Fred Phelps, former Civil Rights lawyer

Started by Muninn, May 05, 2010, 10:53:21 PM

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Muninn

We all know him for his God Hates Fags logos and the insane picketing he's dong but apparently he fought for the rights of blacks in the 60's.

'Most-hated,' anti-gay preacher once fought for civil rights


I love this part his daughter says:

Quote"You're born black. It's something you can't change even if you're Michael Jackson," she says.

Avi

"You're born black.  It's something you can't change, even if you're Michael Jackson."  Err... Jackson didn't choose to do that, his skin pigment changed.  Heh.  I can't help but wonder if she tried to make a funny and it came off horribly.
Your reality doesn't apply to me...

Callie Del Noire

I think this makes for a good arguement that the Reverend might have suffered some sort of mental disorder (his daughter on the other hand from what I've seen in the media.. is a total tool)

Jude

This doesn't surprise me in the least.  From the interviews I've seen, in the eyes of the Westboro Baptist Church they are trying to save people.  They would categorize their mission as one of mercy and benevolence rather than hatred and bigotry.  Their logic isn't even that complicated.

1)  Being gay is a sin according to the bible (there are passages to support this as we all know, they they're old testament)
2)  If you die having sins you have not repented for, you will go to hell (also supported, and a "normal" Christian concept)
3)  Therefore, they're attempting to get into people's face in order to shock them into realizing that they're sinning in order to save them from hell.

The protesting at soldier's funerals makes sense too in a twisted way.

1)  In the bible, God punishes nations that institutionalize and tolerate sinful behavior (Sodom and Gomorrah).
2)  America is in the process of transition to acceptance of homosexuality (which is a sin in their view).
2)  Thus they see anything bad that happens to America as a consequence of that (with biblical examples to back things up).

Are they idiotic in my view?  Yes.  I still think that they're slightly misunderstood; it's cynical to automatically assume that they do what they do out of hatred when they profess to doing it out of love quite often.  Take their word for it, I think they're telling the truth, they're just that fuckin' crazy.

Trieste

*nods* I pretty much agree with Jude. Given the video documentary on them that was recently linked, watching the interactions, I do think that Mr. Phelps himself is probably dealing with some sort of mental disorder. His actions and reactions look to me like someone who is being very gruff and demanding in order to cover up dementia or some other lack of cognition (heck, it's a common response to confusion and fear)...

Am not saying I agree with their methods and I certainly don't support their viewpoint, but I do feel sympathy for it.