← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · il ragno
Thread ID: 19860 | Posts: 20 | Started: 2005-08-28
2005-08-28 19:31 | User Profile
Another proud member of the Christian Taliban busy doing the Lord's work. This is the kind of thing that ensures a secular America for many more years to come.
[url]http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/08/28/D8C8JGIG0.html[/url]
[SIZE=4]Anti-Gay Church Protests at GI Funerals[/SIZE] Aug 28 12:06 AM US/Eastern
By BETH RUCKER, Associated Press Writer
SMYRNA, Tenn.
Members of a church say God is punishing American soldiers for defending a country that harbors gays, and [B]they brought their anti-gay message to the funerals Saturday of two Tennessee soldiers killed in Iraq[/B].
The church members were met with scorn from local residents. They chased the church members cars' down a highway, waving flags and screaming "God bless America."
"My husband is over there, so I'm here to show my support," 41-year- old Connie Ditmore said as she waved and American flag and as tears came to her eyes. "To do this at a funeral is disrespectful of a family, no matter what your beliefs are."
The Rev. Fred Phelps, founder of Westboro Baptist in Kansas, contends that American soldiers are being killed in Iraq as vengeance from God for protecting a country that harbors gays. The church, which is not affiliated with a larger denomination, is made up mostly of Phelps' children, grandchildren and in-laws.
[B]The church members carried signs and shouted things such as "God hates fags" and "God hates you." [/B]
About 10 church members protested near Smyrna United Methodist Church and nearly 20 stood outside the National Guard Armory in Ashland City. Members have demonstrated at other soldier funerals across the nation.
The funerals were for Staff Sgt. Asbury Fred Hawn II, 35, in Smyrna and Spc. Gary Reese Jr., 22, in Ashland City. Both were members of the Tennessee National Guard.
Hundreds of Smyrna and Ashland City residents and families of other soldiers turned out at both sites to counter the message the Westboro Baptist members brought.
[B]So many counterdemonstrators were gathered in Ashland City that police, sheriff's deputies and state troopers were brought in to control traffic and protect the protesters. [/B]
The church members held protesting permits, and counterprotesters in Smyrna turned their backs to Westboro Baptist members until time expired on the protest permits.
[B]"If they were protesting the government, I might even join them," [/B] Danny Cotton, 56, said amid cries of "get out of our town" and "get out of our country."
"But for them to come during the worst time for this family _ it's just wrong."
[I]Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed[/I].
2005-08-28 19:51 | User Profile
I am half-seriously entertaining the possibility that Phelps is some kind of an [I]agent provocateur[/I], similar to many Nazi costume fetishists that specialize in ruining WN rallies...
Petr
2005-08-28 20:16 | User Profile
IR,
I started to look up "the Rev. Fred Phelps", to see what his views were on dispensationalism, but decided I really didn't give a damn.
This reminds me of another protest in equally bad taste. In front of Walter Reed there are some people protesting the War for Jews and Oil, shouting slogans and doing the usual stuff we've come to see. Nearby are some "freepers" who are doing the same thing in return. I'd love to be in D.C. just so I could go up to the antiwar demostrators and tell them "1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is that way. There's where the clown lives you should be bitching at, not here." I would then cross the road and tell the "freepers" that they should go to the same address with the other morons to show their allegiance to their master. There they can yell at each other to their hearts' content and leave these wounded troops not only in peace, but the hell alone.
2005-08-28 21:06 | User Profile
[QUOTE=il ragno]Another proud member of the Christian Taliban busy doing the Lord's work. This is the kind of thing that ensures a secular America for many more years to come.[/QUOTE]Phelps is a jerk and a clown. What else is new?
What ensures the continuing degradation of our culture are forces a whole lot more powerful than he is.
2005-08-28 21:34 | User Profile
[QUOTE]
The church members were met with scorn from local residents. They chased the church members cars' down a highway, waving flags and screaming "God bless America."
[/QUOTE] Insanity on both sides here. Phelps is a nut who craves attention.
2005-08-28 21:48 | User Profile
Agreed that Phelps is a nut.
