Larry, being nice doesn’t work either. I have a video copy of a picketing they did in Kansas City, outside a church. Two parishioners offered the picketers a platter of doughnuts, and were asked “are those the ones with the AIDS virus?” The reply though, was classic. “I don’t think so” said the lady from the church.
Of course no mentioning of Clan Phelps is complete without mentioning one of my personal heroes, Romaine Patterson, a modern day “angel”. (For those not familiar, Romaine was a friend of Matthew Shephard; when Phelps and family brought their signs to protest at his funeral and memorial services, Romaine and some friends donned angel costumes with enormous wings and stood in front of them so that the wings blocked out the signs and spared Shephard’s parents from the sight. Since then the same tactic has been adapted by other activists in other cities (including the one above- only picture I could find); one group took it a bit further and actually built a white tabernacle fence (similar to the one in the OT) and paraded it in front of the Phelps family. Technically it was a misdemeanor, I believe, but there were no arrests made.
Has anyone come to Fred Phelps’s defense? Ever?
No, I don’t support him either, the guy is loathsome and repugnant and completely disgusting. I’m just curious, he seems to be universally known as a giant asshole.
Even Jerry Falwell has called him “a first class nutcase” (exact words). When Jerry Falwell and drag queens can agree on something, it’s a sealed deal. (Phelps sued him of course but it was thrown out of court.)
PS- Here is a photo of the actual Romaine Patteron/Angel Wings operation. (The downside of Patterson: her homepage is called… wait for it…
