Fred “God Hates Fags” Phelps wasn’t able to picket the funeral of a 20-year-old soldier yesterday:
By 9 a.m., an hour before the funeral of Army Cpl. Jacob R. Carver, an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people, many of them waving American flags, lined nearly a half-mile of the street in front of the church, making sure Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church/family congregation were crowded out, peacefully kept far from shouting distance of the funeral.[…]
“He was a really good kid,” said Principal Doug Dahman, who joined a group of letter jacket-clad students in the line in front of the church.
Next to him was a man from Platte City, who got up at 4:30 a.m. Farther down was John Yeager, who came as part of a group of Blue Springs firefighters.
“We’re here for the family,” Yeager said. “Nobody should have to hear that on this day.”
mikefromArlington
I’m really glad these folks are doing this but if the Phelps family wasn’t protesting soldiers and only protesting gays of other professions, the silence from some of these folks would be deafening.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying just any ole persons job is as noble and sacrificial as fighting for this nation, but hatred and bigotry should be shunned, regardless of the target.
That’s why I think it was appropriate the Southern Poverty Law Center labeled the Family Research Council a hate group.
asiangrrlMN
This is a beautiful story. I hope more towns in which Phelps protests (against anyone and everyone) react more like this.
And, just because I can, my favorite Phelps protest ever.
Frat boys supporting teh gayz = awesome!
Fstop
I was delighted to see FRC labeled a hate group. I’m certain they cannot understand it, however. God, after all, is on their side. Sigh.
rickstersherpa
I applaud the town and the people. Phelps isn’t the only one with the right to free speech and freedome to assemble. And perhaps in doing this, in actig in opposition to his hatred, these folks will start to find themselves more accepting of gays.
I still wonder if folks like Phelps and the folks at the Family Research council actually read the Bible. Or if they do, they must skip large parts of it including pretty much the whole New Testament.
“He spoke also this parable to certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others. “Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: ‘God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
– Luke 18:9-14, World English Bible
Really, as Sinead O’Connor has written in a different context, these folks must not really believe in a God who watches and listens and who will hold us to account for every act of crulety we show.
Fuck! A Duck
rickstersherpa: Any mention of the bald Irish one compels me to state: Sinead O’Conner (much like the maligned President Carter and Anita Hill) was right!
Carnacki
@mikefromArlington:
Mike this one is for you, a post of mine from 2004, God bless gay-bashing Rev. Fred Phelps.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@rickstersherpa:
It would be interesting to see if this is what the actual translation would be. If so, Jesus is doing some wordplay that I bet people have missed a lot: He notes that the Pharisee is not praying to God, but himself. How I wish “Christians” would understand that a bit more. (I use Christian in quotes to denote those that call themselves Christians but never practice it.)
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@efgoldman: Phelps would probably just move to cops and fire fighers.
Carnacki
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): He picketed the funerals of the miners killed at Sago and similar high profile disasters.
New Yorker
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
Exactly. He picketed the funerals of coal miners in West Virginia and (I think) the funerals of some of those killed in the Virginia Tech massacre. So long as awful things happen and people die, Phelps will be there to make it worse. We’re just going to have to wait for him to croak.
@asiangrrlMN:
Yes, I remember when that video came out. It’s still awesome.
lacp
If Phelps and his crew want to protest against teh gayz by insulting troops, why don’t we ship them to Kandahar and help them do it up close and personal?
Michael Bersin
I was there. I covered it for Show Me Progress:
A hate group, the First Amendment, and a funeral in a small town
We’ve covered them before:
Proposition 8 rally in Kansas City
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
Dammit, there goes my eye makeup.
@lacp: Because protesting gays is not their real aim. They are grifters who have seized on a useful pretext for their scam, which consists of inciting people to physically attack them (or municipalities to deny them their rights to assembly and speech), and then suing for damages. They have done this successfully quite a few times – it’s how they make their living.
Edit: Although if they wanted to take their “protests” to Afghanistan, I would cash out my 401(k) to buy the plane tickets.
Sue
How do people find out that the Phelps group are going to be picketing at a particular funeral?
edit: and while I’m asking questions, have they made any comments about intending to sue anyone in the town where they had their tires slashed?
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@Sue: They post their schedule on their web site (no link, because they’re assholes). The scam works best if they get an angry crowd, so they need publicity.
