# Phelps and family (WBC) to protest funerals of MN 35W bridge victims **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 5, 2007, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528 "2007-08-05T18:51:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/61 "2007-08-06T23:25:21Z")
[QUOTE=vivalostwages] I suppose the Phelps clan will show up next at the mine in Montana where several people are trapped and blame that on the gay population as well. [/QUOTE] Only if there are fatalities - otherwise they’ll pretend it didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/62 "2007-08-06T23:25:45Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] Why do you imagine the Phelps church does these pickets? [/QUOTE] Mainly to remind us they exist. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/63 "2007-08-07T00:01:49Z")
[QUOTE=drm] Fred Phelps does something unthinkably callous…alert the presses. :rolleyes: You know what would really piss him off? If he got absolutely no attention at all. It’d be great! Look, we know the guy’s a schmuck, we know he’s going to act like a schmuck. This can’t conceivably surprise anybody unless they’ve been living under a rock, so why give him any attention at all. I just don’t get it. Why not just let him scream at a brick wall for the few years he has left then let the all the damn unpleasantness die along with him. Sheesh. [/QUOTE] This has been said before, and so I’ll repeat my standard response. Fred and his church are one of the exceptions to the “attention” rule. If you don’t pay them attention, or at least keep an eye on them, they just ratchet it up a notch. It’s possible to minimize the publicity they are given, but you have to watch, they are dangerous. I should know, I’ve done counter-picketing back in my salad days. I live in Topeka, which Fred calls home, and they often picket the church I attend. At a previous church I went to, they physically attacked our minister. So yes, sadly, we must watch out for them [QUOTE=kitemaker\_chuck] I want Phelps to defend himself in court! [/QUOTE] I suppose he could defend himself in court, but not as a lawyer. He’s been disbarred from both state and federal practice. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/64 "2007-08-07T00:28:20Z")
[QUOTE=Baker] I suppose he could defend himself in court, but not as a lawyer. He’s been disbarred from both state and federal practice. [/QUOTE] His daughter Shirley usually defends him when he needs it, or one of the other 54 kids who’s a lawyer. Gotta give 'em credit: they didn’t just decide to be America’s Most Hated Family one day, they went to college and got law degrees and formed a church and did it up brown all around. They _worked_ to be despised and get away with it. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/65 "2007-08-07T01:41:16Z")
[QUOTE=Baker] This has been said before, and so I’ll repeat my standard response. Fred and his church are one of the exceptions to the “attention” rule. If you don’t pay them attention, or at least keep an eye on them, they just ratchet it up a notch. It’s possible to minimize the publicity they are given, but you have to watch, they are dangerous. I should know, I’ve done counter-picketing back in my salad days. I live in Topeka, which Fred calls home, and they often picket the church I attend. At a previous church I went to, they physically attacked our minister. So yes, sadly, we must watch out for them [/QUOTE] Yeah, I hear what you’re saying but the problem I seem to have is that I don’t really know anything else that would work either. I have a sneaking suspicion reason won’t work… ---
**Author:** ![Reepicheep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@Reepicheep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reepicheep)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/66 "2007-08-07T02:04:02Z")
[QUOTE=Baker] At a previous church I went to, they physically attacked our minister. [/QUOTE] Please tell me your former minister sued both WBC collectively, and each person individually, who attacked him. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/67 "2007-08-07T02:16:15Z")
[QUOTE=Reepicheep] Please tell me your former minister sued both WBC collectively, and each person individually, who attacked him. [/QUOTE] As I recall **Baker** ’s previous retelling of the incident, the Phelpses not only assaulted the minister, they held him down and demanded police arrest _him_ for attacking _them_. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/68 "2007-08-07T02:23:38Z")
