Absolutely Disgusting Funeral Protests

Everything that doesn't fit anywhere else!

Postby odnarb » March 7th, 2006, 7:59 pm

Absoultely disgusting that anybody would invade the grief of beraved family members like this. And the Patriot Guard Riders, what a bunch of wonderful people!

Dodge City showdown at funeral
By Ed Lavandera
CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/06/btsc.l ... index.html

DODGE CITY, Kansas (CNN) -- This past Saturday morning I found myself in a five-car caravan cutting across the Kansas plains with about 30 religious protesters. In the back of a truck, there were signs that read "Thank God for IED's" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers."

I was with the Phelps family. They've launched a disturbing campaign to tarnish the funerals of fallen soldiers.

This is a painful drama playing out at dozens of military funerals across the country. The group is led by Fred Phelps.

He and his family have picketed and heckled military families at more than 100 funerals since June. They say the soldiers are fighting for an army that represents a country that accepts homosexuality.

I have spent a great deal of time in the last few weeks tracking the movements of Fred Phelps and his family. Saturday, I followed him and his family from their home in Topeka, Kansas, to a funeral in Dodge City, Kansas.

Fred Phelps is the pastor of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka. The congregation is made up mostly of his family. Phelps has 13 children, 54 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.

He describes himself as an "old-time" gospel preacher who says, "You can't preach the Bible without preaching the hatred of God."

Phelps and his family have made a name for themselves by showing up at high-profile events preaching their hate-filled brand of Christianity. They blame homosexuals for the destruction of America.

This past weekend's target was Army Sgt. Jessie Davila.

Davila was killed February 20 in Iraq by a suicide bomber. He served as a Marine after graduating from high school. He returned to civilian life, and had a daughter. But he was always a soldier at heart, so two years ago he joined the Army National Guard and was three months into an Iraqi deployment when he was killed.

This is also very much a story about another phenomenon the Phelps protest has created. That's the birth of a group called the "Patriot Guard Riders." They're a volunteer group that came together after hearing that so many military families were being blindsided by the protesters.

More than 400 motorcycles thundered toward this showdown in Dodge City this weekend to make sure Sgt. Jessie Davila's funeral was not overshadowed by the Phelps protest. They converged from small towns all over southwest Kansas to support Sgt. Davila's family. One group leader says, "I knew we would have a crowd, but I didn't know it would be this big."

The procession of rolling thunder escorted Davila's family from memorial services to the grave site on a quiet hill.

In the end, Sgt. Davila's family says they were only able to hear a little bit of the Phelps protest. Davila's mother, Linda Claus, says she's grateful for the Patriot Guard Riders. But she also wants other military families to be aware that this could happen to them.

"When people begin to know what they're (Fred Phelps' family) really doing -- killing the American Dream -- they won't be around very long, because nobody's going to let them. They'll drown them out. They'll be gone," Claus said.

Since CNN started airing reports on these funeral confrontations a few weeks ago, the Patriot Guard Riders say its membership has almost tripled. And more than a dozen states are now considering legislation that would restrict protesting at funerals.

The Phelps family vows to continue these protests. They might be outnumbered, but the way the Patriot Guard Riders see it, it only takes one of them to dishonor the memory of a fallen soldier.
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Postby SisMorphine » March 7th, 2006, 8:09 pm

Phelps and his clan picketted the funeral of a father of my favorite high school English teacher, simply because he supported gay rights (though was not gay himself).

The man is dispicable. I cannot believe that he would think that it was even remotely okay, nevermind his JOB, to picket funerals of people who have different ideals that him.

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr :evil:

Oh yeah and PS:
YAY for the Patriot Guard Riders!! Whether or not you agree with the war you have to agree that everyone deserves the ability to mourn in peace. Good for them for helping to make that happen. If I had a motorcycle I would join in an instant.
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Postby cheekymunkee » March 7th, 2006, 8:31 pm

When we buried my uncle who had died in Viet Nam his funeral was protested by the peace-niks. It was a quiet, peacefull protest but horrible nontheless. He didn't want to be there, he was freakin' drafted!! He didn't deseerve to die like he did & he didn't deserve his memorial to be protested.
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Postby Purple » March 7th, 2006, 8:42 pm

What is wrong with people....?
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Postby AllAmericanPUP » March 7th, 2006, 9:13 pm

:cuss: That kind of crap really pisses me off

Thank god for people like the Patriot Guard Riders
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Postby Fear_the_Sheeple » March 7th, 2006, 9:20 pm

They say the soldiers are fighting for an army that represents a country that accepts homosexuality.