In response to the tire-slashing, they’ve announced they are planning to picket Oklahoma childrens’ funerals.
Michael Bersin
@Sue:
I believe they have a web site with a schedule. I’ve never bothered to check – I don’t want to give them any traffic.
Cover or not cover? They thrive on publicity, but it’s also important for others to speak out against what they do. Maybe the good thing in Harrisonville, Missouri was that a lot of people showed up to speak out.
Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle
@Sue: Who are they going to sue?
Sue
@Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle: Anyone they want, even with a very thin premise. A suit doesn’t have to go anywhere if they can drag things out long enough to get a settlement out of a business or government that can’t afford to pay endless attorneys’ fees.
soonergrunt
@Sue, 15;
Phelps’ crew have since claimed that they were/are going to get ‘revenge’ for that by picketing the funerals of children in Oklahoma. They initially claimed that the were going to protest at a child’s funeral in a suburb of Tulsa last weekend, but they didn’t show.
Sent from my shiny new Samsung Galaxy S phone. Yay, me.
Lysana
@efgoldman:
There’s a difference between ignoring a parade and letting people scream epithets during a funeral. Think carefully, and maybe it’ll come to you.
ruemara
Bless them, this is a great thing. Plus, the Phelps’ get no publicity.
celticdragonchick
The Phelps may very wll lose thir SCOTUS case according to the observers. What should have been a slam dunk for them was undone by how utterly unsympathetic the Phelps family member and attorney came off in court. She managed to antagonize the entire court.
keestadoll
Bravo to those who shielded that soldier’s family from the Phelpsians. Great Thanksgiving story–thank you!
Earl Butz
@celticdragonchick: This would be doubly unfortunate.
The law should not be determined by how offensive/grating/unsympathetic that someone is; rather, the application of the law should be determined by the law. And you’re right, it should be a slam-dunk victory for the Phelps’, and I hope it is.
Also, these people are a gift from the God that they mock with their daily existence; by way of example, they singlehandedly managed to make gay-bashing something to be ashamed of, rather than something to be bragged about. That is progress. It would be better to have enlightened progress, to be sure, but I’ll take it any way that I can get it. Anything that the Phelps family touches other people run away from as fast as they can.
For that reason, that they serve by their very existence as a brake on the worst excesses of the right wing, I hope Fred and his accursed daughter (she’s been the one in charge now for a while, he’s not in the best of shape) are around for a good, long time.
mutt
Ive done motorcycle funeral escort for 18 KIA at least, with the Patriot Guard Riders, a mostly vets outfit formed around getting between creeps like Phelps and the families.
The families appreciate it. A lot sometimes. Sometimes, if it werent for us, it would be a sd , tiny affair that people could easiy ignore.
Dosnt do much for my sense of humour.
Mutt, Viet vet.
Sue
@mutt:
‘getting between creeps like Phelps and the families’
You mean there are more groups like that?
KDP
I read the article; I’m in tears. It is actions like these; the peaceful assemblage to obstruct hatred and protect a family that gives me hope for the future. And the FRC now classed as hate group. Good moves.
JCT
@asiangrrlMN: Yahoo– my daughter was in the crowd across the street cheering them on. Brave guys because it was flipping cold, apparently.
According to my kid they played all sorts of music while those hate mongers were around including “It’s raining men” and various Boy George tunes. Afterwards they had a huge outdoor party and raised $600 dollars for fighting bigotry — turning a nasty visit into a positive.
Tim
Too bad these brave American citizens weren’t on hand to block the dead kid’s departure for boot camp, or maybe even to protest in these numbers the bogus war that got him killed.
Because you know, if he was alive and stuff, there would be no funeral for the Phelps freaks to protest.
But of course, it’s a lot easier to come out and be all emo on behalf of a dead kid than a live one, and this is easier to feel self righteous about than something offensive like protesting war.
Cris
Unfortunately, his assholery appears to be heritable.
grandpajohn
You know with all the unstable people out there, it surprising to me that someone hasn’t attempted to speed up the process of his croaking. And if he is dead, I don’t think a lawsuit will bring him back to life
Quiddity
@mutt: I admire the Patriot Guard Riders. Their position is very clear. No politics, just support for the fallen.
BruceFromOhio
Gaia Bless You, Harrisonville and Cpl. Carver.