You know, it’s almost like a religious folie a deux with Phreddy as the passive partner. He gets off on the idea of violent divine retribution so he paints outside the lines to connect a violent event to a perceived personal insult or injury (slights against the WBC, the existence of gays, Sweden, his sinful attraction to Al Gore’s ass, etc.) in order to get off on God, his dominant “partner,” killing people.
I think we may have hit upon the active pathology. Now all we need to do is give that pathology an aluminum bat so it can hit back.
I don’t understand this; Mr. Phelps thinks that young Amish girls were killed by a random murderous pedophile because the governor of Pennsylvania slandered Mr. Phelps’ “church?” I can not find any sort of logic to this. None. I think perhaps Mr. Phelps is crazy.
The media has no business covering Phelps anymore. I really beleive that if he never saw another news camera at a funeral pointed at him, this shit would stop in short order.
I understand that Phelps WAS news at one time, and there was a legitimacy in covering him. But they figured out long ago that he and his little proto-nazi cult are just that, deranged loons listening to their nutty God.
He is well understood, He is no longer noteworthy. We would all be far better served if the media completely ignored his existence.
Come to think of it, rendition to a foreign CIA prison seems oddly appropriate. Rumor has it that Syria has one. Ooh, I bet those boys have real pointy knives. And waterboarding – my suggestion is that they should try to interpret it as a form of baptism.
My husband came in in horror this afternoon to tell me he’d just heard about Phelps and his ilk’s plan to picket the Amish funerals. Thanks to you guys, I was able to give him a thorough education on Phelps’ message, techniques, etc. Since he works at a military hospital that gets a lot of wounded soldiers, I’m surprised he’d managed to remain ignorant for this long. O blessed ignorance.
We seem to be experiencing similar thought processes, except that I was thinking: Isn’t deer archery season about to open in Pennsylvania? Wonder how hard it would be to mistake Phelps and his entourage for deer. A group of unusually well-organized, bipedal deer.
No jury in the Commonwealth would convict that hunter. :mad:
Indeed, even Satan couldn’t be so psychotic as the God that Phelps believes in.
I, for one, think that anyone planning on taking out Phelps should come armed with a wooden stake, in addition to any other impliments they might want to bring. Garlic would be good as well, you want to make sure that the bastard stays dead.
The only thing the killing of the Amish girls and Phred’s reaction to it proves, is that only the good die young. (While evil bastards live on forever.)
I’ve lived in Pennsylvania throughout Governor Rendell’s term, so when I first saw this thread, I wondered what Phelps was blathering about. Then I remembered. A while ago, there was talk of passing a bill which would make it illegal to have protests within a certain distance of funerals. I don’t remember if it passed. I assume this is what Phelps meant by slandering and mocking Westboro Baptist Church. Believe me, Freddy boy, if you think that’s slandering and mocking, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!
I can’t imagine what it would be like to live with such twisted cruelty, hate, and horror in one’s heart (that applies to the gunman, too, actually), but it must be a truly hellacious way to live. Part of me actually feels sorry for Phelps, but I won’t mourn his death.
I am almost disappointed that Phelps et al didn’t go through with it. This is the sort of thing that would have prompted someone to finally murder him.
And then the murderer’s lawyer could have used Armand Assante’s ‘Yeah, my client did it, but the victims were scumbags’ defense from last week’s ER.
That would have been some grimly satisfying justice, but the idea is still overshadowed by relief that the Amish won’t have to deal with that ass muncher in a time of what must be their greatest tragedy in recent memory. They’ll now be allowed to remain enviously ignorant of Phreddy Phelps and the Westboro Bastard Church.
I guess I’m a little surprised at the venom and violence of the language here. I’d expect disgust, mockery and cynicism from Dopers, but the calls for murder are a little off-putting.
My program director and I debated this morning whether to include the story in our morning newscasts – we had audio, some of it pretty inflamatory, and we again reviewed our mission of shining a light into the dark corners of society. Ultimately, we chose to ignore it. The story’s all over the media, and we frankly couldn’t see a way of doing the story without mentioning the talk show host who offered the free air time, and that was just way too slimey, even for us, to talk about.
I’m one of the most ardent free-speech advocates in America, but I have to think this is off the map. “Hate speech” that causes harm to innocent victims needs to be outside the protection of the First Amendment.
Sorry, Sunrazor, but how do you define hate speech? Sure, you and I can agree, but what if someone says what Al Franken or Rush Limbaugh say is hate speech?
I favor the “Shine the light” on them approach…sunshine kills mildew, so let’s point the spotlight on them and let the world see them spout their garbage. Then they know, and realize there’s a huge difference between Phelps Christianity and Amish Christianity.
I swear, I am going to die, get up to heaven, sneak behind God’s throne while nobody’s watching, and steal a couple of thunderbolts just to zap this guy. Where’s the smiting when you really need it?
I think Phelps is living in his own hell. Honestly, when do you think the last time was that this man that felt any joy or happiness? If he is a closeted gay, as some believe, he is filled with self-loathing. What’s sad is that he’s causing so many other people pain, but it does my heart good to see people willing to step up and shield mourners from this guy’s pickets.
