Rev. Fred Phelps Counter-Protest ...Tracy,CA ... Sat, June 11, 2005

[nikraye]

Fred Phelps (godhatesfags.com)and his hate-mongers in Northern California this Saturday in Tracy, CA.

From yesterday's BACW (Bay Area Career Women) email:

!!ACTION ALERT!!
Reverend Fred ("God Hates Fags") Phelps
Counter-Protest • Tracy, CA

Saturday June 11 • 9am - 4pm
Please RSVP as soon as possible by calling Jeff Gianelli at
209-480-3622 or by emailing at [e-mail]


Members of The Westborough Baptist Church, creators of the notorious website "http://www.godhatesfags.com/" and their supporters, are coming to in Tracy, CA on June 11! The group, led by Pastor Fred Phelps, plans to promote hatred and intolerance at the Tracy High School graduation at Tracy High School, 315 E. 11th St., Tracy, CA, from 9 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.. The protest has been launched in an attempt to rile up controversy over Tracy High's highly dynamic and well known GSA student club. Local media has already been alerted and the protest is sure to be well publicized.

Are we going to allow such a ludicrous display of hatred slide without voicing our opposition? HECK NO! GSA in Turlock is spearheading a counter protest and will be working with Equality California in Stanislaus and San Joaquin to gather supporters. Together, we can show the Central Valley that we will not tolerate intolerance. There will be a "peace day" in the park across the street from the high school from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. The main counter protests will take place at 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., but supporters are invited to attend the peace day foras long as they wish.

We encourage you to bring a sign promoting GLBT equality with you to this event. Signs should not display messages that exhibit the same sort of hatred that our counterparts will be exhibiting. Instead, we should focus on showing the world that we will peacefully and respectfully continue to stand up for equality.

Those of you that wish to be a part of this crucial event should be aware that The Westborough Baptist Church protesters may behave immaturely and demeaningly towards counter protesters. IT IS CRUCIAL THAT NO COUNTER PROTESTERS ENGAGE IN HOSTILE BEHAVIOR, NAME CALLING, OR ANY SORT PHYSICAL CONTACT. IF YOU FEEL THAT YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CONTROL WHATEVER NEGATIVE EMOTIONS MAY ARISE, IT MIGHT BE BEST TO SIT THIS ONE OUT.

Parking and space are an issue. Please see if you are able to form carpools. As the high school graduates will be using most of the parking spaces near the school, please plan to park in a less crowded area and do some walking. Please contact the organizer for more parking information. (see contact info above)

[Chovexani]

1. I'll be cheering you on from the other coast

This miserable, hateful little man and his cult need to be confronted every time they pull this crap. I always love seeing the pics of counter-protesters, it gives me so much hope.

[Ian David]

2. 8 Things you need to know about Fred Phelps

*1) Fred Phelps protested at the funeral of Mister Rogers, and says "Mister
Rogers Caused the Space Shuttle Disaster."*

Neighborhood menace
... Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. ... late Fred
Rogers
would've reacted to Fred Phelps' calumnies by turning the other cheek. ...
http://www.post-gazette.com/columnists/20030307tony107col2p2.asp

Mister Rogers Caused the Space Shuttle Disaster
... And, of course, there could be only one man in America bizarre enough to
protest Mister Rogers -- you guessed it, Fred Phelps. ...
http://brian.carnell.com/3556

God, Buggery, and Mister Rogers by Ralph R. Reiland -- Capitalism ...
... were swarming recently outside Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh to reveal the will
of
God regarding Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and a few other devilish things.
http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=2783

More:
http://tinyurl.com/9qukj


*2) Fred Phelps says "God Hates America" and says we deserved the 9/11 attack.
He has a website called GodHatesAmerica.com*

God Hates America -- A Warning to the USA!!!
Site affiliated with Godhatesfags.com records debate between anti-gay activist
Fred W. Phelps, Sr., with Harvard-trained theologian John Rankin on the ...
http://www.godhatesamerica.com/

Day Of God's Wrath
... Listen to Fred Phelps' sermons: GOD HATES AMERICA Part 1 and GOD HATES
AMERICA
Part 2! To learn more about what America is in store for, read the book ...
www.godhatesfags.com/main/dayofterror.html - 33k - Cached - Similar pages
http://www.godhatesfags.com/main/dayofterror.html

BaptistWatch.org Exposing zealots like Fred Phelps
A site dedicated to exposing religious zealots like Fred Phelps... ... He runs
two websites: God Hates America and God Hates Fags ...
www.baptistwatch.org/fredphelps.html - 12k - Cached - Similar pages

More:
http://tinyurl.com/dmj7b



*3) Fred Phelps gullibly cited an article in The Onion, a satire magazine, as
evidence of homosexual recruitment.*

A recent cover story, '98 HOMOSEXUAL-RECRUITMENT DRIVE NEARING GOAL was picked
up by Fred Phelps, architect of the notorious God Hates Fags Web site, who
listed the article as proof of a gay conspiracy. Onion Webmaster Jack Szwergold
quickly doctored the link so that Phelps groupies who clicked on it would be
transported to The Onion's homepage, where they would understand (he hoped)
that it was a spoof of the very kind of homophobic paranoia Phelps peddles.
http://wired-vig.wired.com/wired/archive/7.03/onion.html

