Boy, talk about your “feel good” stories . . . this one sure made my week. Seems the virulent Rev. Fred Phelps and his kooky clan of misfits from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas finally got what was coming to them this week (well, at least until they meet up face-to-face with God one day . . .) after all their years of dishing out unspeakable hate to the most defenseless of people — first to the grieving families of AIDS victims, then to the distraught families of gay-bashed murder victims, next to the stunned families of dead coal miners, and most recently to the heartbroken families of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. The Phelps clan’s premise is that all these people died as the result of God’s supposed punishment of America because of it’s support of homosexuals. (Huh?! Where’s THAT support???) This week, Phelps and his clan were ordered to pay $11 million to the family of a dead U.S. soldier whom the Phelps clan (might we say “cult”?) victimized further by protesting at the soldier’s funeral. [Story]
Of course, this judgement is exactly what the Phelps clan have been hoping for for years — to instigate a lawsuit that will most likely work it’s way to the U.S. Supreme Court where the issues of free speech vs. privacy will be put to the test. While that will likely take years to play out, I’m happy to rejoice today that a jury has finally had the opportunity to say to the Phelps clan what God has probably been trying to say to them for years: “Shut the #&@* up!” While the Phelps clan obviously, through their hateful actions, aren’t listening to God any longer, maybe they’ll hear the verdict issued so loudly by this jury when they all meet up again in bankruptcy court, hopefully someday very soon.
More:
- Phelps Clan Ordered To Pay $11M In Anti-Gay Military Suit
- Matthew Shepard Online Resources – Hate Speech – Rev. Fred Phelps
November 5, 2007 at 9:52 am |
The jury looked at the facts and saw that Phelps crossed the line from free speech to violation of privacy.
In the past, they had been careful to keep their protests public. Apparently they got careless.
March 13, 2008 at 3:29 pm |
Yes, I certainly agree that Phelps and his gang have been engaging in senseless and hurtful activities for years, certainly including the Matthew Shepherd incident of the 90’s. However, I don’t think that there is a court, a person, a shrink, or a god for that matter, that can convince him and his group that he is wrong. They fundamentally believe they are right.
I believe that the best way to silence this group is to take the advice of my family when I was in elementary school being picked on. Ignore them. I wonder how quickly they would lose their steam if the media never showed up to their protests, if the families never acknowledged their presence, if the newspapers never reported on them. This is perhaps the best way to rid ourselves of hateful people. Give them no attention and they will go away. Phelps has power only to the extent that we give it to him.
Andy Heath
admin at heathcreativesolutions dott com.