What happens if you get in their faces?
As has been said, my home town of Topeka is hardly “bumblefuck” Kansas. But I can understand the OP’s anger, think of what it would be like if you lived here and saw him often.
The WBC shows up at my church about every other Sunday. Last week I was assisting as a chalist, and before the service started I peeked out the front door and they weren’t there for once. I mentioned it to the cathedral dean and he joked “What are we doing wrong, don’t they love us anymore?”
About being picketed at the performing arts center, it’s not gay oriented shows, or musical theater in particular the WBC aims for. It’s anywhere they can find a crowd. You should have heard what Dennis Miller and Sinbad said about them! 
But I did have to cross a picket line of theirs to see a live presentation of “The Rocky Horror Show” at Washburn University here in Topeka. It added a certain piquancy to the experience!
As for ignoring them, we wish we could, but like it or not one must keep some kind of watch on them. They have been known to committ assault, such as against the pastor of the church I was a member of at the time. They try to assert it’s they who are the constant victims of vandalism and violence, and there have been a couple of such incidents, but I don’t think near as many as they claim. Ask the jogger who tried to pass them on the sidewalk what happened to him!
Last year, when the Topeka Aids Project(TAP) held their annual benefit dinner they expected the WBC to show up, as they always had before. So TAP decided to do a “pledge project”, with money promised for every minute the Phelps clan was there. I just pre-donated myself. Then the WBC didn’t come! So we all got a letter offering to return our money if we’d already paid. That’s classy, I, and I imagine most others, just let TAP keep it.
The OP shouldn’t be surprised if the WBC doesn’t show. They do that sometimes, it saves on travel and the scheduled targets still get all upset and riled up.
I forgot! I once got to see a production of “A Chorus Line” for free, in a good seat, here in Topeka, when I’d been counterpicketing the WBC. About fifteen minutes before the show was to start our group of four broke up, because two of us had tickets and had to go on inside. So the other gal and I stood under the marquee, because it was drizzling slightly, and two men came out of the doors and started taking pictures of the WBC protest.
Come to find out they are the manager of the road company putting on the show, and his assistant. My friend and I apologize and try to tell them not all Topekans are like that and they tell us that’s okay, they know that. But Fred and company are well-known on the theater circuit apparently.
So the manager asks if we are going to the show and we say we don’t have tickets. He tells us he can get us tickets and we have to sheepishly admit we don’t have the money for the tickets(they ain’t cheap!) And the manger says no, he meant he’d give us tickets for free! Cool, says we, and go to the show!
Update: I have no idea if they are actually in town or not, nor do I care. I was invited to go to one of the churches tomorrow morning, but declined for two reasons:
- Once again, trolls don’t deserve to be fed.
- The irony of me, a raised-Jewish now-athiest, declining to go to a Passover Seder Saturday night but going to a church service sunday morning would, quite possibly, make my head explode.
I must admit, though, to being tempted to make up my own little sign about who god hates (overzealous protesters, perhaps) and go down there…
And I do fully retract any derogatory statements made about Topeka and/or the state of Kansas as a whole. IME, midwesterners are (overall) nothing but good-hearted, kind people. Plus, I’m sure that there’s all sorts of stuff I eat all the time that comes from Kansas. (Soybeans? Peanuts? Wheat? Corn? I’m one of those people who knows that the food ends up in the grocery stores, and I am thankful for that. My roommate from Indiana mocks me to no end for my farming ignorance.)
Probably. But if you eat sunflower seeds (or oil) then almost certainly.
Dr. Lao, that isn’t entirely correct. Actually, if you eat bread/wheat products, than almost certainly. Kansas produces a large portion (more than other states) of the wheat this nation and other nations uses.
In my specific instance, a group and I were in Topeka with a show and as we passed a group of Phuckers picketing on an overpass (go figure). I said some less than kind things about them, which egged on an easily excited member of the company who leaned out his window and shouted, “Fascists!” at them. They immediately began calling us “Faggots,” and as we drove away, I mentioned that egging the assholes on was perhaps not the best way to go in our new setting.
