Fred Phelps Westboro Baptist Church, Kansas; Gay Hate Activists Died Today

[iamkeri1]

In the end, whether we love or we hate, we all die. Sometimes people cry when we die. Sometimes they cheer. I am deeply glad that this hater of humans, who has picketed same sex weddings, multiple pride events, and most horribly, the funerals of gay soldiers who gave their lives for this country, has been removed from the world stage.

Blessings to his family. Let us hope that none of them feel driven/directed to take over his campaign of hate. Love is a much better choice.

Blessings to us all.

Keri

[MsTinkerbelly]

Good riddence

[Rockinonahigh]

Good riddence,I hope hell is hot enough.

[Virago]

In the end, whether we love or we hate, we all die. Sometimes people cry when we die. Sometimes they cheer. I am deeply glad that this hater of humans, who has picketed same sex weddings, multiple pride events, and most horribly, the funerals of gay soldiers who gave their lives for this country, has been removed from the world stage.

Blessings to his family. Let us hope that none of them feel driven/directed to take over his campaign of hate. Love is a much better choice.

Blessings to us all.

Keri


One correction, if I may. He didn't just picket the funerals of gay soldiers but instead targeted all military funerals that he could. If I'm right, I believe his reason was that they died BECAUSE they were defending a country that believed in Gay Rights. I am very proud of my motorcycle brothers and sisters who formed The Patriot Guard Riders in response to this. They provided a nonviolent, volunteer buffer between the protesters and mourners.

I hope that his spirit can now find the peace and knowledge that his hatred in life prevented him from finding.

[Jar]

One correction, if I may. He didn't just picket the funerals of gay soldiers but instead targeted all military funerals that he could. If I'm right, I believe his reason was that they died BECAUSE they were defending a country that believed in Gay Rights. I am very proud of my motorcycle brothers and sisters who formed The Patriot Guard Riders in response to this. They provided a nonviolent, volunteer buffer between the protesters and mourners.

I hope that his spirit can now find the peace and knowledge that his hatred in life prevented him from finding.

Yes, you're correct. He picketed soldiers who defended this country. He even picketed, or attempted to, a funeral in my little hometown in Louisiana and the bikers shut him down! I love those bikers![

[Medusa]

I feel incredible pity for anyone who lives in such ignorance and violent hatred of other human beings.

I have read a few articles and one that I read said that he died alone in a nursing home facility or something. Can you imagine leading such a life that none of your kin want to be with you in your final hours? That no friends would come pay their respects? Not saying I feel sorry for him but on a tiny level I wonder if, in his final moments, he would have wanted to change some of the things he said or did.

I know of people like him. Even people like him who are Gay. People who are so acidic, so toxic, that they drive everyone away by being such giant, black-hearted assholes that they end up dying alone or living lives of misery.
Even when I've had those kinds of people say and do shitty, terrible things to me, I still feel pity for them. I'm still able to feel pity that they have found no joy in their lives or anything worth focusing their good energy on.

Fred Phelps was a pitiful man. A man living without a scrap of joy.

I hope that wherever his soul goes (and I hope like hell it goes somewhere because can you fucking IMAGINE wasting your precious existence in this world the way he did with no chance to redeem or learn from it?????), that he encounters beings who do not practice the kind of shit he preached.

[mountainbikedyke]

Spring cleaning at its finest! Good riddance prick!

[Jar]

I feel incredible pity for anyone who lives in such ignorance and violent hatred of other human beings.

Fred Phelps was a pitiful man. A man living without a scrap of joy.
.

I felt the same way. I wasn't glad he was dead but felt more of a sadness for such a bitter life. I can't imagine spending every day hating and angry. It eats you up. You have to look at the world as it is and try to change it for the good, not try to destroy what you don't like. It's not your judgement call

[Corkey]

I do not pity the man, his life meant nothing in the end. He lived for hate, reveled in it, smeared it all over this country. His self aggrandizement was for naught. Now his family want us to give them space to mourn, while still being useless haters. SMDH.
I have no sympathy for any of them.

[BrutalDaddy]

If he did in fact die alone at a nursing home then I'm surprised. The documentaries that I've seen done on him and his church showed a rather close knitted family type unit. Very much like a commune. I will say that it gives me a sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe they did not hate as violently as he did but I guess time will tell.