He's also a Johnny-one-note. I agree that homosexuality is disgusting, and it's clearly forbidden by the Bible. But how many other serious sins are forbidden in the Bible that are MUCH more common than homosexuality? Adultery and fornication are ubiquitous. Why don't fire 'n' brimstone types like Phelps give those sins equal time? I suspect it's because homosexuality is a much more isolated and therefore easier target. If you come down ranting against something that nearly everyone has done at least once, such as fornication, then you're more likely to offend people than have them jump on your self-righteous bandwagon.
I don't believe in hell, but if there were such a place, I think people like Phelps would be the first to go there. Why? Because he judges others as worthy of hell in direct contradiction to Jesus' commandment to refrain from doing so. The Bible portrays Jesus as hating self-righteousness more than almost anything else. Judge others --> bring judgment upon yourself. (If I believed in hell, I would be afraid to even say the words I just said.)
2005-08-28 22:02 | User Profile
[QUOTE]If you come down ranting against something that nearly everyone has done at least once, such as fornication, then you're more likely to offend people than have them jump on your self-righteous bandwagon[/QUOTE] Agreed, but the way that Phelps goes about this, there isn't going to be a whole lot of people jumping on his bandwagon anyway. I also agree with what you said about homosexuality and even some of what he says. But I also remember his protest at Matthew Shephard's funeral, which was in very poor taste, just like this. Those who push the gay agenda desperately need and must love this guy.
2005-08-28 22:54 | User Profile
I do not see the need for using a term like "Christian Taliban," Fred Phelps just has a screw lose. I would be all for a Neo-Puritanism when it comes to morality. Fornication is destroying our Civilization, but I think of miscegenation as a worse sin. Phelps is right about the Sodomites, but his wacky side show is not doing anything but make him look foolish. Bothering people at funerals is in very poor taste and does no one any good.
2005-08-29 01:41 | User Profile
[QUOTE]Members of a church say God is punishing American soldiers for defending a country that harbors gays,
The soldiers in Iraq are defending America?
2005-08-29 02:13 | User Profile
I do not see the need for using a term like "Christian Taliban"
Take it up with Yannis then; he coined it, and uses it [u]proudly.[/u]
2005-08-29 11:43 | User Profile
[QUOTE=il ragno]Take it up with Yannis then; he coined it, and uses it [u]proudly.[/u][/QUOTE]
Phelps doesn't qualify for membership.
He applied, but the Holy Divan of the Christian Taliban turned him down flat.
He's not nearly radical enough.
2005-08-29 12:00 | User Profile
Actually, the term was coined by Julian Bond.
2005-08-29 16:21 | User Profile
Quote by Petr: [QUOTE]I am half-seriously entertaining the possibility that Phelps is some kind of an agent provocateur, similar to many Nazi costume fetishists that specialize in ruining WN rallies...[/QUOTE]
I know of one case where a newspaper called up Fred Phelps to get his opinion on some issue concerning the deviants - this was a year or so after Phelps had brought his media spectacle to this same city to provide the "opponents of gay rights are all nutjobs", complete with film footage on the evening news.
So of course, no "sensible person" would want to be associated with Phelps, thus silencing Boobus on another issue that is destroying the once descent culture that was the U.S. of A.
2005-08-29 18:03 | User Profile
Anyone seen this?
[url="http://www.smellthebrimstone.com/"][color=#cc0000]www.smellthebrimstone.com/[/color][/url]
2005-08-29 18:50 | User Profile
[QUOTE=starr]Anyone seen this?
[url="http://www.smellthebrimstone.com/"][color=#cc0000]www.smellthebrimstone.com/[/color][/url][/QUOTE]
I just did....and it's pretty funny. Thanks!
2005-09-01 15:54 | User Profile
What Hannity "reported" concerning this incident:
From the August 30 broadcast of ABC Radio Networks' [I]The Sean Hannity Show:[/I]
> HANNITY: Let me read to you from Indianapolis. Headline: "Funeral for fallen Hoosier soldier brought some unwanted guests." Let me read this. Now, put this in the context of the story we did for you last week about Code Pink and about how Code Pink was protesting in front of Walter Reed Medical Center. Remember, they had their "Maimed for Lies" signs and "Enlist Here and Die for Halliburton" signs? And this is where these soldiers come back to try and get their lives together after receiving these awful, often life-threatening wounds. And yet, these people with political agendas are outside Walter Reed Medical Center protesting. And my point to them was, "Hey, look, if you want to protest, let's leave the injured soldiers alone, they need time to recuperate. Take it to the White House. Take it to some other area."
