Hate-Filled Insanity

[Vita Curator]

 I needed to vent a little today about The Westboro Baptist Church.  This week in my neck of the woods, my entire community was affected by an unspeakable tragedy.  Our loving, peaceful, private neighbors were the victims of unconscionable violence.  Every one of us that lives here has shared in their anguish.  Five, beautiful, sweet and loving girls had their lives snuffed out and five are now fighting for their lives.

Today, four of the little girls will be buried.  Thankfully, now their families will be able to bury them this morning without fear of protest.  This small blessing came yesterday when the Westboro Baptist Church called off its plans to picket the funerals as a form of protest against our governor.  This past June our governor signed into law a bill that was designed to restrict the activities of this so-called "church" by making it a crime to demonstrate within 500 feet of a funeral or memorial service in PA.   Yesterday, the governor took to the airwaves and called them all "insane".  The "church" planned to protest at the funerals in retaliation for their claim that Gov. Rendell has "slandered, mocked and ridiculed" them and for using his power to "destroy" the church and "silence" their message.

Nationally syndicated radio talk show host Mike Gallagher came forward and offered an hour of airtime to them in exchange for dropping their "protest" at the funerals.  Gallagher said he negotiated the deal with Shirley Phelps-Roper who will fly to NY today for the 10 am show.   Gallagher states he made the offer because he, like the rest of us found it unfathomable that they would want to hurt these people more than they have already been hurt.  He said that the show would be difficult this morning, but that it will be worth it if he can keep these people away from the Amish.

To have these people outside the homes of the Amish as the funerals commence and then at the burial plot would have caused overwhelming anguish and indignity to an intensely private, solemn and peaceful people.

There is just no end to the hate-filled insanity of these people.  Let us just hope that Phelps-Roper keeps her end of the bargain and her group stays far away from PA today.

[Teripie]

With the church's cadre of lawyers I'm surprised that they acquiesced so easily. Don't they normally threaten a state with major litigation when one passes a law forbidding their nasty antics? And don't most governments back down? I was wondering if the states and local governments back down because they fear long expensive legal battles. If that's the case, maybe someone should start a "Fight Phelps in Court" fund. I know I'd scrounge up $20 from somewhere to toss into the pot!

These people are pure evil.

[Opsa]

This whole tragedy has had me so upset. I can't believe that anyone would want to interfere with anyone's funeral for any reason. That's just not right in any way, shape or form.

What a great positive step by Mr. Mike Gallagher, to offer that crazy 'church' some of his airtime to get it off their chests. I don't know who he is, but from now on, I'm paying attention. He sounds like Toadfish material to me. He came up with a peaceful solution. Sure, it'll help his ratings to have those lunatics on, but if it stops them from crashing the dignity of the Amish community, then more power to him.

The crazier the world seems, the more important it is to  keep our wits about us and try to find reasonable ways to repair the damage.

[Aphos]

The Westboro group (in my opinion, they do not deserve the term church) is totally lacking in empathy and compassion.  Christianity, as I understand it, is supposed to be about love of your fellow man, not hate.

[Vita Curator]

 Well, thank goodness, they stayed away and the funerals were held with minimal intrusion by the media.

I don't have satellite radio so I was not able to listen to any of the radio broadcast.  If anyone heard any of it, let me know how it went.  It must have been very hard listening to that woman for a whole hour. 

[Libralabrat]

These people are the reason the Patriot Guard Riders exist. I am a member, and me and my scooter have attended one ride to escort soldiers home from the Airport. What the PGR does is provides security and privacy for families of dead servicemembers. IF the WBC nuts show up, they have a large double row of peaceful bikers with American Flags blocking them from the grieving family.

BTW, is there a toadfish emblem I can put on either my scooter or my helmet? I already have a skull and bones on the front, and an FSM on the helmet. Many of the other riders have asked me about my beliefs. Most of them are Christian, but are good natured guys, as motorcyclists tend to be.

Rest assured, had there been a problem, the local PGR chapter would have mobilized.

[Opsa]

Interesting that you mention an emblem. We have been discussing this. I'll open another thread about that and meet you there.

[NeferKa the Bodhipasta]

Here's a question I have in regard to those people who protest at other's funerals: have they never lost someone they care about before? I don't get why they would want to inflict more pain upon people who are already suffering because they lost a loved one.

[Sibling Chatty]

The more you read about the Phelps bunch, the sooner you realize that this is a whole family of sociopaths. They've been trained to not know or be any different. The old man's psychotic, and he inflicted psychosis on the next generations.

The implications are terrifying.

[Opsa]

That's the danger of following anyone blindly.

When somebody asks you not to use your own mind, it should be a signal to run like heck. If the creator gave us minds, I should think he/she/it would want us to use them.

[Teripie]

Isn't Phelps incredibly abusive? I think I read somewhere he was/is. Could this possibly lead to a Stockholm syndrome kind of situation with his followers?

[Aphos]

His family was raised in this environment from birth.  They have never known anything else.  Is it surprising that they follow blindly.  There has never been anyone to teach them anything else.

[Vita Curator]

LLR...

Tonight on The NBC Nightly News they ran a story on the Patriot Guard Riders.  What a cool group of people!  What a wonderful way to honor the dead and protect the families from these psychopaths. 

I think that what they do is terrific but at the same time am relieved that the Amish did not need their services yesterday or today.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Re: the Phelps bunch.

I'm all for freedom of speech, indeed I'd be one of the first to volunteer to fight to keep that right.

However, we, as a society, do place certain limits on the freedom to say what you want.  We accept these limits for a variety of reasons.

One of the most obvious, is you cannot yell "fire" in a crowded theater (unless, there really IS a fire, of course!)

Another limit on the freedom of speech, is defamation and slander.  Most, if not all locales have laws limiting what you may say about another person - and this is a limit on the freedom to speak your mind.

So, also should these Phelps bunch be silenced - at least when a burial ritual is taking place.  I would be quite comfortable with severe limits on the freedom to speak your mind, if there were a ritual-burial ceremony going on.  Before and after, okay -- but with reasonable time-frame limits, say an hour each way?

For me, let the punishment fit the crime:  someone "crashing" a burial ceremony should themselves be immediately buried, using the burial style as chosen by the victims affected by the crasher.

I prefer cremation, myself ... *











_____________________

* you will note that I said nothing about killing them first ... :eye-roll:

[NeferKa the Bodhipasta]

I think that a family's right to bury a loved one in peace should take precedence over the Phelps' right to protest. This situation angers me.