RIP (?) Fred Phelps

Re: Fred Phelps near death, also ex-communicated

Exactly. Throwing the WBC's tactics back in their face only gives them more of the publicity they crave and on which they stay relevant. The best approach may just be benign neglect.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/03/17/when-fred-phelps-dies-lets-do-nothing/

 

Re: Fred Phelps near death, also ex-communicated

Well, unlike everyone else who posts here, I'm not perfect.

I'm completely at peace with my desire to put a size 12 up his dead ass.

 

Re: Fred Phelps near death, also ex-communicated

The desire is fine. Then again, I'm sure that on any given day you encounter people who deserve a fist to the mouth. In a civilized society, you don't act on it.

 

Re: Fred Phelps near death, also ex-communicated

There are literally millions of things that happen every day that shouldn't "in a civilized society," including, say, picketing funerals with "God Hates Fags" signs.

Why people decided to use this scumbag as an example in their lectures on civility is beyond me. Save it.

 

Re: Fred Phelps near death, also ex-communicated

He's Dead

 

Re: Fred Phelps near death, also ex-communicated

 

Re: Fred Phelps near death, also ex-communicated

There's a special level of hell reserved for anyone who would protest any funeral.

 

Re: Fred Phelps near death, also ex-communicated

As one of the people his brood's "preaching" affects personally, I've been thinking and writing a lot of thoughts about Phelps. For the majority of you who aren't on my Facebook, here is the status update I just wrote:

I've been thinking a lot about the legacy that Rev. Fred Phelps, founder of the Westboro Baptist Church, leaves behind now that he's dead. I can't take joy in the fact that he's dead, but I'm not shedding any tears either.

He was a hateful, spiteful man who did so much evil in the name of false testimony to his god, but I can't help thinking that celebrating his death, whether it be protesting his funeral or dancing on his grave would lower us to his and his minions' levels. We don't need to demonstrate the level of hyprocrisy in our lives he did by couching his actions in "the bible" by celebrating the end of his life.

I'm not asking anyone to forgive him or absolve him of anything. I'm not asking people to show him the dignity in death that he denied so many others in life. I'm asking people to rise above the hatred he leaves behind as his legacy. We are all better than that. We all should shine a much brighter light in our worlds.

I'm skeptical about whether or not there is an afterlife or a heaven or a hell. I'm confident that if there is, he will get the justice he deserves. That's more than enough.

 

Re: Fred Phelps near death, also ex-communicated

He may be one of the worst people (at least from this country) in recent memory.

 

Re: Fred Phelps near death, also ex-communicated

Most powerful thing society can do in this situation is ignore him from this point forward. Scorn is good retribution.

 

Re: Fred Phelps near death, also ex-communicated

They say the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. Perhaps that's what we should be feeding him and his brood from here on.

 

Re: Fred Phelps near death, also ex-communicated

Cross him off then.