I disagree. And not just because of the unending scorn heaped upon them when and wherever they go. As a group, they seem entirely convinced of the rightness of what they say. Witness Shirley (who got knocked up without benefit of sanctioned marriage), a Phelps daughter and spokesperson for the WBC, and her surety during her moments of airtime. And I’ve witnessed that same sort of belief in their message more than a couple of times. To be sure, continuing on in the face of public ridicule and abuse feeds into their martyr schtick, but when they get wound up, you can see the passion burning in their eyes.
This is beautiful in its simplicity and brevity. As well as it being an understatement of, well, Biblical proportions.
And as an aside, I remember when they call went out here in KC for the Awful Truth bit that Annie linked to. A friend not only went along, he managed to get some airtime. I’m going to send him the link. He’ll be so proud that he lives on in perpetuity on the internet.
Why would we want to waste our time annually commemorating anything to do with him, let alone make his death a central tenet of gay pride? Pride celebrations by and large commemorate the Stonewall riots which, despite four decades of myth-inflation, are rightly viewed as a flashpoint of the movement. That is something worth celebrating. The death of a bush-league publicity hound homophobe? I don’t pay strong attention to anything he does in life, why should I do anything to give him any attention in death?
This thread is giving him more attention than he deserves. He’s not a threat; he’s an annoyance. When he dies, it’ll be more like the feeling you get after a successful swat at a housefly.
I’m sorry to disagree, but Fred is a threat. I don’t relish the idea of keeping an eye on him, but it’s necessary.
The WBC whines about being attacked, but they have actually physically attacked people. Like the minister of my church. While pounding in a yard sign(it said “God’s Love Speaks Loudest”) near the sidewalk where the WBC was picketing us, they claimed he attacked THEM. Falsely said he threw the hammer at them, so they swarmed onto church property and four of their young men took him down, sitting on him until the cops arrived. Then they charged him with assault.
Once, when they were blocking a public sidewalk with their signs, a jogger tried to pass through. Shoving ensued and they took him down too.
One of their young children, a grandchild of Fred, was witnessed urinating onto the property of one church. He seemed to be encouraged by one of their women, probably an aunt or his mother. All were laughing.
It’s ugly behavior like that above, and more, that makes keeping an eye on the WBC needful.
Well, they’re so small a group that they’re no threat to society as we know it. Sure, individuals step out of line; but we don’t “watch” them and don’t need to watch these guys. No one gives a shit about his biblical interpretations. They’re a handful of brainwashed morons who, in decades of existence, have managed to recruit (mostly by force) a small number of assholes. Most of them are family members. This isn’t a movement. They’re more like a bowel movement. It passes.
Have you ever looked into the eyes of someone who is never-come-back insane? I have. What is burning in the eyes of the WBC members looks remarkably like that.
And we’re sure that “aunt” and “mother” are different people in this family?
I agree that the Phelps gang needs to be monitored. I don’t think anyone really pays as much attention to them as he would like but leaving any message of his sort unanswered is a bad idea.
Mercifully, no. I’ll take your word for it. Doesn’t change the fact that these are some dangerous sumbitches who’ve been sent to law school just to piss up the lives of those they get a hard on for. That’s what makes them truly dangerous.
And, this bunch of Phuckers being who and what they are, have a hard on for virtually any carbon based life form.
And elucidator: Go to your corner! Right now! Besides, Trent Lott has actually been the bitch before. He’d take it in a walk.
I disagree. Sure, they’re not a threat to our society, but Fred Phelps is a deeply sick, twisted individual. He’s a sadist and a sociopath with a messianic complex, and he thrives on causing pain to other people. I really, truly, sincerely hope he dies as soon as possible, because the longer he stays alive, the closer he comes to deciding that abusing his family and emotionally torturing random strangers isn’t enough, and he starts killing people. And that’s assuming that he hasn’t started already. I would not be the least surprised if some day they pull up the floor boards of the Phelps compound and find a whole mess of bodies.