I know a man who is pretty similar to Fred Phelps. Not near as vocal but just as full of hate as you can get. Took me many years and AA program to realize that the anger and hatred I had stored up over the years towards him was only harming myself. If I had let it, it'd turned me into him.

Because of that, I can only pity the man I know and others like him and Fred. To live with such hatred to the point that you have to spew that misery out into the world so that others feel and/or see it. It's like swallowing a pound of ground glass and living with that cutting feeling in the gut. God I'm so glad I don't have to live like that any more.

I just hope his family don't carry on his twisted "tradition". The world is better off without that misery and hate, that much I know.


Brute.

[RockOn]

The world is a better place without that pointed little head.

[CherylNYC]

If he did in fact die alone at a nursing home then I'm surprised. The documentaries that I've seen done on him and his church showed a rather close knitted family type unit. Very much like a commune. I will say that it gives me a sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe they did not hate as violently as he did but I guess time will tell.

I know a man who is pretty similar to Fred Phelps. Not near as vocal but just as full of hate as you can get. Took me many years and AA program to realize that the anger and hatred I had stored up over the years towards him was only harming myself. If I had let it, it'd turned me into him.

Because of that, I can only pity the man I know and others like him and Fred. To live with such hatred to the point that you have to spew that misery out into the world so that others feel and/or see it. It's like swallowing a pound of ground glass and living with that cutting feeling in the gut. God I'm so glad I don't have to live like that any more.

I just hope his family don't carry on his twisted "tradition". The world is better off without that misery and hate, that much I know.


Brute.

Sadly, it seems his family may be even more hateful than he was, if that's even possible. Fred Phelps' son, Nate Phelps, announced that his father had been excommunicated by the Westboro group for advocating that they speak to each other more kindly.

[Jess]

Sadly, it seems his family may be even more hateful than he was, if that's even possible. Fred Phelps' son, Nate Phelps, announced that his father had been excommunicated by the Westboro group for advocating that they speak to each other more kindly.


wow... just, wow. that is so incredibly sad and unreal.

[JAGG]

" I wasn't invited to the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approve."-

[Kobi]

"Following Phelps' death Wednesday at age 84, some gay-rights advocates suggested that he and his church created sympathy for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and the transgendered. Religious leaders who oppose gay marriage also said the pastor's tactics clouded the debate over such issues and put them on the defensive in discussing both policy and faith."

"The world lost someone who did a whole lot more for the LGBT community than we realize or understand," said Cathy Renna, a longtime consultant to LGBT groups. "He has brought along allies who are horrified by the hate. So his legacy will be exactly the opposite of what he dreamed."

James Esseks, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, acknowledged that he eventually saw Phelps' protests as helping his own movement.

"He would show up with his extreme anti-gay views, and a bunch of people in the middle would think, 'If that's what it means to be anti-gay, I want no part of it,'" Esseks said.

The flip side. (http://news.yahoo.com/phelps-hate-seen-aiding-gay-rights-061649548.html;_ylt=A0LEVyGNBS9TnhUAoIBXNyoA;_ylu= X3oDMTB0Y3RxaGtoBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1NNRT M4OV8x)

[grenade]

Blessings to his family. Let us hope that none of them feel driven/directed to take over his campaign of hate. Love is a much better choice.





His family in the church are equally as hateful. The church isn't going anywhere.

Our local (Kansas) LGBT groups have asked us to ignore his death and to not behave like they (Westboro) have by picketing his funeral.

“Those who attempt to conquer hatred by hatred are like warriors who take weapons to overcome others who bear arms. This does not end hatred, but gives it room to grow. But, ancient wisdom has advocated a different timeless strategy to overcome hatred. This eternal wisdom is to meet hatred with non-hatred. The method of trying to conquer hatred through hatred never succeeds in overcoming hatred. But, the method of overcoming hatred through non-hatred is eternally effective. That is why that method is described as eternal wisdom. ”
― Gautama Buddha

[silkepus]

Oh no, how terrible. What a sad loss for humanity

https://31.media.tumblr.com/062086fbe71d1142db18e23cbdea4617/tumblr_mmdnl377Cq1qfymqdo1_500.png

[silkepus]

I do not pity the man, his life meant nothing in the end. He lived for hate, reveled in it, smeared it all over this country. His self aggrandizement was for naught. Now his family want us to give them space to mourn, while still being useless haters. SMDH.
I have no sympathy for any of them.