The Phuckers, though, took note of our license plate numbers and contacted the organization that we had rented the van from. According to the chap they spoke to, they did everything but come right out and make a threat. Pointed out to him repeatedly that they were lawyers, and that they could make his business a target of their ire. He, fortunately, knew the business manager of our theatre, and told them that they could go screw and that he wasn’t afraid of their “pissant little threats”.
I had encountered them at funerals previously, and have seen them since at different functions. But I do my damnedest to ignore their idiocy, and move right the hell along.
And Baker: that was cool that you got free tickets.
Waste
May I recommend “La Vie Bohème,” “When You’re Good To Mama,” and “My Night”?
Just have to point this out; no they’re not. They’re basicaly Calvinists (except uglier), they don’t want to save anyone from homosexuality, they think if you’re gay you’re going to hell no matter what. They just want to tell everyone about it.
Making it even less a “ministry” and more of a psychosis. Fortunately (I mean other than for the children involved) this seems to be confined to him and his family. Eventually the Pure Evil in his heart will metatasize and kill him and hopefully the rest of his family will be free, like the flying monkies in the Wizard of Oz. (That is, if a friend of Dorthy doesn’t get him sooner :D)
Well, we had a bunch of the WBC at my church again today, for the umpety-umpth time. Like I said, about every other week. Grace Cathedral must be doing something right!LOL
It was Jekyll & Hyde, but as someone else noted, they picket anybody who comes through.
And it’s lightingtool, not lightningtool. Don’t worry, happens all the time.
Okay, I want to visit Topeka now, so I can see the Phelps clan their original habitat. Sort of like a bigot zoo?
No, you don’t.
And the animals want to put you behind the bars.
You ever come through, I’ll put you up. I’ll be Marlin Perkins on “Bigoted Kingdom” and show you their den, on 12th St., and their picketing habits in the wild.
Someone needs to play Steve Irwin.
I ain’t wrestlin’ with no Phelps!
[Marlin] I’ll stay safely in the helicopter while Guin wrestles the bigot to the ground and fits the tracking collar around his neck. [/Marlin]
Whoops. Sorry about being so long to respond. Bad internet problems this weekend.
Anyway, our church is First Baptist Montgomery. On the far progressive end of the spectrum but still technically southern baptist. It’s really odd watching all the little old church ladies being cursed out by a belligerent screaming handful of weirdos. “Martha! Did you hear that? I’m a god-forsaken whore! Don’t tell the pastor.”
You don’t get angry at them. What you do is have a dismissive “oh, they’re just crazy” conversation within earshot.
Person 1(loudly): Look dear! It’s a bunch of people with weird signs!
Person 2 (loudly): Person1! It’s rude to point at the crazy people! Just walk right by…
Or if that one is a bit too offensive, there’s always:
(loudly again) Awww, They’re so cute when they’re all deluded like that! I just want to pinch their little cheeks…
My apologies to all the crazy people for placing them in a category with these asshats.
I still like the Laramie Angel Wing offense (especially if you can work in a rainbow flag).
In addition to being batshit crazy Fred seems to be hopelessly senile or in full blow Alzheimers one or the other. His last few public appearances his behavior and comments have been erratic even for him (he went on a diatribe about Bush in which he called him “President peanut waiting to lick the great God Goober!” or some such nonsense that made absolutely no sense whatsoever). I wonder if his family will elect a new leader or just actually go and get lives with whatever’s left of their lives after he dies or becomes otherwise incapacitated.
The pictures of the kids holding the obscene posters are just absolutely sick. It even borders on pornographic when they’re holding up posters of anal sex, and one of the Phelps sons has publicly admitted to/boasted of beating his wife and kids. I wish something could be done to remove them from that environment as they’re at least as brainwashed as the children of Jonestown or the Branch Davidians ever were, but with most of the clan being lawyers there’s no chance.