Anti-gay Parents Say Satire = Evidence
http://exgay.blogs.com/xgw/2004/04/antigay_parents.html

*4) Phelps thanks God for the South Asian Tsunami.*
The tsunami was an adumbration of the wrath of God, a harbinger of things to
come: that Great Day of Judgment. Amos 3:6 "Shall a trumpet be blown in the
city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD
hath not done it?" That word translated "evil" there is means distress, misery,
injury, calamity. The answer, of course, to the rhetorical question posed in
this verse is a resounding "NO!" See also Romans 1:18 "For the wrath of God is
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who
hold the truth in unrighteousness;" And you wonder if this is the wrath of God?
http://www.godhatesfags.com/main/faq.html#Tsunami


*5) Phelps calls Catholics " idolatrous morons" and "The Church of the Holy Fags
and Pedophiles." And says The Pope is in Hell.*

Deal with it, you idolatrous morons: The Pope is in Hell!
http://www.godhatesfags.com/featured/20050404_pope-john-paul-ii-in-hell.html

WBC to picket Palmer High School
http://www.godhatesfags.com/fliers/may2005/20050517_palmer-high-school.pdf

*6) Phelps has protested against The Fire Department of New York 3 times since
9/11 and calls it "a fag department."*

MR. ROGERS IS GOING TO HELL, THE FDNY IS EVIL BUT HE LOVES THEM ANYWAY: THE
GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PASTOR FRED PHELPS.

Mr. Rogers is in hell, apparently. So says America's most vitriolic and
controversial Baptist preacher, Reverend Fred Phelps. On May 3, Phelps and his
Westboro Baptist Church congregation will picket a memorial service for Rogers,
attempting to educate its attendees on the evils of the revered PBS icon.

FRED: Well, it hasn't been long ago. We've been up there three times since Sept.
11 picketing with big signs that say "Thank God For Sept. 11" and that the FDNY
is a fag fire department.
BT: Why's that?
FRED: Well because they're laced with fags and their fag agenda and their
chaplain was a fag priest named Mychal Judge
FRED: And any outfit that's that dumb or evil -- I mean an out-of-the closet fag
priest?! And they bragged about it! And they need to be picketed. And they're
not heroes and we got signs that say all that.
When St. Patrick's Cathedral was honoring them on a Sunday not long after Sept.
11 and they had all those fire trucks lined up there and they're praising them
to the high heavens then we were over there with signs saying that they're not
heroes and they're all bound for hell. Now, that's the way you preach

More:
http://www.blacktable.com/daulerio030401.htm

*7) Phelps is a disbarred lawyer.*
Anti-gay church known for its no-shows
The New Mexican/March 25, 2005
By Henry M. Lopez
Civic and religious leaders in Santa Fe have slightly more than three weeks to
prepare for the arrival of anti-gay activists from Kansas who Wednesday
announced their intention to picket churches and city government they deem
accepting of gays. The group, however, has a history of no-shows for such
events.
-snip-
Phelps earned a law degree from Washburn University in Topeka and was admitted
to the bar that year. He was disbarred in Kansas for ethical violations in
1979, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
More:
http://www.rickross.com/reference/westboro/westboro30.html

*8) For a wealth of information on Fred Phelps:*

Wikipedia
Fred Phelps (born November 13, 1929) is the controversial leader of the Westboro
Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, United States, which is notorious for its web
sites godhatesfags.com and godhatesamerica.com. Gay rights activists, as well
both mainstream and fundamentalist Christians, have denounced him as a producer
of anti-gay propaganda and violence-inspiring hate speech. The church is located
in the basement of his home, which is the center of a block-wide fenced
compound, the other houses in which are occupied by nine of his thirteen
children.

More:
http://tinyurl.com/d5nzd

Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church: In Their Own Words
From The Anti-Defamation League
About The Westboro Baptist Church
At the funeral of gay murder victim Matthew Shepard, they held up signs reading
"No Fags in Heaven" and "God Hates Fags." According to their Web site, they
have staged "20,000" protests across the nation and around the world in the
last decade. They believe that "God's hatred is one of His holy attributes."
They are the congregants of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas.
More:
http://www.adl.org/special_reports/wbc/print.asp

Fred Phelps talks about Jews
http://tinyurl.com/744k5

[nikraye]

3. Phelps is unquestionably mentally ill...

The amazing thing, tho, is that he actually has FOLLOWERS. It's a case of the psychopath leading the psychopaths.

Most disturbing is that Phelps drags his grandchildren along to these staged protests of his, makes them wear "God Hates Fags" T-shirts and carry equally offensive signs. These kids ought to be taken away from him by the child protective services on the grounds that 1) Phelps is mentally unfit and 2) putting the children in harm's way (let's face it, one of these days, he's going to provoke the ire of a big burly group of America-loving patriots who are going to get physical with Phelps and his followers.)

I never thought I'd see the day when my people (GLBT) and flag-waving American patriots would be standing together against a common evil, i.e., Fred Phelps.

[TaleWgnDg]

4. Uuuummmmm . . . GLBT folks ARE flag-waving American ppl ! n/t