So anyway, the story in Indianapolis goes like this, quote: "Emotions ran high for an Army soldier's funeral in Martinsville on Sunday. Sgt. Jeremy Doyle's sacrifice brought many out to honor him, but also sparked a standoff on a city street. People arriving to say goodbye to a hometown hero met an altogether different scene in Martinsville, as demonstrators dragging American flags on the ground and holding signs opposing U.S. troops. 'The thing that got us here is that Sergeant Doyle died for us to give us our freedom, and then you have people like this come. It's absurd,' one funeral attendee told News 8 in Indianapolis. Tensions grew before demonstrations [sic: demonstrators] finally left their location right across the street from Army Sgt. Jeremy Doyle's funeral service. According to the group's website, it sees America's -- Americans' deaths in Iraq as a kind of punishment for social misdeeds. Martinsville residents said that the protesters picked the wrong time in the wrong town to express their views. Which rightfully -- so they have their freedom of expression. Nobody's going to take that away from them, but there is a time and a place for this kind of thing, and it's certainly not here today."
Now, who's Jeremy Doyle? Well, he died along with three other soldiers on August the 18th, when their Humvee hit a landmine on an Iraqi highway. This guy died for all of us. His final journey was a procession down Main Street, past the courthouse square. "'If I had to lose a son, if I had to lose one, I'd -- I'd rather it be serving our country,' his father explained. The protesters were headquartered in Kansas. They traveled across the country to demonstrate against a soldier." And you know something? I guess this is just another example of how the anti-war left supports our brave troops. 'Cause isn't that what they always say? They're disrupting the funeral, tormenting a grieving family. Can you believe I even have to bring this story to the airwaves? And creating an incredible spectacle in the middle of an occasion to honor a guy who died serving his country? But of course, they're supporting our troops. They're not supporting them; they're targeting our troops!
What's the difference between this or protesting outside the entrance to Walter Reed, where our wounded soldiers go to recover? I mean, these sol -- just can't believe that our soldiers and our -- and their families have to endure this pathetic atta -- these pathetic attacks, these chants, these posters as they enter and leave a hospital.
What actually happened:
Funeral For Fallen Hoosier Soldier Brought Some Unwanted Guests Aug 28, 2005, 9:42 PM
Emotions ran high for an army soldier's funeral in Martinsville Sunday.
Sgt. Jeremy Doyle's sacrifice, brought many out to honor him but also sparked a standoff on a city street.
[B]People arriving to say goodbye to a hometown hero, met an altogether different scene in Martinsville. Demonstrators dragging American flags on the ground and holding signs opposing U. S. troops.[/B]
"The thing that got us here is that Sgt. Doyle died for us to give us our freedom and then you have people like this to come and it's ridiculous. It's absurd," one funeral attendee told News 8.
Tension grew before the demonstrators finally left their location, right across the street from Army Sgt. Jeremy Doyle's funeral service.
According to the group's website, it sees American deaths in Iraq as a kind of punishment for social misdeeds. Martinsville residents said the protesters picked the wrong time and the wrong town to express their views.
"Which rightfully so they have their freedom of expression, nobody is trying to take that away from them. But there is a time and place for this kind of thing and it certainly is not here today," one Martinsville resident said.
Jeremy Doyle died along with three other soldiers August 18th when their Humvee hit a landmine on an Iraqi highway. In Martinsville, Doyle's final journey was a patriotic procession down Main Street, past the courthouse square.
"If I had to lose a son, if I had to lose one, I'd rather it be serving our country," Doyle's father explained.
The protesters are headquartered in Kansas. They travel across the country to demonstrate against U.S. involvement in the war.
All content é Copyright 2000 - 2005 WorldNow and WISH-TV. All Rights Reserved. For more information on this site, please read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. [url]http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3776118[/url]
City stands tall as war casualty is laid to rest Martinsville residents line streets in support
By Rebecca Neal .neal@indystar.com August 29, 2005
MARTINSVILLE, Ind. -- Life came to a stop in this small community Sunday afternoon as thousands turned out to honor a soldier who died in Iraq.
