Thanks to Big Orange Michael, I now know that the dishonorable Fred Phelps is paying a visit to our lovely Midstate on Saturday to bring his brand of "protest" to the funerals of two 278th soldiers killed in Iraq a weekend ago. If you don't know who Mr. Phelps is (I refuse to call him "Reverend", because there's nothing about him that is worthy of reverence) here's a good place to read about him. I won't link his website, since I also refuse to give him the satisfaction of anymore website hits from me. I hate very few people on this earth, but he comes the closest of anyone else I can think of.
In his infinite lack of wisdom, radio host Steve Gill wants the Southern Baptist Convention to speak out against Phelps and protest against him on Saturday. First off, Phelps' "congregation" (almost solely made up of the families of 9 of his 13 kids) is Primitive Baptist. To associate his church with the SBC is like saying that the Church of Christ and the Mormon Church are the same thing since they both have "Church of Christ" in their religion's names. Secondly, this would not be a protest against Fred Phelps - this would be a protest against anti-war sentiment. And even if these cretins have chosen the absolute worst place to protest at, they have a right to do it, just like they've had the right to protest at Matthew Shephard's funeral and at countless gay events and organizations without Gill batting an eyelash. And if the SBC even gave Phelps the time of day, they'd be getting him the publicity he craves. If anyone shows up for this idiotic display, I'd be in favor of a response much like they got at the Shephard funeral, where "angels" blocked the protesters from the family's view without a word.
What I want to know is - where can I go to protest both ends of this continuing political hot air? I don't like the war at all, but I'm sick to death of the shouting from both sides. Does anyone truly think that Cindy Sheehan's little sit-in in Crawford is going to bring our troops home? At the same time, does anyone believe that digging up as much dirt as possible on her is going to change anyone's mind? I don't know about anyone else, but this crap isn't debate - this is the equivalent of an internet flame war. I don't want to hear anything else about how each side is eviler than the other. I want a solution. And this ain't the way to get one.
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Well said, Dana. Well said.
The more I hear about this circus of two sides holding a flamewar (as you so eloquently put it) in my town on Saturday, the sadder I get for the families of these soliders. Their sons, daughters, husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters died to defend these people's rights to have their half-baked ideas and to express them. But I think it is a despicable time and place to do it.
Listening to Gill driving in today, he had on the head of the Southern Baptist Convention and it's the first time anyone on any side of this said--ya know, this is just cruel to the families. I had to applaud the head of the SBC for saying that...
From what I understand, Phelps group is only allowed to protest off church property in a certain area. And I just hope that both sides of this will resist the temptation to bait and taunt each other into making this a bigger tragedy than it already is.
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