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| Maniac Fred Phelps and Devil-Spawn to Desecrate Soldier's Funeral |
| 2005-06-15 |
| His church was bombed, and now he protests funerals of the war dead Kansas preacher says he's coming to Idaho By CHUCK OXLEY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BOISE, Idaho -- A Kansas preacher and gay rights foe whose congregation is protesting military funerals around the country said he's coming to Idaho tomorrow to picket the memorial for an Idaho National Guard soldier killed in Iraq. Fred's website reposes under the charming name of www.Godhatesfags.com. The companion site is GodhatesAmerica.com, where Fred presents his theory that 9-11 was divine punishment for tolerating homosexuality. Among other things, it features a cartoon in which an American soldier is shown raping a little Iraqi boy. A flier on the Web site of Pastor Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church claims God killed Cpl. Carrie French with an improvised explosive device in retaliation against the United States for a bombing at Phelps' church six years ago. Gee, why would anybody do such a thing to Fred's church, as opposed to his ass? "We're coming," Phelps said yesterday. as the weekly Westboro orgy moved to a climax.... Westboro Baptist either has protested or is planning protests of other public funerals of soldiers from Michigan, Alabama, Minnesota, Virginia and Colorado. A protest is planned for July 11 at Dover Air Force Base, the military base where war dead are transported before being sent on to their home states. Fred and his gang went to Baghdad while Saddam was still in power to protest American foreign policy. The Saddamites were delighted to have them by all accounts. Phelps gained national notoriety in 1998 when he picketed the funeral of Matthew Shepard, the gay college student beaten to death in Wyoming. Fred's website features a daily count of how many days Matt has been in Hell. Since then, Phelps said his church has been the target of hateful words and actions, including a bomb attack six years ago. tsk, tsk, such intolerance. Phelps' church has picketed the funerals of AIDS victims for more than a decade. These include signs saying such clever things as "Fag funeral" and "Fags burn in Hell" The gang also picketed Ronald Reagan's funeral on the grounds that Reagan had tolerated homosexuality. French, 19, was a Caldwell High School graduate and varsity cheerleader. She was killed June 5 in the northern city of Kirkuk. French served as an ammunition specialist with the 116th Brigade Combat Team's 145th Support Battalion. May God cradle you in his loving arms, dear one. Phelps said the fact that French led an all-American life gives him all the more reason to picket her final public tribute. "An all-American girl from a society of all-American heretics," he said. I am all-American heathen, Fred. Now bite my ass till your dentures break. "Our attitude toward what's happening with the war is the Lord is punishing this evil nation for abandoning all moral imperatives that are worth a dime," Phelps said. Well, yes, our moral imperatives are those of the Enlightenment and they are beyond all reckoning of price. Caldwell Police Chief Bob Sobba said he cannot bar Phelps from going to the public funeral, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Albertson College of Idaho in that city. The ACLU would probably defend Phelps if Sobba threw him out of town. Almost everyone else in the civilized world would defend Sobba. Incidentally, Fred's congregation is made up almost entirely of his immediate family. IIRC, he has 13 children, 9 of whom are lawyers, and close to 70 grandchildren. They all live on the same tract in a Topeka neighborhood, which they have closed off and turned into a kind of fortified compound. Several of the devil-spawn lawyers work for the Kansas Department of Corrections. "While we respect Mr. Phelps' right to protest, we would hope that he would respect the family and friends of this young person by not disrupting the memorial," Sobba said. I respect his right to remain silent, forever. Idaho Air National Guard Lt. Tony Vincelli, acting as spokesman for French's family, said there were no plans to change the funeral arrangements. "In other words, fuck the old bastard and his devil-spawn congregation." The Rev. Brian Fischer, pastor of Boise's Community Church of the Valley, and himself a past target of protest by the Westboro Baptist Church, decried Phelps' plan. "What Phelps is doing is a reprehensible thing, to take a funeral and turn it into a photo op for his hate cause," Fischer said. "We hope everyone will ignore Phelps' group." Wimp. We hope everyone kicks their asses. In 2003, Phelps demanded that he be allowed to erect an anti-gay monument in a Boise public park. To avoid a lawsuit from his group, city officials voted in 2004 that a Ten Commandments monument be moved out of the park. Cowardice or a sly assertion of equivalence? I have been wondering how Fred gets the money for all this. The congregation numbers fewer than 100 people, almost all related. His mob is on the road almost all the time, often sending different groups to different cities on the same day. As I mentioned, they even travel outside the country when they find someone, like Saddam, who will have them. He says nothing about finance, merely asserting that God provides. |
