Funeral Protests
This is wrong on so many levels. I am practically speechless. The link takes you to an AP photo on Yahoo with the following caption.
Elizabeth Phelps protests Saturday, Feb 25, 2006, across the street from the funeral for Army 1st Lt. Garrison Avery in Lincoln, Neb. Avery and two other soldiers were killed in Baghdad when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee on Feb. 1. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church, led by Rev. Fred Phelps, picket funerals and memorial services for fallen soldiers, contending that American troops are being killed in Iraq as vengeance from God because the United States abides homosexuals.
Ah, Fred Phelps strikes again. I have been hearing about this group for a few years. They give the First Ammendment a real workout.
http://www.godhatesfags.com/
That site is for real, it is not a parody.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rev._Fred_Phelps
Timely post. Here in st. louis, the governor just signed a bill into law that outlaws protesting 1 hour before or after any funeral. This was s direct response to these clowns protesting some military funerals here. If it was one of my friends or family and they showed up, things could get ugly quick.
Violates the First Amendment? No. The rules of common decency? Yes. The sheer fact that Missouri had to sign a law against it is a clear indication that Americans have lost any sense of shame.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/21/funeral.motorcyclists.ap/
These motorcyclists have vowed to follow Fred Phelps & his gang of idiots anywhere they go. They park along the funeral route across from Fred Phelps and rev their engines as the funeral procession passes to drown out the nonsense from the protestors. Pretty awesome…go Harley!
I don’t know how I would respond if they were at the funeral I was attending (if I was in the funeral I would probably just lay real still).
For the most part (and this is from a distance) I pity them. Because really, the folks involved are social suicide bombers. I mean, in some ways they’re like mentally damaged folks… their actions are so absurd that they traipse toward insane.
I would hope that if they protested a funeral of one of my family members I could “take it on the chin” and show Christ’s compassion – but my gut tells me that I’d rather take the route of how He handled the money changers or how David wanted to deal with Nabal.
All of this is further evidence of life philosophy that I’ve been forming since 3rd grade… “People are funny.”
I also feel a silght bit of pitty for this group. I watched a special on FOX where Elizabeth Phelps was interviews and there is something wrong with that woman…and I dont just meen what is coming out of her mouth. I am no expert naturally but she looks like she has a few screws loose in general. it also saddens me that they call themselves a church… A church in my experience is full of love and compassion, whereas this group seems full of hate, hardly what I think god has intended.
My heart goes out to the families who have had to deal with these spiritually ugly human beings who are protesting with the rights this country gives them, and the right those brave soldiers have died to protect.
I apologize for the protestors. I don’t know any of them but their actions reflect on all Christians. What they are doing sickens me on at least three levels. First, the fallen soldiers should be honored. Their families are grieving and the protestors inflict more pain on them. Second, they hate gays. I believe that homosexuality is a sin, but Jesus taught us that whoever is without sin should cast the first stone. No one has any right to judge another. Third, the vile actions of the protestors taints all followers of Christ. I am ashamed, and I apologize.