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Monday, August 29, 2005

A Hatred That Knows No Limits

Posted by Tim Tagaris

No, it's not election news and has nothing to do with the hurricane, but I came across this story a few minutes ago and it made me wretch with anger.

Members of a church say God is punishing American soldiers for defending a country that harbors gays, and they brought their anti-gay message to the funerals Saturday of two Tennessee soldiers killed in Iraq. [...]

The Rev. Fred Phelps, founder of Westboro Baptist in Kansas, contends that American soldiers are being killed in Iraq as vengeance from God for protecting a country that harbors gays. The church, which is not affiliated with a larger denomination, is made up mostly of Phelps' children, grandchildren and in-laws.

The church members carried signs and shouted things such as "God hates fags" and "God hates you."

It's only a matter of time before the "party atmosphere" or a "Godless environment" in the French Quarter and on Bourbon Street is blamed for whatever destruction is caused by Hurricane Katrina. Just like when Republican spokesman Jerry Falwell blamed 9/11 on feminists, gays, and People for the American Way--it will happen here too.

Posted at 08:14 AM in Tennessee | Technorati

Comments

This guy has been around for years. The Rev. Fred Phelps also runs a website, www.godhatesfags.com where you get a graphic of Matthew Shepard burning in hell.

This is also the same guy that protested with the same type of signs at the funerals for firefighters and police officers after the 9/11 attacks. He has also protested at the funerals of AIDS patients and at the Olympics.

I can only hope with his latest stunt people begin to see him for what he truly is: a bigot, a xenophobe, and ignorant.

The ironic thing is Mr. Phelps used to be a civil rights attorney.

Posted by: RyanPatrick at August 29, 2005 08:40 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I don't know why you guys are even giving Phelps this publicity. I got hooked on this website at the beginning of Paul Hackett's campaign for OH-02 and since that election is over, I've been continually visiting this site with a "what next" curiousity. I don't know why you guys dilute your focus with posts like this, or stuff about the Hurricane. I can read political commentary on blogs all day long if I want to. Maybe you guys haven't defined a scope for your website, but my suggestion is to reign in all the commentary I could just as easily find on dailykos. I hope to read lots more about Hackett vs DeWine or Casey vs Santorum or Taft vs himself in the upcoming months.

Cheers.

Posted by: Samson at August 29, 2005 12:02 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Frankly, I don't understand why the media glorifies a single family that spreads hatred by calling them a "Church". They are NOT.

"The church, which is not affiliated with a larger denomination, is made up mostly of Phelps' children, grandchildren and in-laws."

Posted by: Zoli Erdos at August 29, 2005 12:14 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment