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

[deedarino]

It happens to us all sooner or later.

[Medusa]

Originally Posted by Corkey

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]

Originally Posted by Medusa

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]

Originally Posted by Corkey

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/archi...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.

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

[Breathless]

Originally Posted by BrutalDyke

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.