<p>Do you ever have one of those days where you’re just disgusted with people, you learn about the violence and hate in the world and it just makes you feel terrible? Well, this past week I was feeling that when I was looking through the news. I was reading an article about this guy, Reverend Fred Phelps, who is protesting soldiers funerals. They hold signs that say “Thank God for IEDs” and “Thank God for Dead Soldiers”. I couldn’t believe it… Well, then I read about a group called the Patriot Guard. They are a band of motorcyclers. They are simply amazing, they ride to soldiers funerals to rally the community, and brighten the spirits of the family. They chant over the protestors so the family doesn’t have to listen to them, and hold up huge flags so that the family doesn’t have to look at the protestors. I am so proud of this group! They are non-violent, and this all legally. There purpose is not to protest the protestors…but to rally support for the family of the soldier. They are changing the news reported about Rev. Phelps, the media is more focused on the powerful message the Patriot Guard is sending instead of the hateful message sent out by Rev. Phelps. My heart swelled up with pride when I heard of them! So I’m encouraging you to help them if you can should the situation ever arise…or maybe just to send an e-mail or letter in a show of support. They are doing amazing things for our country! There website is <a href=“http://www.patriotguard.org%5B/url%5D”>www.patriotguard.org</a>. I wish I had a motorcycle to join them!</p>
<p>Thats truely an awsome group! It reminds me of a similar group of motorcyclists who would ride to childrens hospitals and stuff, or go to special education centers.</p>
<p>I have seen this gut wrenching signs that you mentioned and it made me sick. I dont think any one deserves to die, i dont care for what politicals reasons.</p>
<p>Again, a truely amazing group.</p>
<p>Fred Phelps is a certifiable nutcase. If there were two of him in this world I would be surprised. His “church” is more of a cult. He is hardly representative of any group, either liberal or conservative.</p>
<p>"Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. (born November 13, 1929) is the highly controversial leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, a group (called a cult in some circles) based out of his home in Topeka, Kansas. Phelps is best known for preaching that God hates homosexuals and will punish both them and “■■■ enablers” (which his church defines as anyone whom they find to be insufficiently anti-gay). He claims events such as the September 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina are caused by God because of this hatred. He and his followers frequently picket various events, especially gay pride and funerals of gay men, feeling it is their sacred duty to share their views with others. It has been rumored that Phelps is actually gay himself.</p>
<p>Phelps is a self-described “fire and brimstone” preacher who believes that homosexuality and its acceptance have sentenced most of the world to eternal damnation. Westboro, which is estimated to number between 100-200 members (the vast majority of whom are related to Phelps through blood or marriage), is built around an anti-homosexual core theology, with many of their activities stemming from a mantra that homosexuality is the lowest sin one can commit. He also refuses to use any word other than “■■■” to describe homosexuals. Gay rights activists, as well as Christians of virtually every affiliation, have denounced him as a producer of anti-gay propaganda and violence-inspiring hate speech.</p>
<p>Phelps rose to national prominence in 1998 when he and congregants from Westboro picketed the funeral of gay murder victim Matthew Shepard, delivering an obscenity laden sermon (with focus given to graphic descriptions of homosexual sex acts) informing the mourners that Shephard had gone to hell and that everyone in attendance would join him there. Ever since, Phelps and Westboro have remained in the national limelight for their regular pickets of events ranging from gay pride parades to the funerals of soldiers killed in the Iraq War to grand openings of Starbucks."</p>
<p>i wonder why they protest soldiers funerals- i mean, the military is probably the only place today in america where you cant be gay.</p>
<p>I think you can be gay in the military–just don’t tell anyone.</p>
<p>“In January 1947, Phelps dropped out of West Point before attending a single class”</p>
<p>Thanks for the info on the guy Shogun ;). He is creepy…Here’s what I’m worried about, I didn’t want to start a forum bashing Fred Phelps. He is a man full of hate, and all he wants is attention. He wants people to say they hate him. The guy is scary, but let’s not focus on him. That’s what he wants! Let’s focus on great it is to have the patriot guard!</p>
<p>It appears that this group only attends functions when they are specifially requested by the family. That makes sense since the vast majority of soldiers funerals do not have protestors.</p>
<p>I met the chaplain of that group at a convention once. He’s a very nice guy, one of the finest people you’ll ever meet.</p>
<p>I heard about fred (can’t even bring myself to consider him a proper noun or bother with his last name), his enmity toward gays, and the Patriot Guard last month on NPR while I was driving to the post office to send my mid a priority mail package. He is a perversion of Christianity. All I can say is, it’s a good thing he wasn’t in the crosswalk of the intersection I was passing…</p>
<p>Yeah, there are a lot of nuts out there doing and saying all sorts of evil things in the name of religion. Part of it stems from their belief that theirs is the “only way” and that they have some sort of mandate to force others to act (if not believe) as they do. We saw it with the Crusades, the violent spread of Islam, the attempt of the Spanish to convert the Indian populations, the Inquisition, and some of the religious right’s attempts to limit freedom’s today.
