NEWS: Pastor protests the rights of fallen American soldiers to a peaceful burial

It was really difficult coming up with a caption for this article since something as sickening as this has never been done before, anyway here's the main argument: Meet Fred Phelps, pastor at the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, KS believes that it is his god-given duty to protest the funerals of soldiers killed in the line of duty, because the United States supports homosexuality.




Really sickening. As a canadian I despise this type of behaviour, and feel this guy should be put behind bars for preaching and perverting the minds of the young.

Here are some images
American girl from a Baptist family, in Topeka, KS


Meet Fred Phelps, the Pastor at the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, KS.


image of a protest that regularly takes place


Related News Links:
www.cnn.com
www.armytimes.com
bignewsday.blogspot.com


[edit on 3-8-2006 by websurfer]

Edit: For accuracy.

[edit on 8-3-2006 by intrepid]
mod edit, title fix

[edit on 21-4-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]

Yeah, I've known about this lovely little group for a while now. This is when Freedom of Speech is really hard to swallow.

From the cnn source:

More than 400 motorcycles thundered toward this showdown in Dodge City this weekend to make sure Sgt. Jessie Davila's funeral was not overshadowed by the Phelps protest.

Bless the Bikers! That is a new development and I'm so glad they're exercising their rights to overshadow these extremist nutjobs.

I have seen the pics, but the story is news to me.

Will someone kick this guys ass? I think we have made it pretty clear that the people here are ok with homosexuality...at least most of em. Why are people like this tolerated? I am all about peaceful protest to spread a message, but this guy is celebrating the deaths of his own soldiers!

This should be treason. He is just as bad as any terrorist who advocates murder.

Fred Phelps is not Catholic. He is the pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, KS, as your own introduction notes. I think that your story needs to be changed to reflect that distinction.

[edit on 2006/3/8 by GradyPhilpott]

Originally posted by DaFunk13
I am all about peaceful protest to spread a message...

We don't get to pick and choose the message of protest. I don't agree with this guy and I think he's slime, but he has the same rights as any of us to free speech and to protest. No action should be taken against him.

And yes, the title should be changed, although it doesn't really matter as the guy's no more a Christian than I am, certainly.

Yuck, he looks like a kiddie tamperer Well, he's tampering with their minds at any rate. It's religious wack jobs like this that give religious wack jobs a bad name. It hardly seems religious. This isn't too far from stormfronters type behaviour. Does this guy get tax free status?

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
Fred Phelps is not Catholic. He is the pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, KS, as your own introduction notes. I think that your story needs to be changed to reflect that distinction.

I agree 100% the Headline should be changed.

As for the pastor and his little group, well what can I say that hasn't already been said. These people are crazy religious extremists. All they want is attention, pay them no mind and hopefully they'll crawl back into whatever hole they came out of.

So, the guy and his family are protesting the funerals of soldiers because the US supports homosexuality?

I don't follow. It's a non sequitur, imo.

I pity the young members of his family who are being brainwashed by this fool.

Is it just me, or does that guy remind you of the Rev. Henry Kane from Poltergeist II?

"God is in His holy temple.......Earthly thoughts be silent now........"

"You are all gonna DIE in there"!


Creepy to the max, or what?

Let me know when he dies, i'd love to attend his funeral dressed as a clown.

A Catholic pastor????

[edit on 8-3-2006 by dgtempe]

After having this little group show up at a funeral in St. Joseph, the Missouri House of Representatives drafted a law banning protests near funerals an hour before to an hour after a service. They're working on a second law to prevent protestors coming withing 300 ft. of the funeral service.

In the mean time, groups of supporters have taken to protesting the protesters; attempting to drive the protesters away; or enclosing the protesters in a circle of supporters, so that the Westboro Baptist people can't be seen.

Fred Phelps is a pastor using his own views and beliefs and is preaching it as if it's "the word". I'm surprised that many other pastors and Christian leaders have not jumped on the band wagon to drown this guy out.

Soldier or not, a funeral is a funeral and respect should be shown for them and the family members.

BH, you said it....Bless the Bikers!

Makes me wonder who takes this clown seriously?

Maybe he should work on reading the new testament or jump off a cliff.

The hypocrisy of it all. This is something else.

Their place of worship is nothing more than a cover up for Satanism.

Lets see where God puts this bunch after their slow painful deaths.

The tactics of this lunatic and his followers is perhaps the most abhorrent abuse of the First Amendment that I have ever witnessed. Not only that, but his assertion that "God hates fags" is inconsistent with New Testament teaching. The Christian faith teaches that God is love, therefore, according to Christian belief, it is impossible for God to hate.

Furthermore, the extension of their disapproval of the "Don't ask; don't tell" policy to the glorification of the deaths of American service members is psychotic. The actions of these individuals to disrupt the funerals of service members and homosexuals is the very antithesis of the Christian faith and a disgrace to both the faith and America.

Even Ronald McDonald deserves better respect than to be associated with these odious scoundrels.

The agenda of this littler group that probably will soar under the supremacy racist groups in the US is to bring back intolerance.

Their purpose is to show that is ok to disrupt funerals of fallen soldiers when it has nothing to do with homosexuality opening the door to more daring activities like going after citizens base in racial, religious and gender issues.

Very soon the throwing of eggs to the fallen soldiers homes will turn into stones to show their how they dislike anything that doesn't fall under their own self proclaim righteousness.

I said the next time they show up to a funeral let's have a group blasting them with water or paint gun machines.

By the way If that is the picture of the leader he looks like the guy from the movie poltergeist that was the leader of the religious sect.

I said the next time they show up to a funeral let's have a group blasting them with water or paint gun machines.

Sounds like a plan, marg

Let's shave the heads of all the women and strip them naked, send the children to orphanages and castrate the men......not for being haters...but for being so damn stupid.

To interupt a funeral of anysort is reprehensible behaviour. Man of God, my shiney white butt. To call him a clown is to give clowns a bad name, and I hate clowns.

His group, or one like it, tried to interupt a funeral for a soldier killed overseas last summer, and were turned away peacably by supporters of the soldiers family, who apparently made it abundently clear to the morons what would happen should they attempt to interupt the funeral services. This happened in Kennewick, Washington, just down the road from where I live.

Someone needs to slap this odious little maggot upside his stetson, preferably with a 2X4, so he'll maybe get a clue about proper decorum at a soldiers funeral.

I know some bikers who would be more than willing to point out to Rev. Phelps, the error of his ways. Emphatically, and painfully.

I'm all for interupting these wacko's. Nonviolently of course, wouldn't want their blood on me, their hatred might be contagious. If anyone here in the Northwest hears of a planned appearance by these creatures of Ignorance, I'd be up for a roadtrip.

[edit on 8-3-2006 by seagull]

[edit on 8-3-2006 by seagull]

They were going to show at Guymon yesterday but changed their mines.

www.kvii.com...

I was there for the funeral, packed church. I have never seen that many OHP in one place along with Texas County Sheriff and Guymon PD.

I know the family, they are good people.

Roper ( wanting to kick some a$$)

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
Not only that, but his assertion that "God hates fags" is inconsistent with New Testament teaching. The Christian faith teaches that God is love, therefore, according to Christian belief, it is impossible for God to hate.

Further proof that this guy is a wacko:

He describes himself as an "old-time" gospel preacher who says, "You can't preach the Bible without preaching the hatred of God."

He looks very familiar to me. Maybe it's from the movie, I don't know if I ever saw it. But he is familiar.