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A local issue I want your opinion on.
http://forum.hrwiki.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6964		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  DJ Samurai [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 3:19 pm ]
Post subject:  A local issue I want your opinion on.
Last June, a group called the Westboro Baptist Church protested my high school's graduation, as part of their crusade against homosexuality. I will not post their website's URL, you figure it out. Their leader is Fred Phelps, called by many ultra-right-wing Christians as "a very hateful man." At any rate, some of my gay friends at school feel it's not going to be as bad this year, but I still have some fear of them showing up again. That being said, I actually emailed Strong Bad for his opinions:

"Dear Strong Bad,
Some idiots from Kansas protested my high school's graduation last summer. What steps should I take to make sure that doesn't happen this year, being my graduation year?
Thanks
Sam
Lexington, MA"

I doubt I'm going to get an answer, seeing as TBC have never really took a political stance through any of their cartoons. And sure, my email may sound like I want to violate the first amendment, but I want my graduation to be relatively issue-free. So, I have two questions for you:
1) Has anything like this ever happened to you?
2) If SB were to respond, what do you think it would be like?
Author:  InterruptorJones [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 3:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A local issue I want your opinion on.
DJ Samurai wrote:
1) Has anything like this ever happened to you?


Phelps is well-known in the Midwest and there's scarcely a commencement he hasn't protested (he's visited both my hometown and my alma mater on several occasions). To my mind Phelps is in the same category as (albeit eviler than) Jack Thompson. Loud, obnoxious, vomit-inducing, and ultimately not worth wasting bile on. I will say, however, that if I believed Satan were real and at work on this planet, it would be Fred Phelps' ear he was whispering into.

For those not familiar, Wikipedia (of course) has a good article about Phelps and his "congregation."
Author:  Mr.KISS [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 3:34 pm ]
Post subject: 
That guy sounds like a jerk. I don;t understand how people can say they're all religeous, then only believe little bits of the bible (of course, there are some contradictions, but if you think enough everything makes sense).
Author:  Beyond the Grave [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 3:39 pm ]
Post subject: 
Isn't this the same dude who praise Matthew Shepard killers?

Is there any reason why is this guy protesting your school's commencment?

If this guys shows up I would have the police there to greet him.
Author:  StrongRad [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 3:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: A local issue I want your opinion on.
InterruptorJones wrote:
DJ Samurai wrote:
1) Has anything like this ever happened to you?


Phelps is well-known in the Midwest and there's scarcely a commencement he hasn't protested. To my mind Phelps is in the same category as (albeit eviler than) Jack Thompson. Loud, obnoxious, vomit-inducing, and ultimately not worth wasting bile on. I will say, however, that if I believed Satan were real and at work on this planet, it would be Fred Phelps' ear he was whispering into.

For those not familiar, Wikipedia (of course) has a good article about Phelps and his "congregation."


We used to get people like that at Western Kentucky University. I'm sure it wasn't Phelps, but some people similar to him. They weren't singling out a particular group (in terms of sexuality or race), but they did say some rather unsavory (although incredibly hillarious) things about the sorority girls. They basically said that all college students live in sin and are going to hell. Fair enough, I suppose.
They had scheduled their "rally", so I suppose freedom of speech was in order. Sadly, things didn't go peacefully, as some retard decided that it would be funny to attack one of the "protesters" while they were "praying that the evil institution would be shut down, freeing our sould from satan".

As for Phelps and his group, if I were gay, I would have some fun with them. A lesbian friend of mine made out with her girlfriend in front of a similar group. This is the same girl that wanted to have a barbecue in front of some people protesting animal cruelty at a local circus. She's funny like that.

Perhaps the worst thing about Phelps is the negative attention he brings towards Christians. I don't want to hate him, but he's done so much damage to christianity that sometimes, I feel like I have no choice.