Separation of church and state while mandating freedom from religious persecution is probably one of the wisest concepts this nation has ever adopted, and certainly allowed us to avoid many of the pitfalls that other nations have fallen into.</p>
<p>The nutball and his group attended the funeral of a young woman killed in Iraq from the Caldwell, Idaho area. The local police and firefighters came out in force, making the protest stay in a local park and parking fire trucks between the idiots and where the family would be arriving.</p>
<p>The Patriot Guard sounds like my kind of people. And i don’t even own a motorcycle.</p>
<p>“All I can say is, it’s a good thing he wasn’t in the crosswalk of the intersection I was passing…” LOL LOL Good one! I would welcome a Phelps visit to SC low country. There is alot of swamp where things tend to disappear. Or better yet, lets send the guy to Texas. They’d have nine kinds of fun with him there. </p>
<p>I am in total agreement with you Shogun. Well said.</p>
<p>Gotta love Idaho police & firefighters! </p>
<p>Ride on Patriot Guard! Ride on!</p>
<p>“I would welcome a phelps visit to SC low country. There is a lot of swamp where things tend to disappear.”
-jamzmom</p>
<p>who said women shouldn’t be in combat??? ;)</p>
<p>I heard a bit of this story.
It is logical to conclude that these protestors consider themselves “conservative.”<br>
On another thread, wasn’t there a challenge to point out a single conservative that has yelled out “baby-killer” or something similar.
Where are the uber-conservatives claiming the virtue of this group?</p>
<p>Yes, we all know how there are nuts at either end of the spectrum. However, it is only those of us who are maligned as having no principles because we are moderates *[part of the so-called no-hero-was-ever-a-moderate branch of living] * can legitimately disclaim such activities. For those of you that live in a black and white world then you can only disclaim these people with a whisper of hypocrisy. These people truly believe in what they are doing and, at least as so far as you claim that only true conservatives can be heroes, they should be applauded accordingly. You live with what you sow. * [modifed with grateful acknowledgement to that famous Jew, Jesus Christ.] *</p>
<p>Although this sh/ be posted on another thread, I wonder what the U-Cs would have thought of Lincoln? Lincoln, who dared to appoint members of the opposition to his cabinet. [Reference McCain, who is maligned because he sometimes votes with the other party.] I guess Lincoln was non-principled because he considered both sides of an argument before making a decision. [On another thread somebody compared Bush to Reagan. Incredible!]</p>
<p>“One dimensional” does not begin to properly describe the intellectual depth of certain aspects [liberal and conservative] of our modern society. [Why, oh why, do you waste your time Shogun (or was it Aspen or was it USNA09) trying to “argue” with those who would consider photos of Bush molesting a child as evidence that the No Child Left Behind initiative was working.]</p>
<p>Now . . . let the excoriation [that would be “To censure strongly; denounce” for those of us who live in North Carolina] begin. If I have learned one thing over the years: [1]that people do not let a few good facts get in the way of their arguments and [2] they always resort to name-calling when they have little else to say.</p>
<p>Yes, Bill - great post (did you read the stuff on the “Just Wondering” thread at the USNA site??).</p>
<p>You have provided “the voice of reason” in the political debate that seems to encroach upon many of these threads. There has to be a meeting of the minds somewhere for our country to be adequately represented in government - when extremists call the shots in political parties, that only serves to inflame the opposition. Call me an idealist, but I think pragmatism, rather than dogma, has to form the basis of a candidates’ (political) platform in order to actually accomplish something & quit ripping the country apart. Perhaps a moderate (McCain) is someone who the real majority of this country can get behind. McCain is really a conservative, but he gets maligned because he takes issues on a case-by-case basis, rather than right down the party line.
