<p>Oops…guess that was Shirley Phelps Roper who was on the program…</p>
<p>Did anyone happen to catch the interview with Shirley Phelps yesterday on Hannity and Colmes? WTH? If <em>anyone</em> can explain to me how this woman is not a “danger to self and others” and in need of some serious confinement, please explain?</p>
<p>In case you missed it, when Shirley was asked whether the young Amish girls deserved to die, she flat out said that, “YES! THEY DESERVED TO DIE!” </p>
<p>One of the hosts, I think it was Hannity, was about to BLOW…he said that that he would be talking to the audience right PAST her because she was “brain dead.” OMG, what a horrifying segment.</p>
<p>I can’t believe Hannity and Colmes put her on. I’m dumbfounded by news outlets that give them any airtime at all. They thrive on publicity, ignoring them – hard as it is to do – would be best. They were up here a few months ago for a military funeral. And of course they were able to goad a hotheaded teenager into attacking one of their nutcase followers on film, so they got their nightly news fix. Aargh.</p>
<p>Don’t know if you heard this, but Mike Gallagher, who has his own radio show, “bribed” the Westboro Baptist Church to NOT picket at the funeral of the Amish girls by giving them an hour of airtime. Talk about making a deal with the devil…<em>sigh</em></p>
GOOD POINT, zm. IMHO, they’re not any more biased toward the right than the mainstream networks are toward the left. Gotta get a little balance somewhere…</p>
<p>lderochi,
When I walked into the kitchen last night, my husband had it on the TV. I watched for about a minute and then said to him, “What the h*ll is this?” We both listened for about another 30 seconds, because I don’t think that either of us could believe what we were hearing. Then we turned the TV off. It truly scares me to think that this woman was serious.</p>
<p>I’ve no issue with Fox News - every other news outlet is liberal; what’s wrong with a little bias on the other side?</p>
<p>What I do NOT understand is ANY news outlet that even airs things like, “Those Amish girls deserved to die,” or “Those people in the Twin Towers deserved to die.” GGGGRRRRRR. Any civilised society does not accept the death penalty as punishment for religion, birth, or occupation - for anything except killing (even that is debatable).</p>
<p>Those idiots from Westboro Baptist are the same ones who preach that our servicemen/women deserve to die, America deserved 9/11 and “God hates fags”. If these people consider themselves to be christians, I want to be as far removed from that as possible. They’re sick and I am shocked that anyone, including FOX, would consider them worthy of having an opinion.</p>
<p>I guess in a way, letting this woman have her say on cable news is a service to the rest of the country. There might be someone out there who needs to see for themselves how intensely offensive this group’s position is. You have to admit it’s hard to believe on the face of it. I thought it was an exaggeration the first time I heard it.</p>
<p>Honestly, I can’t believe that any modern group of Christians support or teach this evil doctrine, even one that believes homosexuality is a sin.</p>
<p>These people have a right to say whatever they want, but it doesn’t seem right to give them an electronic megaphone by putting them on TV. </p>
<p>These folks should spend less time harrassing innocent grieving familymembers, and more time reading the Bible. I suggest dwelling on a few verses by this guy named Jesus, who said things like “let he who is without sin”, etc. etc. It might be quite instructive for them.</p>
<p>I saw the segment and I’m glad Fox News aired the show. The church’s viewpoint is offensive. The best way to discredit them isn’t by censorship but by shining the light of public opinion on their sad, sad views.</p>
I agree with you on this. As a (reluctant) resident of Kansas, I have discounted those crazies and had never really listened to any of their messages (except as they were filtered through the papers). OMG. What a eye opener! That church’s worst enemy is itself, and if more people are exposed to their astoundingly VILE messages, they will lose ground even faster.</p>
<p>Perhaps more importantly, fundamentalist churches that tend toward this form of irrational vitriol and bile will be shamed into taking a look at themselves not wanting to belong to a club that would have something like Westboro Baptist as a member. They may feel the need to draw a greater divide between their teachings and those of these hate merchants.</p>
<p>I see this as a service a great and necessary service.</p>
<p>I’m not sure why Fox having their interview on was such a service. This wasn’t the first story on these people. They’ve been on the national news many, many times, and a law is in Congress specifically targeted at stopping their activities with soldiers’ funerals. So why this was supposedly such an eye opener for all of us is a little mystifying to me. They’re definitely old news, now getting more air time.</p>
<p>I understand your point and I agree that news like this gets old, but hatred and bigotry has existed from the earliest times. Censorship doesn’t eradicate hatred but knowledge can. I don’t want to see these people everyday either, but a reminder every now and then is a good thing.</p>