[Peace-discuss] Westboro Baptist and NIU

[Robert Dunn]

I think that Fred Phelps does not represent mainstream conservative evangelical Christianity. He is so sick that he picketed Jerry Falwells funeral. He targeted the funerals of the Amish girls murdered last year. Please do not use this fringe group to point out that all conservative Christians are like this, THEY ARE NOT!
In fact, his church was kicked out of the Southern Baptist Convention, which they picketed, go figure.
Ironically, he also met with the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinijad and praised him for outlawing homosexuality in Iran. Why this guy has not been brought up on real treason charges is beyond me.
Here is a complete list of people he  has targeted.
the Mathew Shepard funeral,
military funerals
the Amish girls funeral
James Dobsons home
the Southern Baptist Convention
The 700 club headquarters had a bomb threat that apparently came from one of the WBC members
the victims of Virginia Tech
Jerry Falwells funeral
and this!
I hope no one believes that Phelps represents mainstream evangelical Christianity at all. To imply that is wrong!
So please don't on this list or anywhere.
Thank you,
Robert


Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 18:40:37 -0600To: martiwilki at gmail.com; jencart13 at yahoo.comFrom: jbw292002 at gmail.comSubject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Westboro Baptist and NIU CC: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.netAt 06:19 PM 2/15/2008, Marti Wilkinson wrote:
Phelps and WBC seem as harmless as they are ridiculousI am going to have to respectfully disagree with you on this. Phelps and his followers seek to hurt and damage anyone who they believe is doomed to go to hell. I would not want to be at a funeral grieving for a family member or friend and to have to deal with these clowns. Also it's not just gay people who they hate. Anyone who refuses to be just like them is also a target.For example, since I am a single parent who is part Swedish that would certainly qualify me as a candidate for all sorts of hellfire and brimstone. Their hatred of Swedes is pretty funny to me. Verbal abuse can be as damaging as physical abuse and the concept of "sticks n stones" is a myth. These people do have the right to engage in lawful protest in public places - and I hope that there will be individuals who have the courage to unite in love, peace, and tolerance in the face of this evil.MartiAnd I'm with Marti on this one.  It would be one thing if it was just Fred Phelps.  We could dismiss him as a nut.  But he has a wife; he has seven children; he has quite a number of followers; he apparently has a good deal of financial support.  I don't think his merry little band is going to take over the world any time soon - I'm sure they don't have nearly as many followers as, say, the KKK had in its prime - but as a person who identifies as a Christian, the existence and ignorance of people like Fred Phelps and his group is profoundly depressing to me.  The first thing I noticed when I visited the web site was not only a box that says, "God hates fags", but an equally noticeable box that says, "God hates YOU."  How much more universal can that message get?  Phelps has completely turned the message of Christianity on its head.  And there's absolutely no dialogue with people who are that fanatical.John
On Feb 15, 2008 5:44 PM, Jenifer Cartwright <jencart13 at yahoo.com> wrote: 

WBC is run by a nut case named Fred Phelps who actually "drove Jim Crow laws out of KS" (I guess blacks are always heterosexual) but literally hates everybody else. He even calls Ronald Reagan and (wait for it......) Bill O'Reilly Fag enablers!!! (I bet O'Reilly loved that). Phelps and WBC seem as harmless as they are ridiculous. I don't think they're worth a counter-protest. In fact, I'd say don't waste your time even thinking about them, other than check out the link and have a good laugh. More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps 
 
 --Jenifer  
 
"John W." <jbw292002 at gmail.com> wrote:

At 02:43 PM 2/15/2008, Wendy Edwards wrote:
>Just as a heads-up, the infamous Westboro Baptist Church (as in
>godhatesfags.com) is planning to show up at NIU in the wake of the
>shootings to "protest" at memorials. Some counter-protests are planned.
>Here's the WBC flyer:
>
> http://www.godhatesfags.com/written/fliers/20080214_northern-illinois-university-shooter.pdf 
>
>Wendy
Ugh. I had never seen that web site before. It makes me literally 
nauseous just to read it. 
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