| Posted by:Atomic Conspiracy |
| #12 Unfortunately the way the left has perverted the concept of citizens rights.... You have to convince this bozo to sign himself into a mental institution. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2005-06-15 22:53 |
| #11 Let FagFred show up in Alabama and just TRY to disrupt a veterans funeral. The people will be on him like ugly on a monkey. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2005-06-15 22:31 |
| #10 I'd call out the pink tanks, stupidity is the only thing that can stop this monster. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-06-15 19:56 |
| #9 Well, he sure isn't getting money from his legal practice. Anyone who commemorates his suspension from practicing law by giving his wife a crew-cut is just waaaaaay too bizarre for me. Methinks he has serious repressed tendencies. |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2005-06-15 13:24 |
| #8 This man is horrifying and is certainly not a Christian. Unfortunately, anyone is free to call themselves anything they like. Here's a review of this character by Phil Johnson, who assists a very large Christianity ministry (Grace to You) in Los Angeles: Here's a Topeka, Kansas, "Baptist" church that has managed to mangle the gospel so completely that hate, rather than love, is at the heart of the message they proclaim. They picket funerals of AIDS victims, carrying signs saying "No Tears for Queers." This "church" is actually a small cult comprised mostly of "Pastor" Fred Phelps's own offspring and their children. An eye-opening expose of the Phelps clan ("Addicted to Hate," by investigative reporter Jon Michael Bell) is on line, Exhibit A in some court documents in a lawsuit involving a Topeka newspaper. As a Calvinistic Baptist, I'm embarrassed by the Web presence of this "church." What you'll find here is a radically different gospel from the good news proclaimed in Scripture, so this is an apt candidate for the "really, really bad" category. |
| Posted by: Chalcas 2005-06-15 12:29 |
| #7 He ain't no pastor, that's for sure. The World Council of Churches (Nobody Goes To Anymore) ought to hold a "Not In Our Name" ceremony... |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-06-15 10:26 |
| #6 Of course the MSM will point to this guy as a "Leader" in the Christian community. Fred sounds like he needs to be medicated. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2005-06-15 10:23 |
| #5 This idiot has plauged Colorado Springs twice now. If he comes back, he is gonna get a major ass kicking now. Don't piss off the soldiers and then come back where there are 5 active military bases. |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-06-15 09:35 |
| #4 Sometimes tolerance isn't called for. This moron must be skating close to the edge regards hate speech. And I believe he's due for a date with a 300 lb horney lifer. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-06-15 04:43 |
| #3 AC, amazing commentary. badanov, speaking for myself, no insult taken. Your customer sounds like a good advertisement for Christianity as it ought to be, as opposed to this Phelps character, and as good a guide as one could hope for. Only I think you won't achieve that turning the other cheek bit right away. ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-06-15 03:59 |
| #2 This muthaf*cker seems to be morphing into a Kansas mullah. I have a customer, as devout a Christian as can be but a man who also understands that humans are of the flesh and are deemed worthy of salvation by grace and forgiveness alone. Hse asks me how things are going, and I tell him nothing a hooker and a bottle of nice wine wouldn't cure. He laughs, and he tells me that that not all things can harm except which you allow to harm yourself. Says so right in the NT, so he says. It's not an excuse not to have a spiritual life if you understand Christian doctrine is of Love first, and by allowing God to guide your life. That customer is a real and positive way demonstrates that to me, keeps me hoping someday I may actually act Christian in my personal life. That said, this f*cker needs his head removed by a speeding fist. I'd love to volunteer. I would expect I would get, in Oklahoma, a few days and a wrist slap from local judges, but ya never know. I suspect this cult, to call it what it appears to be, will find a relatively bad ending. Not all social groups, even families, are so congruous that a sense of injustice won't break it apart. Our Jewish friends: please forgive me if I have offended you with this little bit of semnonizing. I am about as far from a perfect human being as I can be, but I also felt I needed to show the readers here was a wothless pussy this Phelps is. I won't do it much, I promise. |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-06-15 01:26 |
| #1 I'm fairly certain that Fred's daddy made him bite the pillow as a young'un. Methinks he protests way too much. |
| Posted by: BH 2005-06-15 00:26 |