11 January 2011

Slime walks among us.

I am of two minds as I write this. On the one hand, I hate to give something as inhuman and evil as the "Westboro Baptist Church" (which is neither Baptist nor Christian) any publicity. On the other, if we do not name evil and confront it appropriately we surrender to it.

The grieving families face the added burden of having the haters from Topeka showing up at the funerals carrying vitriolic signs and shouting chants. Under the Constitution, the authorities cannot prohibit these people from being there and doing what they do.

One can only do two things: name the evil and if possible help buffer the grieving from the slime that would use their deaths for their political platform.

You can find Mr. Phelps video announcing the coming pickets on Youtube. I decided not to publish it here. If you decide to watch it, be prepared for a venomous hate filled rant. Do note that Mr. Phelps cannot get his facts straight. He lauds the shooter whom he refers to incorrectly as an Afghan war vet. But then if one attempts to understand his imbecilic theology, this is not a surprise -- he cannot get the Bible straight either. In one video he manages to dishonor both the victims and the vets. When you view him if you do, you are looking at the face of evil.

FWIW
jimB

3 comments:

Malcolm+ said...

Here is a blogpost I wrote a couple of years ago with a proposal about how to respond to this brood of vipers.

http://simplemassingpriest.blogspot.com/2008/08/dealing-with-hate.html

Muthah+ said...

JimB, thank you. I can't bring myself to even attend to the Westboro folks. I tend to believe that it is folks like these that make the man in Tucson dangerous. But Sarah must take some of the credit!

JimB said...

Fr. Malcolm,

I am a "biker" one who rides a motorcycle. So I have some sympathy for the idea of simply sitting next to the wesboro goofs and revving a few thousand horses. Singing hymns is also a good idea. In either case, we have the same freedom they do and we can make a lot greater sound.

Muthah, I think ALL political speakers lately share some blame. It turns out the democrats had similar posters with congressional districts in the "sites" and let's face it, the anti Bush rhetoric has been violent and extreme too. It would help if everyone calmed down a bit.

Both, thanks for your thoughts!

FWIW
jimB

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