I dont understand why someone wants to dedicate their life to hate like this. I cant help but to pity them a little, it cant be an easy way to live. To dedicate so much time to make life difficult for people whose lifestyles have absolutely no affect on their lives. It just doesnt make any sense.

[Medusa]

There is a meme going around on Facebook saying that the members of the Westboro Baptist Church are asking that folks "have a little decency and respect and not picket the funeral".

I went and did a little checking and that plea actual does not appear on the website that I can find. I did find several articles saying that particular meme is meant as satire.

Posting since several folks on my feed on Facebook had shared it.

[Corkey]

I dont understand why someone wants to dedicate their life to hate like this. I cant help but to pity them a little, it cant be an easy way to live. To dedicate so much time to make life difficult for people whose lifestyles have absolutely no affect on their lives. It just doesnt make any sense.

If I were to pity them it would mean that they have no choice in their hatred. They chose to hate, I chose not to pity. I pity animals who are abused, babied born to people who don't love them, the haters do not deserve my pity

[deedarino]

It happens to us all sooner or later.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BjSu8gwCcAANqn7.jpg:small

[Medusa]

If I were to pity them it would mean that they have no choice in their hatred. They chose to hate, I chose not to pity. I pity animals who are abused, babied born to people who don't love them, the haters do not deserve my pity

I feel you, Corkey.

For me, the fact that he chose to spend his life this way makes me pity him even more. Anyone consumed with such hatred, such negativity, is someone who, in my eyes, has never known love of any kind.

Making the choice to hurt other people speaks to me of a blackened heart, one that has never once felt the burning pinprick of sparkling light that love is. My heart breaks for anyone living in that kind of darkness.

I surely will not weep for this man and I surely will not picture him as a baby, innocent in a crib waiting to be loved, but honestly at some point in his life, he *was* a baby in a crib just wanting to be loved and he very clearly didn't get it.

Instead of doing what evolved, warm-hearted, loving people do and working to heal himself, he let that black hole of need take over anything remotely redeemable about him. Fuck. Can you fucking imagine having to live that kind of life?

[Corkey]

I feel you, Corkey.

For me, the fact that he chose to spend his life this way makes me pity him even more. Anyone consumed with such hatred, such negativity, is someone who, in my eyes, has never known love of any kind.

Making the choice to hurt other people speaks to me of a blackened heart, one that has never once felt the burning pinprick of sparkling light that love is. My heart breaks for anyone living in that kind of darkness.

I surely will not weep for this man and I surely will not picture him as a baby, innocent in a crib waiting to be loved, but honestly at some point in his life, he *was* a baby in a crib just wanting to be loved and he very clearly didn't get it.

Instead of doing what evolved, warm-hearted, loving people do and working to heal himself, he let that black hole of need take over anything remotely redeemable about him. Fuck. Can you fucking imagine having to live that kind of life?

No I can't, it is a sickness and a diseased mind. Someone long ago should have addressed this with him.

[Medusa]

No I can't, it is a sickness and a diseased mind. Someone long ago should have addressed this with him.

That's what I keep thinking about. Like, his entire family (or at least the people involved heavily in that church) seem bat-shit insane. And dare I say that Shirley Phelps might be meaner and crazier than her dear old Dad? She seems especially vicious and knowing that she is an attorney and somehow made it through law school without someone saying, "Hey, maybe this one needs to be in a hospital and not a law school" is beyond me.

I wonder how much of this is about money for these people. Shirley Phelps has won at least one lawsuit and I read in a couple of places that alluded to her having files a great many lawsuits over the past years.
Here's a link to one:
http://www.pitch.com/FastPitch/archives/2010/07/29/nebraska-town-forced-to-pay-shirley-phelps-roper-17000-for-arresting-her-during-protest

This reminds of of the "merchandising" of the KKK. There was an expose on the Klan years ago and a guy went to the headquarters here in Arkansas and filmed their "merch" room and it was filled with t-shirts, propaganda, music, flags, even bobble-heads. The Klansan doing the interview didn't realize he was painting a picture of a group of people just out to sell merch to dumbass rednecks because he looked like he didn't even believe his own shit at a few points.
Interestingly, I went to look up the domain registrar for their website (which I wont post here because I sure as FUCK don't want that as one of our back links) and their website appears to be currently hosted by Black Lotus communications, which is a legit web host.
I do not do business with them but I am glad to see an article talking about how they donated the revenue from hosting the WBC websites to charity. That did, of course, come after Anonymous threatened a massive DDOS attack.