A former Indianapolis resident, Staff Sgt. Jeremy Doyle, 24, never called Martinsville home. But people lined the streets of the city where his family now lives as his funeral procession wound through downtown on a sultry afternoon.
New South Park Cemetery is across the street from the funeral home where hundreds crowded inside, but folks here seemed to agree Doyle deserved a procession past the Martinsville War Memorial.
For 31/2 miles, families stood outside their homes. Some people brought lawn chairs to the curb. One young boy held aloft a sign that read, "Jeremy, you're my hero."
As the hearse crept through town, the only sound that could be heard above the idling engines was the buzz of cicadas.
A massive American flag waved over the courthouse square, suspended over the road by two cranes. Men held their hats over their hearts while veterans and uniformed soldiers saluted as the procession passed the war memorial.
John Doyle said he was extremely touched by the support this city of about 12,000 has shown.
"What a tremendous thing Martinsville has done for our son," he said of the place he has lived for four years. "What a great showing; what a great send-off."
Jeremy Doyle, who attended Decatur Central High School in Indianapolis, was one of four U.S. soldiers killed Aug. 18 by a roadside bomb in Samarra.
A member of the 3rd Infantry Division who commanded an armored Humvee, he was on his second tour of duty in Iraq and had been slightly wounded last spring while trying to deactivate an explosive. He returned to the United States for several weeks in May.
Doyle is the 51st military member with links to Indiana to die since the start of the war in Iraq and the second soldier with Morgan County ties to be killed. The Department of Defense said Pfc. Stephen P. Downing II, who graduated from high school in Mooresville, died Oct. 28, 2004, from small-arms fire in Ramadi.
Sunday, hundreds turned out for Doyle's funeral at Neal & Summers Mortuary. Mourners filled two large rooms and packed a hallway, some having to listen to the service through speakers.
Family members remembered Doyle as a fun-loving soldier who deeply loved his family and the U.S. military.
"He will forever be my hero," said his uncle, Joe Doyle, during the service.
Joe Doyle said he and his nephew often tried to one-up each other with witty jokes and insults, but Jeremy Doyle usually won. He was a fan of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour and loved an occasional raunchy joke, but he was always careful not to offend anyone.
"If he said something that embarrassed you, he'd be quick to do something to embarrass himself and take the attention off you," Joe Doyle said. "There aren't many people who will do that."
Jeremy Doyle's former platoon commander, Sgt. Andrew Fussell, said he considered Doyle to be his younger brother. As an eager, fresh-faced soldier at Fort Stewart, Ga., Doyle was a picky eater when it came to military rations. He said Doyle would only tolerate three kinds of MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) and Fussell once found Doyle had made off with his favorites and left Fussell with a pack full of the dreaded "country chicken" dinners.
"Every one I pulled out of my bag was one of those," he said. "I think I ate those for like eight or 10 days."
Jeremy Doyle tried hard to keep in touch with his family while serving overseas. Joe Doyle said he received one letter written on exquisite stationery and was shocked to learn it came from Saddam Hussein's palace.
Many of the speakers at the service commented on Jeremy Doyle's deep love for his wife, Leah McGinnis Doyle, a Decatur Central graduate he married in 2003 and lived with in Georgia.
[B]While the city turned out in support of the Doyles, six protesters associated with the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas demonstrated outside the funeral home. Members of the group, which has a history of picketing funerals of military personnel killed by roadside explosives, held signs such as "God blew up the troops" and "Thank God for dead soldiers."
The group says it believes the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the deaths of soldiers in Iraq are signs from God that America is an "abomination."[/B]
Christina Drake, 30, lives near the funeral home and came out to protest the group's messages. She stood across the street holding a flag her husband, John, flew while serving in Baghdad.
"I support every soldier, every troop over there -- everything but them," she said, gesturing angrily at the protesters.
John Doyle said he hopes people will remember soldiers such as his son in their prayers.
"I ask that people continue to show them respect for what they are doing," he said.
Addressing the crowds at the funeral, Fussell said he hopes they will treasure Jeremy Doyle's dedication to the military and the United States.
"We should all sleep better tonight knowing Jeremy Doyle protected our way of life," he said, "and now guards the gates of heaven." [url]http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050829/NEWS01/508290394[/url] ========================= Truth and fact are strangers on the Sean Hannity Show. Leave it to dumbass Sean to screw this story up.