That doesn't make any sense! This country stands for a lot of things. It's not like they're fighting for homosexuality. That's really grasping for straws. :rolleyes2: What an ass. :mad2:
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Postby mnp13 » March 7th, 2006, 9:33 pm

*@%$&@*%@$#@%

I'm not for the war as it was started, but I am for it for what it did for the people of Iraq.

Good for the motorcycle 'guys'. What they need to do is enlist the help of semi-truckers so that the Phelps' cars get pinned on the highways for a few hours at a time.
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Postby JCleve86 » March 7th, 2006, 10:09 pm

Wait...let me get this straight...dude is protesting military funerals because our country is too liberal? Can you IMAGINE this dude if we had a democrat in office? HOLY CRAP.

(Let's not forget the fact that plenty of schools teach creationism only and abstinance only, not science, thanks to the current gov't....WTH)

I am SO confused. Beside that, how is protesting normal people (read: not in authoritative positions) going to change anything? Not to mention normal people who are mourning.

And preaching God's hatred? ARE YOU FRICKIN SERIOUS? This is so ludicris I don't even know where to start...I almost feel like we need to check for it at snopes...
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Postby GreddyGirl » March 7th, 2006, 10:46 pm

:shake:
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Postby Appalachian American » March 7th, 2006, 10:49 pm

they also protested the funeral of the 13 miners that died here in WV
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Postby mnp13 » March 7th, 2006, 10:51 pm

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Postby pibblegrl » March 8th, 2006, 2:46 pm

Some people seriously need to get a life...the crap that some people do in the name of free speech or religion really, really disgusts me.
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Postby Miles » March 8th, 2006, 6:15 pm

I'm not a violent person, but had this happend to one of my family members. Someone would be shot and then, shot again.
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Postby Marinepits » March 8th, 2006, 6:43 pm

Miles wrote:I'm not a violent person, but had this happend to one of my family members. Someone would be shot and then, shot again.


I am so with Miles on this one!

Sounds like this Phelps moron needs a real live USMC blanket party to learn him a lesson. :twisted:
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Postby mnp13 » March 8th, 2006, 7:30 pm

I do not judge people based on their religion, sexual preference, or anything else. People are free to believe what they want to believe.

but this guy's website is just filthy. that he identifies himself as a Christian is completely abhorrent to me. There is nothing in Christianity that justifies the hate that he is spewing.

I feel ill.
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Postby pLaurent » March 8th, 2006, 8:56 pm

They say the soldiers are fighting for an army that represents a country that accepts homosexuality.


Gotta love those Christians....so charitable.

I don't know what to say - that is just too messed up.
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Postby Marinepits » March 8th, 2006, 9:24 pm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060308/ap_ ... l_protests

TULSA, Okla. - A small Kansas church known for its anti-gay protests said Wednesday it has stopped picketing for now at soldiers' funerals in states with new laws against the practice.

"We're not going to get arrested. We obey the law," said Shirley Phelps-Roper, an attorney and member of Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, a fundamentalist congregation headed by her father, the Rev. Fred Phelps.

Westboro Baptist has outraged mourning communities across the nation by showing up at soldiers' funerals with signs that read "God Hates Fags" or "God Made IEDs," a reference to roadside bombs. Members of the congregation contend soldiers are being struck down by God for defending a nation that tolerates homosexuality.

In response, several states have passed or considered legislation restricting when and where pickets may demonstrate at funerals. Violators can be fined or jailed.

Westboro Baptist canceled demonstrations at funerals this past week in Oklahoma, Indiana, Missouri and Wisconsin, which have new laws limiting such protests.

Phelps-Roper said the group will eventually protest in states with the new laws, but it will find a way to obey the new laws.

She also said the church is considering legal challenges to the laws. "We're waiting until all the legislatures are over to see what tattered shreds they've left the Constitution in," she said.
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Postby mnp13 » March 8th, 2006, 11:47 pm

Marinepits wrote:She also said the church is considering legal challenges to the laws. "We're waiting until all the legislatures are over to see what tattered shreds they've left the Constitution in," she said.


:shutUp:
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Postby Marinepits » March 8th, 2006, 11:49 pm

Word. :D
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Postby Hartagold AmStaffs » March 8th, 2006, 11:56 pm

Hubby is in the American Legion, and we both ride.... looking into seeing if there's a local chapter of the Patriot Riders. This is something I'd love to get in on.

To the wacko "church" of Phelps:

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