In all honesty, to me, whether Fred Phelps lives or dies, is a moot point.

[Jamastiene]

His daughters have long since taken over the church and run it now. The hatred will still be there with or without him. A lot of people think cutting off the head of that church will end the hate. It will not. The daughters have been running the show for the past 10 years or so. So, that part will not change. He is just the figurehead of the church nowadays anyhow.

To me, the real story is why he was excommunicated back in August 2013. I'm really interested in why that happened. No one has told why yet. I wish some journalists would dig into why that happened and get the story, because that is something I want to see.

I don't begrudge people who feel pleasure over him dying though. As a gay woman, I understand the feeling and would never begrudge anyone that pleasure. He has caused irreparable harm to the GLBT community for decades now. I say more power to those who are able to feel any animosity at all at the thought of his passing.

Me? I feel nothing at the thought of his passing. The reason I stated above is why I feel nothing. His legacy of hate lives on with his daughters who now run the church and will continue to be a thorn in the sides of the GLBT community for the foreseeable future. Whether he lives or dies doesn't amount to a hill of beans in my life, one way or the other. I refuse to waste any emotion on such a horrid, wretched man anyhow.

I do have a problem, however, with those who want to go to his funeral and stand out there sending love to him. I don't see having some kind of lovey dovey religious love-a-thon for him at his funeral like some are proposing. Whether they agreed with his anti-gay, anti-everything beliefs, or not, the idea of sending him love is preposterous. The man never responded to love in his entire life. He only had hatred and only sent out hatred. Sending him love is a waste of resources and a waste of love.

Send that love and resources (in the form of donations) to some groups of people who deserve it. Make donations to gay youth organizations or other GLBT charities instead. It would actually help people who need it instead of wasting the resources to get to Topeka and fawn over him to try to "take the high road."

That "take the high road" mentality, in this case, is bullshit. Trying to pretend that you are better than him seems kind of ridiculous. Think about it. Do you really need to try to prove you are better than a man who poisoned himself with that kind of seething, lifelong, obsessive hatred? If so, what is wrong in your life than you think you need to do that? It should be a given that most people are less hateful than he is/was, already. So trying to prove you are somehow better than him is a waste of time, effort, and energy. Get down off the cross. We need the wood to try to build houses and help people who need it.

Let the man live or die and ignore his ass. Do something positive and productive instead of wasting love, piety, and self aggrandizing "we are better than that" grandstanding on someone who definitely does not deserve it. It's bullshit.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Very true.

[Behind the Aegis]

2. Thank you!!!!!

You have summed it up in a way that I just couldn't do right now. We have every right to express our anger, frustration, and yes, even hate, if we so desire.

You rock!

[Heidi]

3. I would not in a million years protest the man's funeral

Last edited Mon Mar 17, 2014, 10:35 AM - Edit history (1)

or participate in any kind of "love in" for him, lest anyone be led to believe I ever found him relevant. The man is now old and vulnerable, and his family has done to him what he taught them to do to marginalized folks. He's reaping what he sowed.

I agree with you 100 percent, Jama. Recommended.

Let the man live or die and ignore his ass.

[Jamastiene]

8. Thank you.

The best way to respond to his death is to live life as usual.

[Daemonaquila]

4. Thank you - that's perfect.

I've been nauseous, seeing all the "we are better than that" intellectually dishonest posting. It's healthy to be happy that the guy is out of the picture and experiencing a tiny piece of the hate and misery he has caused, just as it's important to understand that his poisonous family lives on and there's a foe out there with a different first name now. It's fine to wish ill on ALL the hateful Phelpses, and there's no shame in celebrating that there's one less - especially when the grave dancing takes the form of helping those he has tried so hard to fill with shame, fear, and pain,

[Jamastiene]

11. Thank you.

The idea of wasting time showing love to someone like him when there are so many gay kids on the verge of suicide is odd. Those people who want to do the love-in idea need to stop and care about them instead, imo.

[LuvNewcastle]

5. Well said.

Whether he dies sooner or later makes no difference to me. The morning after he dies, I will get up and start my day and live my as a proud and mostly happy gay man. That's the best way I can think of to mark his passing. Our people will endure and he will be forgotten, just as it should be.

[Jamastiene]

7. Exactly.

The best "revenge" is living as happily and healthily as possible and don't even waste any emotion on that hateful, vile jerk.

[davidpdx]

6. Make a donation in HIS name

Whoa there is the pay back.

[Jamastiene]

9. You could do that too.

In any case, just don't give the rest of his hatemonger family the satisfaction of a reaction. They WANT people to react and pay attention to them. They are not worth it. It is better to live free, happy, healthy, and love the GLBT community.

[Iggo]

10. Not to me.

I'm happy he's dying and I'll be glad when he's dead.

Couldn't happen to a nicer bigoted shitfuck.

[Jamastiene]

16. I can understand that feeling a million times more

than all the ones who are talking about some giant love-in at his funeral. There are a lot of people, even right here on DU, who want to send love to him after he dies, to prove they are somehow better than him. Something is wrong if someone feels the need to prove they are better than him, of all people. I don't get that. What a waste of love, effort, money to get to his funeral and act all pompous, money that could have gone to GLTB charities/organizations, and time.

I hear ya. I understand the feeling. I had the same feeling when Jessie Helms and Jerry Falwell died. For some odd reason, though, I just don't have that feeling about Phelps. I believe it is because the rest of his horrid family will keep right on doing the same crap they have been doing. So, it won't end with him. That is probably the reason why I'm not feeling any end to the hate any time soon if he does die. I'm beginning to wonder if the man's death is really as imminent as his one good son said it was.

[Behind the Aegis]

12. Again, thank you.

Your post is awesome and not at all sanctimonious.

[Jamastiene]

17. Thank you too.

[LiberalAndProud]

13. That was my thought as well.

A mortal man is dying. I will dance on the day the hate dies. Elsewise, meh.

[Jamastiene]

18. Yes, the date hate dies, I will be right there with you.

I really does seem there is always another equally, if not worse, hatemonger to take the place of the latest one who dies. The death of hate will be cause for a major celebration, though.

[William769]

14. Right on the money Jamastiene.

[Jamastiene]

20. Thank you.

[Cleita]

15. You hit the crux of the real problem.

His evil will live on longer than him because no one did anything to stop him in his tracks while he was alive. His whole movement needed to be exposed and discredited for the money making scheme that it was. The evil done by Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rice will live on longer than them because they are still allowed to run around free, make money and enjoy prestige. No one is exposing them for what they are and bringing them to justice.

In my fairly long life, I have come to the conclusion if you don't want evil to continue, you must destroy the source so it doesn't spread. I don't mean a violent destroy but one of justice.

[Jamastiene]

22. I wish, for once, MSM would get off its butt

and do a full exposé on just what kind of scam artists that group really is. They might have regular jobs, but their biggest sources of income is suing people to let them hate more and more.

I agree with you. Expose them for what they are and use whatever legal means necessary to quash that type of hatred from coming to power in the first place.

[snooper2]

19. Actually, his SONS have taken over, Shirley got kicked to the fucking curb

something I find fucking hilarious!

[Jamastiene]

21. I read about that after I posted the OP.

She is almost, well, maybe even more, as obnoxious as her father.

[closeupready]

23. Louis Theroux did a terrific documentary about WBC and Fred Phelps

It's on Youtube:

I loves me some Louis Theroux!

[Jamastiene]

24. Thank you.

I'll watch it in a little while.