As for keeping them out of your graduation, suggest that it be made invitation only, OR that no signs or banners be allowed inside. :-)
If they get inside and start causing a disturbance, ask that they be removed. It is YOUR graduation, not theirs, after all.
Author:  InterruptorJones [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 3:55 pm ]
Post subject: 
Phelps' followers came and picketed my alma mater when it put on a production of The Laramie Project. It was pretty amusing, actually. Y'see, it's a private school so the closest the Phelpsies could get was about a block and a half from the theatre. The group of Westboro protesters was maybe a dozen people, but a group of students, professors, and locals staged their own counter-protest which reached nearly 100 people. So on one side of the street was Phelps' tiny protest trying to look fierce, and on the other side of the street--on school property, with the school's permission--was a group many times its size with much better signs, much louder chants, and generally looking much more intelligent. I almost felt sorry for the Phelps clan. No, that's a lie--I thought it was classic. PWNED!

Fortunately there was no violence, the show went on as scheduled, and the Phelpsies went home with their tails between their legs--or so I like to imagine.
Author:  lahimatoa [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 4:21 pm ]
Post subject: 
Non-violent protesting falls under the realm of Free Speech.

While you (and I) may not agree with Fred Phelps and his people, there's not a lot you can do to stop people from gathering outside and making a ruckus.

I did like Strong Rad's comment, though:

Quote:
As for keeping them out of your graduation, suggest that it be made invitation only, OR that no signs or banners be allowed inside.
If they get inside and start causing a disturbance, ask that they be removed.


That's the distinction. If they try to get inside, have them kicked out.
Author:  StrongRad [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 4:29 pm ]
Post subject: 
Another option, you could move your graduation to Kentucky and have it coincide with a soldier's funeral.

...and people say that Kentucky doesn't pass any good laws.

I kinda don't support this law. Let them do something like this in front of a soldier's family. I think the problem will take care of itsself.
Author:  Kittie Rose [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 7:57 pm ]
Post subject: 
Organise a protest against the protesters.

What I've always wanted to do, is go "Undercover" talking to some of these people, explaining to them why what they're doing is wrong. I can stay there all day saying what I have to say, because well, what can they do for me? They're waiting for someone to get violent so they'll look like the innocent ones, a pathetic tactic. So if someone were to provoke them to do the same.

Another thing is to get some portable speakers(a Roland Microcube guitar amplifier works wonders for this) and record a short message about why religious homophobia is wrong and goes against their religion, crank it full volume and use it to drown out there cries.

Basically, anything you can do to frustrate them.
Author:  PianoManGidley [ Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:45 am ]
Post subject: 
Fred Phelps is just a sad and stupid old man with archaic beliefs. All Jesus taught was love, acceptance, and tolerance; and yet all Phelps (as an alleged messenger of Jesus' ideals) can do is preach hate, bigotry, and prejudice. If he shows up, Matthew 7:1 him.
Author:  StrongRad [ Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:54 am ]
Post subject: 
PianoManGidley wrote:
Fred Phelps is just a sad and stupid old man with archaic beliefs. All Jesus taught was love, acceptance, and tolerance; and yet all Phelps (as an alleged messenger of Jesus' ideals) can do is preach hate, bigotry, and prejudice. If he shows up, Matthew 7:1 him.


or Austin 3:16 him :p

I'm sure most Christians won't mind.

*note: StrongRad does not advocate violence, most of the time.
Author:  Kevin DuBrow [ Tue Feb 07, 2006 1:34 am ]
Post subject: 
StrongRad wrote:
Another option, you could move your graduation to Kentucky and have it coincide with a soldier's funeral.

...and people say that Kentucky doesn't pass any good laws.

I kinda don't support this law. Let them do something like this in front of a soldier's family. I think the problem will take care of itsself.


