Having been part of the funeral procession for Maj. Scott Hagerty this past weekend, it truly warmed my heart to see the thousands of residents from Stillwater and other towns turn out to line Seventh Street, Main Street and Perkins Road. They stood nearly shoulder-to-shoulder, holding U.S. flags, holding a hand over their hearts or saluting, or bearing homemade signs supporting the troops and Hagerty’s family.
Even as rain started to fall they held their spots, determined to honor one of Stillwater’s own fallen soldiers.
However, one group nobody wanted there made an appearance – a fire-and-brimstone faction I like to refer to as the “Westboro wackos.”
Members of the Westboro Baptist Church out of Topeka, Kan., have made it their lives’ work to travel around the U.S. to picket soldier’s funerals, gay pride events and, most recently, boy scouts’ funerals with signs bearing the abhorring words “God Hates America,” “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” “God Hates Fags,” “Fag Troops,” and “Semper Fi Fags.”
Its members also get their kicks out of standing on and trampling U.S. flags at their protests. However, the absolute most detestable thing is that they drag their kids (many too young to really even think for themselves) along with them to hold up signs and trample flags as well.
The “church” itself is not affiliated with any church in the U.S., Baptist or otherwise, and is actually classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Its propaganda and can be found at its Web site, http://www.godhatesfags.com.
The WBC “preaches” that most deaths and natural disasters are a result of the U.S.’s embrace of what they consider a sinful lifestyle. According to the Web site, the group believes that “Now, God is America’s enemy, dashing your soldiers to pieces.”
It also states: “America crossed the line on June 26, 2003, when the Supreme Court (the conscience of the nation) ruled that we must respect sodomy. WBC believes her gospel message to be this world’s last hope.”
According to the Web sites, the group took to the streets in 1991 and has held more than 34,000 “peaceful demonstrations” to date.
I didn’t notice the group at the funeral (thankfully, or else I might have had a sudden irresistible hot-headed urge to walk up to one of them and break a sign over my knee), and I would not have known, had it not been the closing statement of the anchor covering the story on the KWTV Channel 9 10 p.m. newscast that evening.
Heartfelt thanks go out to the 70-some Patriot Guard Riders heading the Hagerty procession. The group is composed of motorcycle-riding veterans who routinely attend soldiers’ funerals to pay their respects and to shield the deceased’s family from the WBC’s protests by blocking them off, holding up large American flags and, from what I have heard, gunning their engine to drown out the noise of the protestors.
This is the epitome of irony – a group protesting the people who put their lives on the line to protect Americans’ freedom and rights – particularly those of free speech and assembly.
The WBC group may be either delusional, insane or actually believes what it pickets for. However, I believe none of the three (well, maybe just a bit of the second). However, I think the main motive is money. WBC is headed by Fred Phelps – founder of Phelps Chartered law firm. Coincidence? I think not. He handles most of WBC’s legal work and has reportedly received large legal awards for lawsuits concerning cases in which WBC had been deemed to have been improperly prevented from picketing.
According to one of Phelps’ eight daughters, Shirley Phelps, the church is made up of about 100 members, about 80 of which are family members. (Things that make you go “hmmm”….I’d like to see that family’s tax and income records.)
Shirley Phelps often makes appearances on news channels via satellite to be interviewed by various anchors. If the rest of the family acts like her, I’m fairly convinced that the whole group is a few walnuts short of a fruit salad.
If you’re bored one day and don’t mind the fairly imminent possibility of winding up ticked off, look Shirley Phelps up on YouTube to watch the interviews. You’ll probably understand why she travels across the U.S. to picket and protest, but only appears on newscasts via satellite. If she were in a studio, she would probably either get attacked by the reporter or jumped by the news crew.
The interviews with Shirley Phelps usually end up fairly heated, and one particular exchange with FOX News correspondent Julie Banderas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3PyoUPcobA), ends up sounding particularly akin to a catfight. Banderas tells Phelps (with arguably good reason) that she doesn’t know what planet she’s from, calls her “the devil” and tells her “she is going to hell.”
Phelps later retorts by calling Banderas a bimbo. Also, in many interviews, Phelps continuously refers to “The Lord your God” rather than “The Lord our God.” I guess she doesn’t claim him.
I can’t say I can argue with most reporters’ and anchors’ reactions. I’m all for free speech, and journalists are supposed to be unbiased, objective and impartial, but impartiality only goes so far when dealing with ignorance and outright hatred. There has to be a line drawn somewhere, and WBC has crossed it by more than a mile.
Closing thought: I wonder who the Phelps family blames if one of its members dies?
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Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church are nothing more than attention-seekers who mount these “protests” in order to get into the news. As far as they’re concerned, any media mention of them counts as a victory. Of course they’re going to be painted as kooks, hatemongers, and villains — after all, to them, the entire outside world is controlled by Satan, and naturally Satan would only say (and publish) bad things about heavenly crusaders such as the Phelps clan.
What to do about them? The answer to this is simple: ignore them outright. Walk past them on the street, don’t even acknowledge their presence, and don’t counter-protest them. I am confident that when faced with silent opposition of this sort, the Westboro Baptist Church will shrivel up and blow away.
It is sad we use the word church with this group. They are as far from a church as you can get. They are a hate group (small) full of anger at the world. The story is getting old, and so is the same old show with them.
They were here in Omaha to ‘protest’ at a boy scout funeral.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyofne/sets/72157605662749016/
I agree, modemac. I think their purposes are self-serving, for the media exposure and the money settlements from lawsuits for them being denied the right to picket. Some people will do anything for the fame (even if it’s negative). But I don’t think people are ever going to band together and ignore them. People take things to heart too easily.
I don’t think ignoring them is an option when WBC is protesting at a funeral.
I want to thank the Patriot Guard Riders (motorcycle-riding veterans) for having the huge hearts to take care of their fellow soldiers familys.
“Thankfully, or else I might have had a sudden irresistible hot-headed urge to walk up to one of them and break a sign over my knee.”
I’m glad you didn’t support censorship.
Even though many don’t agree with them, it doesn’t mean WBC should be censored. I would hate to see a law go into effect to try to censor them. It’s not fair (or constitutional for that matter) to pick out one group just because you don’t like what they say.
“Heartfelt thanks go out to the 70-some Patriot Guard Riders heading the Hagerty procession. The group is composed of motorcycle-riding veterans who routinely attend soldiers’ funerals to pay their respects and to shield the deceased’s family from the WBC’s protests by blocking them off, holding up large American flags and, from what I have heard, gunning their engine to drown out the noise of the protestors.”
I have always wondered whether it would be allowed if this were the other way around – if the Westboro Baptist Church showed up to a pro-soldier event with motorcycles and drown out the pro-soldier group.
Timothy Phelps, Fred Phelps’ son, explained why they protest military funerals:
“We found their idol and we’re pissing all over it.”
Let’s take the quotes off of “free speech” and call it what it is: harassment.
By the way, the Patriot Guard Riders are invited guests of the family in grief. These are not “pro-soldier events”; they are private funerals of Americans killed in the line of duty. You better believe the WBC would file a lawsuit if they had a leg to stand on.
Likewise, the Phelps’ would deserve to bury their deceased with dignity, should anyone try and turn the tables on them.
Michelle,
You must not have a loved one “over there.” Otherwise, you might understand the appalled response that this group receives.
If these nut balls ever came to the uk and spouted their views at funerals, I doubt very much whether they would leave the UK intact. What would happen if ‘national duty’ was bought back in and their children had to fight in the wars? I wonder how they would react if their child was killed whilst on duty, would they picket thier own funerals!!!
Then again having so many lawyers in the ‘clan’ they would find away of getting out of it.
Fred Phelps is a bully and reminds me of Hitler, he has brain washed his children and in turn they have brainwashed their children into thinking that what they are doing is right. They have misenterpreted the bible and in my opinion are using the words from the bible as a cover for their hatred of gay people. I often wonder if Fred himself was sexually abused as a child by a male figure and this is his way of fighting back, and why he has so much hatred for the gay community and those who support them. These people are seriously misguided people and I hope for the sake of their children something is done to protect them from the mental torture of these seriously demented people.
Remember that there are limits to free speech.
Perhaps the Phelps’ are angered by being rejected by the military for being gay before the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy came into being…?
I’m not accusing or claiming - I’m simply offering an argument that is logically possible. Probablilty, however, is an issue that I do not have evidence to substantiate.
As a combat veteran of the Gulf War/Desert Storm, it took several years for me to accept that I volunteered to defend the rights and privileges of not only those American citizens that many deem “worthy”, but also to defend the rights and privileges of those citizens who might be considered “un-American” or “un-worthy”.
This truth is Alanis Morrisette’s “Jagged Little Pill”, and it’s not easy to swallow. Eventually, we get over ourselves and remember that we must accept the existence of bad and good equally, and understand that all things are cyclic - one gives way to the other in due time to maintain a creative imbalance.