May
23
2007
Are We Capable of Taking the High Road?
Posted by: Scott at 9:08 pm in Questions, The SoapBoxQuestion: When "Reverend" Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church dies, will the gay community end up picketing his funeral in retaliation? Or will we realize two wrongs don’t make a right no matter how justified? Can we show compassion where we ourselves were given none?
After the venom I saw spewing forth online regarding Rev. Jerry Falwell’s death, I am not so sure we are capable of taking the high road in a situation like this. The lure of vengeance is too great of a temptress.
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I’ve followed up the links you highlighted and I’m shocked. Fortunately, neither this guy nor his “Church” gets any coverage outside the US.
In answer to your question then yes, unfortunately, I think we do have to take the high road. This man will one day be accountable to the God he claims to serve and nothing we say or do will save him from that. Meanwhile, he shows himself up as the kind of man he is and he hasn’t an ounce of credibility anywhere else in the world.
British Bear, you obviously didn’t watch the excellent documentary by Louis Theroux regarding the Phelps. I suggest you check it out for a British perspective on that crazy family.
I think there is a big difference between Phelps and Falwell. Falwell had the ability to create national policy with his hate. That is why he was so scary. Phelps is just a crazy old man. That leads a small cult of followers.
Personally Phelps is a small threat to our community. He is just one crazy guy with too much time on his hands. I think this was proven when he protesting Falwell. I mean they are on the same side. The both hate us.
I think when Phelps dies it is our responsibility to just let his craziness die with him. And backlash we create as a community will just empower his cult followers.
I have to agree with you to some extent. I’ve seen some venomous blog posts that were pure emotion without a good mix of logic and fact to back them up. I don’t think it’s just the gay community though. Humans in general are at times not capable of just letting things go.
I am going to have to agree with your other bloggers, but I also think that he deserves to be protested- he protested a military funeral in my town, a friend of mine who was shoot in Iraq. The kid was 19- It was not cool.
Some one like that does not deserve a respectful funeral.
Well… I honestly don’t know. I don’t hate him, although I’m certainly sickened by him. I don’t think I would protest his funeral… some people just need to be let go, or else you give the people who agreed with them more ammo. There’s already enough hate without me contributing to it.
As someone struggling with whether I should remain Catholic, or do what I want (i.e. ‘be gay’), I found that site extremely depressing. I mean, their little ‘memorials’ for the gay boys, one of whom committed suicide… Geeze, isn’t it bad enough he felt so terrible that he took his own life, without people feeling the need to condemn him? Is that the way, memorial or no memorial, that people would remember me, if I were to ever reach that point?
Blech.
I have a feeling Daniel is right. Even the religious right as a whole does not like Phelps. I mean FOX TV hates him. Why should we waste time on him when he belatedly dies? Hopefully there will be a few comically clever “tributes” and otherwise his passing will go unnoticed and quickly forgotten.
Old ministers never die; they just get put out to pastor.
haha.
or was a joke not an appropriate comment? hm …
This has always been an issue that is difficult for me. On the one hand, good riddance to bad rubbish, as someone says. They’re pricks and I don’t think that even death is deserving.
However, on the other hand, it is a human life, regardless of how horrible they are. And as someone who tries to be religious in their life, we should mourn that loss.
It’s tough because it’s not really human nature to forgive, regardless of personal experience with them. However, that having been said, I think it would make them crazier than they already are to actually stand together and actually mourn them. It would show a lot more of people’s characters if they are actually able to stand and express a loss.
Now, realistically, this isn’t going to happen. I’m not sure that I could do it, so I wouldn’t necessarily expect anyone else to be able to do it. But it would be nice to prove that everyone these people were so hateful towards were able to “turn the other cheek”.
I would just let him be buried without any hoopla. No acknowlegment of his life. Protesting at it would just embolden his followers. Ignoring his funeral would be the best statement.
I didn’t read a lot of gay posts after Falwell, but I did notice that a lot of the liberal columnists really went after him after he passed. Did gay people bash him? I dunno, I didn’t really notice, I hope not. When Phelps passes…well I hope we are the better people in that event.
peace
Phelps deserves to go into obscurity after his funeral. Let him become a footnote in history, but don’t give his followers any more attention.
Phelps is visible, unadulterated hate. Falwell worked to make it more palatable as to influence national policy. Rasputin 1 is dead. Pat Robertson is 2, and Ted Haggard is so discredited now. Phelps is simply a lunatic apostle, a thorn to everyone.
I won’t be gleeful when he’s dead, but I won’t miss him either.
I live in Kansas so I get to deal with Fred and his ilk often. I hope that our community will not picket his funeral or in any manner sink to his level, that’s just what he would like.
I’m all for a big fund raiser with the money being spent on education programs.