Well, they usually don't make good laws. You should know that. You can't carry ice cream in your back pocket. Retarded. Back on topic, if that guy came to my school during graduation, many people will be upset. There are a lot of gays in my class(I am not one of them), so police would be there to "take care of him."
Author:  Choc-o-Lardiac Arrest [ Tue Feb 07, 2006 2:07 am ]
Post subject: 
Kittie Rose wrote:
Another thing is to get some portable speakers(a Roland Microcube guitar amplifier works wonders for this) and record a short message about why religious homophobia is wrong and goes against their religion, crank it full volume and use it to drown out there cries.


you know i did that once, except i was chanting something about an Xbox360... and it was a Marshall stack that i used.

well, i dont like this guy. this guy is horrible, if you saew that thing on their site about Matthew Shepard's Grave Stone.... they made a picture of it saying "Entered Hell on __/__/__", it was horrible. seriously, this guy should be shut down or something...
Author:  Marshmallow Roast [ Tue Feb 07, 2006 2:11 am ]
Post subject:  Holy crap.
That guy... is a complete and total idiot, and a jerk.

That's it. That basically sums up all my feelings about him.

I could definitely go into it further, but I won't for the sake of simplicity and space.
Author:  Shippinator Mandy [ Tue Feb 07, 2006 4:24 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Holy crap.
Marshmallow Roast wrote:
That guy... is a complete and total idiot, and a jerk.

That's it. That basically sums up all my feelings about him.

I could definitely go into it further, but I won't for the sake of simplicity and space.


My sentiments exactly.

Didn't the Bible say to "love thy neighbor"? Because he's totally violating that. Therefore, really...I don't view him as a Christian at all. (Well, that, and I don't want to be connected to him in any way...:P)
Author:  Rogue Leader [ Wed Feb 08, 2006 12:23 am ]
Post subject: 
I have quite a few words for that man, if he is a man, but most of them are a bit to intense for here. That guy is a monster, an idiot, and a couple of other things.
Author:  furrykef [ Wed Feb 08, 2006 8:26 am ]
Post subject: 
Beyond the Grave wrote:
Isn't this the same dude who praise Matthew Shepard killers?


Phelps doesn't praise the killers because "thou shalt not kill". He does believe Matthew Shepard is burning in Hell, though.

If Phelps started protesting an event I was attending, I would start protesting the protest. Heh, I'm reading further replies and obviously other people have come up with this idea. I think that's a sign it's a good one...

- Kef
Author:  StrongRad [ Wed Feb 08, 2006 2:50 pm ]
Post subject: 
furrykef wrote:
Beyond the Grave wrote:
Isn't this the same dude who praise Matthew Shepard killers?


Phelps doesn't praise the killers because "thou shalt not kill". He does believe Matthew Shepard is burning in Hell, though.

If Phelps started protesting an event I was attenting, I would start protesting the protest. Heh, I'm reading further replies and obviously other people have come up with this idea. I think that's a sign it's a good one...

- Kef


Or just laugh them out of the place. :-D

He says he doesn't praise killing, but with signs like "Thank God for IEDs" at soldiers' funerals, one has to question that. To me, it seems like he's acting on the same lines as someone who says "I'm not racist" but hates everyone who isn't the same skin color as themselves. It just doesn't add up.
Author:  Crystallina [ Thu Feb 09, 2006 2:15 am ]
Post subject: 
Fred Phelps makes Jack Thompson look like the most benign face of Christianity to the world.
Author:  StrongRad [ Thu Feb 09, 2006 2:19 pm ]
Post subject: 
Looks like Phelps is gonna be making some "Kentucky Sin" signs soon...
Author:  sb_enail.com [ Sat Feb 11, 2006 5:14 am ]
Post subject: 
It's people like this that make me ashamed to be a Christian. They're just using religion to justify hate-mongering and bigotry. One thing people seem to overlook "For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son" God doesn't love the material things, or just certain people, He loves everyone, and though it may sadden Him when we ignore Him, or choose to fill our lives with things other than Him, or do the things He told us not to do, that doesn't mean he ever stops loving us. If people could just look past their own selfish ambitions and realise that what God wants is far more important than any political or religious agenda, the world would be a far better place. And I thought I was a realist... :-D
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