We’ll probably get our chops busted here, but I wanted to thank you for the post. Good points.</p>
<p>Bill – who exactly are you angry at? Are you equating what this guy does as being consistent with what Christian conservatives believe? Was someone calling you names on this board that I missed? Did you mean that because this group believes in what they’re doing and conservatives believe in what they’re doing, that that equates the two groups?? I’m not trying to be cute (with these questions), I was just surprised at the direction which this thread just turned. And, given your excellent posts, why you all of a sudden jumped into the political fray the way you did – fanning the flames in a way that I think goes against what you believe!</p>
<p>Bill, have you been eatin’ gunpowder again? Yikes! LOL </p>
<p>I can’t lump this Phelps guy & his “gang” into any kind of political topic of discussion here. Doesn’t work for me. They are point blank crazy. Kinda like when I went off on that Code Pink thing. I just thought they should move the protest. Its just one opinion in the several millions that don’t count for much in the big scheme of things. Yes, both groups believe in their issues & yes, they are free to voice them. However, its my “kicking a puppy” theory I just can’t let go of. Good human beings just don’t do these things to other human beings! When people suffer, just leave them in peace! If I were to loose my son, my politics would be the last thing I would be thinking of at his funeral. Its just the lowest of lows to put forth a protest of any kind in the faces of people who are suffering. “And thats all I got to say about that.” ~ Forrest Gump</p>
<p>Navymom09, “who said women shouldn’t be in combat???” Exactly! Some would argue that women can’t do the physical things like dragging a 350 lb guy out of the line of fire. I would argue that women play a pretty good mind game with an enemy & they serve an important role in this regard. A well educated woman in the ways of war may eventually be the one to put an end to this nonsense in Iraq. I deeply respect & admire the women at WP and all of the service academies. These gals are sharp as a tack. I wish I had some of their moxy and brains. We are depending on them along with their male counterparts for our future.</p>
<p>And too, I hate the labels that have been generated on these boards these last few months. If people can’t figure out simply whats right & whats wrong in being a decent human being & playing nice with others in this short short life, how do they decide if they are a conservative, liberal or a moderate? Right or left? Does it matter? The political bashing is not what floats my boat about hanging out here, so I try to stay away from it alittle even though its so entertaining at times. Its that most of you have something I’m interested in. Academy kids. Do you suppose they get into spats over this stuff at the academies? I truly hope not. I hope they are realizing that everyone has differences and are working through them to accomplish good things. Good thing that these kids are smarter than me or we’d all be in such trouble.</p>
<p>I’m with you, JM. Much rather talk underwear and boots and who’s gotten in and who’s battling DODMERB, etc. etc. I think that when we go into politics we’re stealing the forum away from the kids and their primary concerns. Trouble is, there’s just not too much going on right now so we’ve got to invent stuff. </p>
<p>I’m glad I found this forum before all this political bashing and lack of nicenes started. I’d probably have read once and never returned!</p>