Protesting at Soldier's Funeral

[michaz]

Why come from Kansas to Upstate NY and carry signs that say, "God Hates Your Children", "Pray for More Dead Soldiers" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers"? Protesting the war is one thing but this is just sick. This is about to take place tomorrow at the funeral of one of my husband's former students. I just don't know how I am going to keep my cool with this one!

[Ghost in the Machine]

1. Take a paintball gun with you and shoot the bastards.

Has anyone contacted the Patriot Guard Riders? http://www.patriotguard.org/

It might be too late for this fallen soldier, but others need to hear more about this group.

[Bucky]

21. Excellent! I approve this response.

[Omaha Steve]

2. They travel the country with this slimy message from God

They won a legal opinion in their favor here in Nebraska. There is now a group that travels the state to oppose them when they are here.

[smaug]

9. What a defamation of God

this organization is. The ultimate nutjob Xtianist group, whose defilation of religion in general is simply the most monstrous example of wingnuttery gone amuck. This group, being profiled on the BBC, is simply a American Taliban organ which details what low point the practice has devolved into.

I'm embarrassed that they are citizens of my country. Maybe the wingnuts in the Texas legislature can modify their Senate Bill 28 to include as second class citizens those who perpetrate 180 degree digressions from Christian Gospel and attempt to foist it off as the same. Nah, it would disenfranchise Dumbya's 28% base wholesale, now wouldn't it?

[Breeze54]

3. What town?

Is this the Phelps asshat morons?

Gouveneur, NY ??

If so, The Patriot Guard is also going...en mass...

http://www.patriotguard.org/ALLForums/tabid/61/forumid/11/postid/467326/view/topic/Default.aspx

We will be riding en masse to French's Funeral Home, 16 Barnes Street, Gouveneur, New York.
Calling hours will be 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. At about 2 p.m. we will be escorting the hearse to a local cemetery.

[michaz]

6. Yes, Gouverneur, NY

It is some church from Topeka, Kansas. is their website according to the paper. Just unreal to me, I can't even fathom this.

[Breeze54]

7. They say they will be there but

a lot of times they don't show up or are blocked access by the police and the PG.

These people are demented.
They're from the same family and all are lawyers too!
Unbelievable assholes!.

This is one way the PG blocks them if they show up.
I sure wouldn't get in their way!!

http://www.patriotguard.org/photos/listpics.asp?a=dl&ID=28867

http://www.patriotguard.org/photos/listpics.asp?dir=West+Virginia%5CSgt++Matthew+D++Hunter++31++of+Valley+Grove++WV

[Monkeyman]

11. IL made I law it goes as far as it can

These pukes have to stay 300 yards away from the entrance.

[Breeze54]

14. Good! I think they're banned from the

National Cemetary too or all Federal cemetaries.

[DesertRat]

19. I'm so thankful for what the patriot guard does

I can't even fathom the additional pain that seeing those horrible "thank god for dead soldiers" would bring to grieving family members!

[DesertRat]

17. Please remove the link to that hateful group!

Edit: thank you for removing the link.

[krispos42]

18. Westboro Baptist Church. Fred Phelps and his minions.

They are lower than whale shit.

I am sorry for you loss. :hugs:

They protested at the funeral Saturday before last for my boss' dead nephew. About 30 or so Patriot Guard Riders were on hand for escort duties to the funeral home from the airport, and about 350(!) PGRs were there at the services to keep the protestors at bay. Along with the big trucks of the local fire department and sanitation department.

I wrote about it in my Journal. These are some of the funeral, keeping those assholes away.




The Patriot Guard Riders are planning on being there. I hope that's enough. The whale shits are planning to be there too. If you're stomach is strong, you can read their vileness in their announcement of a 'Love Crusade' ( :barf: ) here.

[michaz]

8. Are you really coming?

Did you know of this in advance?

[Breeze54]

12. I'm not going.

But the PG seem to always be on top of it! ;)
I'm not a biker nor do I have access to one.

