help advance gay rights than any other single factor. Americans seriously hate haters. It’s in our national DNA. Phelps went after mining disaster victims, veterans, those killed in the line of duty, and children’s funerals to display their message condemning the gay life style by saying the death(s) was God’s wrath. The not-so-right Reverend Phelps had better hope he was wrong as he goes to meet his maker. He might just find the pearly gates not so hospitable.
I expect a new rash of jokes to spring up. Please deposit them here.
Ask not for whom the bell tolls….
I heard that after he was turned away from the Pearly gates, he said they were too gay for him to walk through anyway. I feel no remorse for his death – hopefully without his hate speech, those of the Westboro Baptist faith will see the light.
Someone else will come along and test the bounds of free speech though. We’ll always be sullied by the likes of Fred Phelps or Larry Flynt.
I’m sure his family believes he’s dead because God hates gays.
I would say that it is a sign of a healthy democracy if one is able to “test the bounds” of free speech and not be sent to a gulag……or whipped by Cossacks.
If one feels that Fred Phelps did not “see the light” before he passed, perhaps one should feel not pleasure but, rather, sadness at the loss of a soul. Does dancing on another person’s grave, literally or figuratively, make us better people or lower us toward the level of the object of the dance?
I think that Pat was suggesting that the family back off from their hate-filled obsession with the father’s message or at least their need to spread the hate nationwide.
I don’t think anyone here is celebrating that Phelps is dead. I don’t feel remorse, nor do I celebrate. Just Is. He and his Maker can deal with his deeds while on earth.
His death is news-worthy, however. His beliefs have inflicted a great deal of pain on those who simply did not deserve it.
Agreed.
I saw a poster that stated:
Jesus loves you.
Everyone ELSE thinks that you’re an ass.
THAT is the sign that should be there.
But…he’s dead. I will speak no more of him.
Whatever judgement he’s getting…..he’s got it.
I love the sign you saw. Well put!!!
You are right. He’s dead. Him and his maker might have some sorting out to do.
@Wolverine Yes, you have a right to be an a-hole, but I’m sorry to see that the limits to free speech have been extended to cover protesting where private citizens are mourning their loved ones. I can’t believe that isn’t a form of harassment. They weren’t protesting politicians, government entities, Monsanto–just folks going about doing ordinary things. What’s next, holding signs and shouting outside a gay person’s home every day? Some taboos should never be broken.
Maybe his family will cut it out now that he’s gone. And everyone will just forget him.
Totally agree, Emma. Well said.
That’s true. Congress should have worked this issue and protected dignity for funerals.
The fact that they undertook a form of organized bigotry called “Defense of Marriage” while they couldn’t be bothered to keep funerals protected is shameful.
Maybe it isn’t too late. We have no signs that the harassment is going to stop just because the old man is dead.
” De mortuis nihil nisi bonum”. The time will come for us all and we can only hope that thing will be said of us unless it is good. That may be hard to adhere to in the case of Fred Phelps but WWJD? He is gone, he will return to dust and perhaps his name will not be spoken or remembered but that is not ours to decide.
Emma — I understand your reaction. I posit, however, that “taboos” are no longer very sacrosanct in this society. It is undoubtedly too long ago for many here to remember, but the breaking of taboos was, I believe, one of the driving factors for the free speech movement at U of Cal Berkeley way back in the mid-1960’s, for a media personality named Lenny Bruce, and even for a singer named Presley. Since that time, I would say, we are almost at a point where anything goes and much of it is protected by judicial intrepretations of the Constitution. We seem to be in a situation in which the only support for taboos comes from any of us who object and counter-protest, as as been done effectively by vets and others at Westboro funeral appearances. Not much else we can do short of violence or of having the politicians in Congress set the limits of free speech — neither of which ought to be acceptable to any of us.
I think Westboro goes way beyond free speech. They harass and demean. I think they should have been shut down a long time ago. Free speech is another one of those concepts with limits.
I think the counter protests were a far better solution than trying to enact laws and use government power to filter their speech. I think the Phelps will go down in history as one of the most significant reasons for a rapid change in public opinion about gay marriage. They managed to become the public face of traditional marriage supporters and it wasn’t pretty. People ran from their position of pro-traditional families to escape being tarred with that hate and because they didn’t have a positive reason to explain why gays shouldn’t be allow to marry.
Phelps’s speech informed the public of an evil core to the anti-gay movement and thus their speech was politically important and it was right to protect it.
Mr. Bentley, Congress in 2006 passed a law that prohibited exhibitions within 300 feet of a national cemetery. It was signed by President Bush. Similar state laws were struck down in Missouri when challenged by the ACLU. Not sure what Congress could have done more as it passed a law involving Federal jurisdiction. It is up to the states to pass similar laws but they probably would have been found unconstitutional as well. Not sure if the Federal ever was tested.