"Pastor" Fred Phelps: The Supreme Court needs to teach this fool fundie a lesson, as well as the other hate-mongers of his ilk.
Radical Christian fundamentalists are an odious and execrable bunch, nearly as bad as the Islamic fundamentalists. (A point brought home in the CNN documentary “God’s Warriors” hosted by Christiane Amanpour). For example, instead of working toward a harmonious and peaceful world, with mass slaughter less likely, these degenerate cretins work endlessly for strife and hate then have the nerve to say their god ordained this based on their idiotic parsing of a corrupted bible.
They invoke mangled, mistranslated and forged passages in the same source to condemn and demonize decent unbelievers as “evil” even as they beg for their hateful god’s wrath (and we know the god of the Old Testament was a hateful genocidal butcher that was referred to as “demiurgos” by the Gnostics, who believed the true idolatry was believing in it.) They fulminate and call down godly wrath and havoc on ecumenicalism, even as many churches realize hating each other is not the way but rather working together in common cause.
However, the haters and their hate god despise ecumenalism because it means they will end up the losers, the hateful minority – while all of decent humanity is arrayed against them and their hateful god and his despicable doctrines shrouded in false righteousness.
Now, there is the opportunity to set these foul miscreants straight once and for all. This is via the forum of the Supreme Court which, next month, will weigh in on whether the hate-monger and pseudo-pastor Fred Phelps and his church have the right to disrupt the funerals of fallen soldiers with their signs proclaiming the deaths are evidence that “God hates Fags”. At every such disruptive protest at hundreds of military funerals, these assholes have predictably shown up with their “fag” and "Going to Hell" signs- often being chased off by military escorts and family. (In one funeral, nearly killing Phelps and his cohort- who had to speed away in getaway cars) . Phelps' hate web site (for his Westboro Baptist Church) resembles the I-net sites of many other screwball fundie bloggers and for those who can stomach it, can be found here: http://www.godhatesfags.com/
Phelps protests at every and any military funeral and his sorry-ass lot hold up signs to the effect the deceased is “Destined for Hell” because he or she fought for a nation that allows homosexuals to serve in the military (so long as they don’t disclose it, though that may now be nearing an end with a recent federal circuit court ruling). Imagine at a time of maximum grief, weeping and mourning for your fallen loved one – whether father, brother, nephew or sister – and seeing a group of mean-spirited societal rejects holding aloft signs like “God Hates Fags” and “Hell Bound!” How would you feel?
The Supreme Court now has the chance to set this right and formally acknowledge that hate speech on the level of the Phelps-type false religionists is not “free speech” and can’t be tolerated. Military funerals especially should not be disrupted when the families may finally have only this sad opportunity to be with their loved one. In my own dad’s military funeral, had Phelps and his cronies shown up, I’ve no doubt my brother-in-law (also in attendance) and I would have gone after them like rabid Tasmanian Devils. Holding up signage to declare hell-boundedness would not have been an option, “free speech” be damned. Phelps and whoever was with him would’ve had their heads handed to them.
Granted both Phelps and Terry Jones are examples of the extremes to which self-righteous fundamentalism can be propelled, but where’s the threshold for the extreme once one proceeds down the path of “I know I’m right and saved, and you’re not!”. There may even be those self-righteous fundies who condemn one or both and yet assert THEY wouldn’t go that far. But how far is too far if they already embrace an absolutist stance? Once one begins the slide down the slippery slope of mental or moral absolutism all bets are off. Atheists who simply express unbelief based on their own intellectual searches and convictions are declared “evil doers” on a par with mass murderers or the greatest moral degenerates, like Hitler. Honest people of faith who simply wish to build ecumenical bridges are declared Satanic spawn and the “wrath” of the righteous fundies’ hateful god is called down upon them.
How is that different from Fred Phelps barging into a military funeral with his hate signs? Well, in one case the hateful fundie is sitting in his own apartment or home blogging out damnation on those he hates, but in the other he actually shows up and interferes in a ceremony. However, the hate that drives both is the same, irrespective of where or how done. Also, there's absolutley no assurance that one day the former won't tire of his "home-based hate" and decide to venture forth into the world to openly demean or demonize others with signs, or vocal protests. Who’s to say, given the driving hate of righteous exceptionalism is exactly the same? We're talking of a difference in degrees here, but not of kind.
The Supreme Court must come down firmly and let the Phelps-based religious idiots know in no uncertain terms that there are limits to their hate speech. A good, reasonable basis with precedent would be to assign cordoned off zones at a set distance from the funerals in the same way anti-abortion protestors are now zoned off at a defined distance from interfering with women at clinics. A good standard would be 100 yards, or the distance of the length of a football field.
This distance ensures the “free speech” rights of the zealots are protected, but not to the extent of disrupting the military funeral with screams, yells or outrageous hateful signs. What it does is set rational limits to free speech, instead of allowing no-holds barred protests and disruptions – when the soldier (even IF a gay soldier) has made the ultimate sacrifice for his country.
It’s been said that at any given time, 20% of this country is mentally unstable, and so one must factor that in when confronting the religious crazies. They will, given their mental illness, continue to be convinced of their own sanctimony and rectitude and that most others will go to "Hell" (though they will try to "save us before it's too late") – and no amount of reason or argument will change that, because mentally disturbed people aren’t amenable to either. They inhabit their own world of black and white, and it is this very black and white limit which contributes to their tenuous grip on reality. In a world rife with gray, uncertainty and subtle nuance, the b-w thinker is adrift and isolated within his head - effectively cut off and insane, except for his "good Book" which becomes his idol. Deprive him of that, and he's likely to instantly turn into a drooling, blubbering mass of quaking flesh.
Will they ever change? Hardly! It’s part of their identity and purpose in life to condemn others no matter they are striving for the betterment of humanity. But at least the Supreme Court can show them that even in their condition there are limits to tolerating their disgusting nonsense.
No comments:
Post a Comment