Louis Theroux, who spent quite a bit of time at that compound, theorized that Phelps was mentally ill. Some kind of hate-addiction thing.
Anyway, George Takei posted about his death.
I guess he hates us all eventually.
I hope that is not out of bounds because that was my very first thought.
( i wish i could believe in afterlife cause I would want my dearly departed GAY father to meet this guy…:dubious: Fred wouldn’t have had a chance)
Good fucking riddance!
Fred Phelps was incapable of love.
I was thinking that, but didn’t want to say it, because in this case it’s insulting to witches. 
I encountered that hateful group many times back in the 80s and 90s, when my friends and lovers, one by one, succumbed to AIDS. I always felt that when that bastard finally croaked, I’d be dancing in the street. But now that he’s gone, the reason to celebrate is that his hatred had no effect on the world. His life and his death were meaningless. He might as well never have existed. And that’s reason to celebrate.
I am hopeful that the following lines from psalms prove prophetic.
Put not your trust in princes, sons of men, in whom there is no salvation. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.
I would never celebrate anyone’s death, but I don’t feel obligated to mourn every time.
I’m not sorry he is finally gone and I do hope he suffered, but at least with Phelps you knew where he stood.
He is not the kind of bigot who bothers me. It is the bigots who wrap themselves in the flag and sit in positions of power. It is the type of voters who elect or support brain dead people who blame tornadoes and other events http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/19/susanne-atanus-congress-_n_4993555.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592 on gay marriage and abortion.
Phelps and his ilk are only a symptom, not a cause.
Did I miss something? There is going to be no funeral, it seems. What are they going to do, toss his remains out on to the plains?
ISTR that when they wanted to protest a funeral in Canada, the Mounties wouldn’t let them across the border.
Despite (and maybe because of) all the pain and angst he caused many individuals, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ultimately caused more people to support gay rights. The WBC was so obnoxious that they disgusted even the most conservative Americans. I wonder how many people who reflexively squicked at the thought of two dudes or ladies getting married, or were simply wary of a big change in tradition took a look at him and said “Well, maybe I shouldn’t be on the same side of an issue as this guy.”
A wonderful way of seeing it. I will celebrate this with you. To this great and beautiful world, which his hatred could not touch! He came, he passed, he meant nothing.
So the WBC says no funeral because they don’t “worship the dead.” I never thought funerals were about worship, I thought they were about paying your last respects. I guess that shows how much respect WBC has for one of their own.
Personally I’d give him a Viking funeral - send him down the Kansas River in a flaming canoe. The problem is, the Kansas River is polluted enough already.
Seems like you’re right. The pretty reliable British newspaper The Guardian has in its obituary:
“Relatives have said he took on lucrative civil rights cases while espousing racist views at home.”
I try to look for the good side in people, sometimes it’s difficult…
Close. Very close.
But, if it’s in a flaaa-aaaa-aaaaah!-ming canoe, I’d give the environmental concerns a pass just this once.
Maybe Satan didn’t want him either.
I like this reply to the article posted above:
Too bad, Megan, that’s not the side he showed the world. I’m happy to hear of his other side, but even more happy that he won’t be spewing out his hatred, amplified by his little cult.
I’m also glad that Megan can show a bit of class in her reply. It can’t have been easy to grow up like that and develop any reasonable sense of values, but there’s a clue here that maybe she did.
The problem is he’s dead.