2005-09-14 20:35 | User Profile
I saw this comment on Fred Phelps in Free Republic that more or less confirms my suspicions about him:
[url]http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1478712/posts[/url] [COLOR=DarkRed][B] "A former member of his flock maintains that Phelps is no longer a believer in anyone but himself, but keeps up a semblance of "God talk" in order to get a rise out of people." [I] 18 posted on 09/06/2005 2:04:44 PM PDT by wideawake[/I][/B][/COLOR]
That other angry cult leader, Jim Jones, likewise ended his days as a rank unbeliever.
Petr
2005-09-15 03:18 | User Profile
Fred Phelps ran for Governor of Kansas in 1998. He was defeated in the primaries.
He ran as a.....DEMOCRAT.
2005-09-15 08:32 | User Profile
a democrat? LMWAO!
[QUOTE] Phelps has run in numerous Democratic primary elections for governor of the state of Kansas, in 1992, 1994, and the last time in 1998, when he came in last with 15,000 votes out of a total of over 103,000 votes cast, or 15%. [/QUOTE] [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps[/url]
2005-09-15 10:31 | User Profile
And not only a Democrat, but also a [I]very[/I] hypocritical [B]civil rights lawyer![/B]
[url]http://blank.org/addict/[/url] [SIZE=3] [FONT=Arial][COLOR=Sienna]"Perhaps his most publicized case was the Evelyn Johnson suit, touted as son of Brown vs. Board of Education, the landmark school desegregation case filed against another Topeka USD 501 school in 1955. Brown vs. Board of Education, along with the Selma bus case, became the basis for the civil rights movement in the sixties. In 1973, Evelyn Johnson's aunt and legal guardian, Marlene Miller, sue the Unified School District, number 501, a state entity which contained the Topeka area public schools. [B]Miller, represented by Fred Phelps, claimed the district had failed to comply with the ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education.[/B] It had not provided the same educational opportunities and environments to the black neighborhoods as it had to the white areas of the city. Phelps boosted Miller's complaint into a 200 million dollar class action suit. When that was tossed out, he pressed on with the individual action on behalf of Mrs. Johnson. In 1979, the pastor agreed to settle out of court with the district's insurance company. Phelps accepted the company's condition the settlement be sealed from public scrutiny to discourage others who might have been inclined to sue for the same reasons. Hardly the act of a hard-knuckled civil rights reformer. When the contents of the settlement were revealed later, it turned out the pastor had collected $19,500 from the insurance company- $10,600 himself, and $8,900 in a trust for Johnson. If the attorneys for Brown had settled for cash outside the courtroom instead of a decision, there would have been no legal grounds for the federal government to pressure a segregated America to conform to the new social standards, and quite possibly no civil rights movement. In light of that, it is difficult to understand how $8,900 in trust to a 15 year- old, uneducated girl was going to remedy either her or her school-mates' problem. After the settlement, Evelyn Johnson attended Topeka High School, rated one of the best in the nation. She performed poorly and dropped out without graduating. Certainly her life and prospects, and those of her peers, remained generally unchanged by the out of court pay-off. Since no ruling was made and no precedent established to reinforce Brown vs. Board of Education, nothing came from six years of Phelps' litigation except $10,600 for himself and a reputation, however undeserved, as a civil rights hero."
...
"During their teenage years, both Mark and Nate worked as law clerks in their father's office. "When a black client was in there," recalls Nate, "my father would play the 'DN' game with us. It stands for 'dumb nigger'. We would all try to use the acronym as often as possible in the presence of the person involved." [B]In the 1983 interview with the Wichita Eagle-Beacon, Phelps intoned, echoing Abraham Lincoln: "The air of the United States is too pure for racial prejudice to keep going, and the nation can't long endure half-slave and half-free.[/B] There is not any doubt that the problems of this country derive, in my humble opinion, from the way this country continues to treat black people." [B]But according to his sons in California, part of the theology of the Old Calvinism Fred taught held that blacks were a subservient race because they were the sons of Ham, the son of Noah. [/B] Cursed for ridiculing Noah's nakedness, Ham's children were born black, according to the Bible. Some scholars attribute apartheid in South Africa to the fact that the white minority is predominantly Calvinist and takes the Ham story to heart. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
Petr