In Black Lotus's defense, they say they want to respect their client's freedom of expression which I can get behind. I just wonder how far that goes. Does it cover threats of violence? Does it cover encouraging someone to commit suicide?

Now Im going to be combing the net the rest of the day reading up on this. *snort*

[Princess]

After reading through the thread I finally decided to weigh in. I grew up and still reside in the same city as the church. I have seen the church and their views picket everything from local church's and highschool graduations to funerals. Sometimes they just have a pack of kids hanging out with hateful signs on random corners..for no apparent reason.

He was indeed excommunicated from that church in august of 2013. The church as a whole did this because Phelps asked them to stop the picketing, to change their ways. They then tossed him, and went on to say that they would continue on with Jesus Christ as their leader.

The fact is that it's not going to end. The compound is huge, his family and followers are staying put whether he is at the forefront or not.

I think he probably figured out that his end was near, and it was time to repent for the things that he has done in his lifetime.

Whatever the case may be, he is gone, and they will march on.

That being said Grenade is correct, our local LGBT community have asked us not to participate in picketing his funeral. I can't speak for all my community as a whole, but from those I know and interact with we will not be participating.

No reason to stoop to his level.

[C0LLETTE]

What a strange term that is" "gay hate activist"...hate activism, his life's work.

[~baby~doll~]

i have been taught to mourn death and feel sad when someone passes. I did not feel like mourning nor do i feel disdain for his life. he just was and in death he is as meaningless as his life. a life spent hating is a life wasted. i feel for his family unless they decide they want to follow in his ignorant footsteps. i feel nothing. we are all better off though.

[iamkeri1]

It is awful that the best thing that can be said about you after you die is, that the world is better off without you.

But hey, it is what it is.

Smooches,
Keri

[theoddz]

Because of my profession (Registered Respiratory Therapist), and the fact that I've worked in adult critical care for over 23 years, I've had a LOT of personal experience with the death and dying process. I've worked for the federal gov't/VA for the past 19 years, and most of our patient population is elderly, male, and has a *LOT* of comorbidities (serious health issues). I've held many, many hands as they've taken their last earthly breaths, and you know what I've concluded?? The overwhelming fact that no one wants to die alone.

They say that, if you really want to inflict punishment on a human being, you isolate them. Solitary confinement, for example, is considered "punishment for the punished". Fred Phelps was an isolated man throughout his life, be it from certain family members, his children, and the world outside of the WBC. In the end, he may have died alone. That's the ultimate punishment, the epitome of "aloneness", and the final insult.

We do have to wonder what was running through his head as his last conscious thought. I pity him, as I would pity any G-d given life, and I thank G-d for the love in my life, the friendship and comraderie of my friends and the fact that I won't have to live my life or die alone. So, I guess I can garner what good there is to learn from Mr. Phelps' life.....the fact that mine is much to be thankful for. :winky:

~Theo~ :bouquet:......prefers to seek something positive from every person, be they loved or hated.

[Breathless]

If he did in fact die alone at a nursing home then I'm surprised. The documentaries that I've seen done on him and his church showed a rather close knitted family type unit. Very much like a commune. I will say that it gives me a sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe they did not hate as violently as he did but I guess time will tell.

I know a man who is pretty similar to Fred Phelps. Not near as vocal but just as full of hate as you can get. Took me many years and AA program to realize that the anger and hatred I had stored up over the years towards him was only harming myself. If I had let it, it'd turned me into him.

Because of that, I can only pity the man I know and others like him and Fred. To live with such hatred to the point that you have to spew that misery out into the world so that others feel and/or see it. It's like swallowing a pound of ground glass and living with that cutting feeling in the gut. God I'm so glad I don't have to live like that any more.

I just hope his family don't carry on his twisted "tradition". The world is better off without that misery and hate, that much I know.


Brute.

Would it be too much to hope that he took all this hatred with him? Moments like this remind me of a moment in the movie 'The Green Mile' I wonder if there will now be some sort of an infestation of flies that swarm the evil from within him.