Patriot Guard Riders Mission Statement

http://www.patriotguard.org/

The Patriot Guard Riders is a diverse amalgamation of riders from across the nation.
We have one thing in common besides motorcycles. We have an unwavering respect for
those who risk their very lives for America’s freedom and security.
If you share this respect, please join us.

We don’t care what you ride or if you ride, what your political views are, or whether
you’re a hawk or a dove. It is not a requirement that you be a veteran. It doesn't matter
where you’re from or what your income is; you don’t even have to ride.
The only prerequisite is Respect.

Our main mission is to attend the funeral services of fallen American heroes as invited guests
of the family. Each mission we undertake has two basic objectives.

1. Show our sincere respect for our fallen heroes, their families, and their communities.

2. Shield the mourning family and their friends from interruptions created by any protestor or group of protestors.

We accomplish the latter through strictly legal and non-violent means.

To those of you who are currently serving and fighting for the freedoms of others,
at home and abroad, please know that we are backing you.
We honor and support you with every mission we carry out,
and we are praying for a safe return home for all.

[Bluzmann57]

4. Those phelps people are some sickos all right

A few months ago, I was channel surfing and ran across hannity and Colmes. Hannity actually had one of the phelps clan on the air and she looked like a witch out of an old fairy tale. And hannity and I agreed on something, just this once. He called her a witch and said they were all just a bunch of evil no good so and sos, or words to that effect. I thought maybe the end was near since he and I agreed on something. One more problem with them, they are diverting police away from other duties, such as,um, I don't know, saving people's lives, because there is always a police presence at funeral's where the phelps clan appears.

[jmowreader]

15. You're talking about Shirley Phelps-Roper

If anyone disputes the claim that Westboro Baptist Church is anything but a religious cult, they need to be shown an interview with Shirley Phelps-Roper.

When you watch a member of an accepted cult being interviewed, they always present themselves in the same way. They always have a strange unchanging smile on their face, they always speak in this real distant monotone even when someone's calling them on their shit. They always have a blank look in their eyes. It's like you have a body sitting there but no one's really in it. That's how Shirley Phelps-Roper presents herself in television interviews. I have seen a few and it's always the same: Shirley's not really there. Her body is, but it's almost like they inflated a Shirley Phelps-Roper doll and sat it in front of the camera.

[opihimoimoi]

5. What kind of Christians wouyld do this?? Only demented ones. Still, they give Xtians a Bad name

[MADem]

10. They aren't Christians. Unless they're following the "Word" of

"Slasher-Dawg" Christ, Jesus's little-known, dark, and somewhat disturbed younger brother. Mary tried like hell, but she just never could do anything with that boy. Joseph said, ta hell with him--he's not mine, either! She figured, oh well, she had one saint, gotta figure He'd be balanced out with a sinner....

[kiteinthewind]

16. Definitely not Christians, at least not "Christ following Christians". nt

edit: spelling

[kiteinthewind]

13. That's the Fred Phelps Freak Show. They are looking for publicity so the best thing you can do

is to ignore them. Here in Missouri and Kansas, the media has made a concerted effort to NOT cover them in any way. The Patriot Guard will be there, I am sure, and they hold flags that encircle the funeral home/cemetery to shield the family and friends from the hate. My son's friend was killed in Iraq this month and of course they were there, but so were the Patriot Guard, for which I was extremely thankful. They usually have signs that say God hates Fags, etc. because of the military 'don't ask, don't tell' policy I believe. Has nothing to do with the individual who has died, but is quite traumatic for the family. I had to convince my son to not go beat the crap out of them. I told him, 'That is exactly the kind of confrontation they want. If you do it, you have taken the bait and they win!' Luckily, he listened to me or he would probably be in jail. Missouri passed a law last year that says there can be no protest within 300 feet of a funeral or cemetery procession, so that helped that they were not able to get close, but don't know if any other states have passed any laws like that. These freaks are almost all family, if I understand correctly, and most of them, including their great leader/father, Fred Phelps. Sick bunch of folks. Would love to know the inside family story there. Talk about dysfunction.
:freak:

[smirkymonkey]

20. I know this sounds ignorant, but why are they protesting at the

funerals of soldiers? I don't get why a gay hate group (although that is despicable enough) is targeting FUNERALS! As if funerals aren't hard enough for the family and friends of the deceased.