Yep, he was pounding in a yard sign, they were on the sidewalk nearby, head of hammer popped off, they say he threw it at them, surged onto the lawn, took him down, and charged him with assault later. So the church had to counter charge, and both sides eventually agreed to drop charges. To this day I think he wasn’t supported enough, especially by the church council. It was the beginning of my dissatisfaction at that congregation. Rev. Weeks took a call to another congregation less than a year after that was all over, and I don’t blame him. He was a good guy and I missed him. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/69 "2007-08-07T14:11:59Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] Exactly. Smile. Give them flowers or a bottle of cold water and a sandwich. Cheerfully ask whatever Supreme Being(s) you follow to bless them. Whatever you do, don’t play the game as they’re expecting you to. Follow the recommendation in _Matthew 5:39_ and turn the other cheek. THAT is how you change minds. And if, instad, they get pissed at you, maybe they’ll attack you and then you get to sue the pants off them. [/QUOTE] Probably already been done, but has anyone thought of picketing the Phelpses’ demos with placards saying ‘Jesus Forgives Bigots’ etc.? ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/70 "2007-08-07T14:24:14Z")
Somehow Fred Phelps and bridges seem like a natural pairing. I can see him dwelling under them, demanding to know who’s clip-clopping over them. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/71 "2007-08-07T15:09:26Z")
[QUOTE=danceswithcats] Ears? So they can hear you coming? [/QUOTE] _snort_ ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/72 "2007-08-07T20:26:15Z")
[QUOTE=Staggerlee] Probably already been done, but has anyone thought of picketing the Phelpses’ demos with placards saying ‘Jesus Forgives Bigots’ etc.? [/QUOTE] Back before the City Council got it’s feeble law in place, to keep aggressive picketers a certain distance away from church property, from a half hour before to a half hour after services, one Episcopal congregation, a particular target of the WBC, had “witnessing”. They, and any like minded souls, went out on the sidewalks by their church, with signs that said “God is Love”, “Jesus Loves You”, and “Love One Another”. I stood with them a lot. Their priest was vocal against the practises of the WBC. One time the diocesan bishop,(now retired), William Smalley, came and helped hold the signs. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/73 "2007-08-07T20:38:41Z")
[QUOTE=Staggerlee] Probably already been done, but has anyone thought of picketing the Phelpses’ demos with placards saying ‘Jesus Forgives Bigots’ etc.? [/QUOTE] Last time they were in the Twin Cities in Minnesota to picket, many people pledged money, they would donate $1, $5 or whatever for every minute this clan picketed the high school. That raised a good amount for a local charity. I don’t know if that was the cause, but they seemed to wrap up their picketing pretty quickly. As soon as the press and TV reporters did their stories, the Phelps clan packed up and headed out of there. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/74 "2007-08-07T20:47:00Z")
The day that Phelps and his clan _don’t_ send out a press release calling this or that event God’s punishment for American not lynching gays is the day I start scanning the internet for his obituary. For me, the final straw was the protesting of the little murdered Amish girls. I knew then he was beyond redemption. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/75 "2007-08-07T20:53:14Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] For me, the final straw was the protesting of the little murdered Amish girls. I knew then he was beyond redemption. [/QUOTE] Yeah, that was pretty much it for me too. Just when I thought they couldn’t possibly pick a more harmless, more devoutly religious target than Mister Rogers… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/76 "2007-08-08T00:06:58Z")
What was that website, with the expose about how abusive he was to his family? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2007, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/77 "2007-08-08T00:38:40Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] What was that website, with the expose about how abusive he was to his family? [/QUOTE] [Addicted to Hate](http://blank.org/addict/) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/78 "2007-08-09T00:33:26Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/79 "2007-08-09T01:45:46Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Lance Murdoch] Aren’t we past calling people fags? [/QUOTE] Semantic drift is so _gay_! (Try to prove what I meant by that.) ---
**Author:** ![kitemaker\_chuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a88e4f/32.png) [@kitemaker\_chuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitemaker_chuck)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528/80 "2007-08-09T04:45:38Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Yeah, that was pretty much it for me too. Just when I thought they couldn’t possibly pick a more harmless, more devoutly religious target than Mister Rogers… ☹ [/QUOTE] Doesn’t this Phelps idiot ever walk down any dark alleys at night…ALONE??? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phelps-and-family-wbc-to-protest-funerals-of-mn-35w-bridge-victims/414528.md?page=5)