These people are beyond disgusting. I can't believe they can get away with it. What the hell is wrong with this country? They arrest people who protest the war, why on earth isn't Phelps' group getting arrested for an offense that is 1000 times worse?

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. They have been arrested and they have been sued

They fight back hard. They are all attorneys (well, all but the ones who have been disbarred).

Yes they are disgusting. We live here, we know how grotesque they are. But the first amendment gives them the right to express their views.

Kiteinthewind is right. They thrive on attention. Ignoring them really is the best strategy.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. They come from Kansas because we have made them unwelcome here

These idiots have been doing these protests for about 15 years now. They want attention. Our local media refuses to cover them. So they went national.

[Madspirit]

24. Phelp's Religious Beliefs

From Wikipedia.com:


Phelps says he is an old school Baptist, which includes John Calvin's doctrine of unconditional election, the belief that God has elected certain people for salvation before birth. He says that almost nobody is a member of the elect, and furthermore that he and the members of his congregation (mostly his family) are the only members of the elect, (first point of Calvinism) because they are the only ones not afraid to publish the current relevant application of the word of God (that "God hates fags"). His teachings are at stark variance, however, with the doctrines of the Primitive Baptists, with whom the moniker "old school" is usually associated, and his church is not in fellowship with any known Primitive Baptist association.

During 1993–94 interviews with the Topeka Capital-Journal, the four Phelps children (out of thirteen, Mark, Nate, Katherine and Dotty) who had left the church asserted that their father's religious beliefs were either nonexistent to begin with or have dwindled down to nearly nothing. They insist that Westboro actually serves to enable a paraphilia of Phelps, wherein he is literally addicted to hatred. This statement would serve as the inspiration for the title of the book about Phelps' life, which was never published due to fear of lawsuit, but became public when the author sued the publisher, who maintained that it was a work for hire and therefore could not be taken to another publisher, attaching a copy of the manuscript to the suit as an exhibit thus making it public record. The record was eventually sealed, although the document had already been released over the Internet.

Two of his sons, Mark and Nate, insist that the church is actually a carefully planned cult that allows Phelps to see himself as a demigod, wielding absolute control over the lives of his family and congregants, essentially turning them into slaves that he can use for the sole purpose of gratifying his every whim and acting as the structure for his delusion that he is the only righteous man on Earth.<17> In 1995, Mark Phelps wrote a letter to the people of Topeka to this effect; it was run in the Topeka Capital-Journal.<18> The children's claim is partially backed up by B.H. McAllister, the Baptist minister who ordained Phelps. McAllister said in a 1993 interview that Phelps developed a delusion wherein he was one of the few people on Earth worthy of God's grace and that everyone else in the world was going to Hell, and that salvation or damnation could be directly obtained by either aligning with or opposing Phelps. As of 2006, Phelps maintains this belief.<17> Phelps and his family picket somewhere every day. They picket about 15 churches every Sunday.<19>

[Madspirit]

25. Interesting

I am sorry about your husband's former student. RIP

As a lesbian I obviously have a hatred for this guy...well, also as a human who isn't a demented sadist I obviously have a hatred for this guy.

From a psychological perspective I find him fascinating. This man spends every second of every day of his life obsessed with my sex life. There has to be some deep deep pathology involved here. It's just odd. This is ALL he does. His family is his cult. Every waking moment for these people is spent thinking about me and mine. I find him easily as ill and demented as Jim Jones, Charlie Manson, people who fly planes into buildings, etc. A descent into madness is often preceded by and accompanied by, an obsession. I haven't figured out what has kept them from straight-up violence yet.
Lee