The Most Hated Family in America

[WriterDom]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOrz5k0jWdU&feature=related

*Warning* Offensive video. I found the set interesting. In a train wreck kind of a way. The family seems more sophisticated for lack of a better word than I imagined. To generate enough money to move around the country I guess they'd have to be.

 

[Daddy2mylilgirl]

Sounds like they won't be reproducing. So hopefully it will end with them.

 

[WriterDom]

Sounds like they won't be reproducing. So hopefully it will end with them.

Those girls are really young though. You have to wonder if the end doesn't come as soon as they expect before long, Gramps will command them to go forth and multiply. If they could find suitable husbands willing to marry into the clan.

I guess they have a right to free speech, but I do feel bad for the young kids growing up learning all that hate. There is one where the lawyer bitch is teaching a pre-school child to say god hates fags.

 

[Stella_Omega]

The Phelpses are news to you?

In some ways I think they are the gay movement's best friend-- they show how ugly homophobia is in no uncertain way.

 

[intothewoods]

The Phelpses are news to you?

In some ways I think they are the gay movement's best friend-- they show how ugly homophobia is in no uncertain way.

Totally.

This came up before around here. What a joke to see people who piss on gay rights all the time express outrage without any self-awareness.

 

[chy_girl]

http://motherjones.com/riff/2010/04/schools-sing-haters-away-Westboro%20Baptist%20Church-Gunn-Stanford

I wish I could find the link to the original news clip, but this'll have to do. It was awesome to see so many kids stand up and say that hate wasn't ok.

 

[DVS]

The Phelpses are news to you?

In some ways I think they are the gay movement's best friend-- they show how ugly homophobia is in no uncertain way.

These people live less than an hour from here and we've known about them for years. Only since they started targeting military funerals has the rest of the world seen how much hate is in this man. And it's not just him. He's taught his hate, or maybe it's genetic, to all of his kids and their kids. Those family members who didn't agree to the hate have been disowned. This is a true evil in America's mid-west. But, the evil stops at the family. I'm glad he doesn't have the power that Hitler did.

The majority of his kids become lawyers, because a lot of their money comes from hate cases that they win in court. They aren't stupid. This is how the city of Topeka, Kansas has put up with this family for years.

This is the Westboro church web site, if you want to read more hate.

 

[Etoile]

I haven't seen the documentary before, thanks for posting it.

 

[Etoile]

Also, deliberately attacking someone is not cool. Give them the finger, honk your horn, shout insults, fine. But throwing a drink at them is not okay. No contact. I don't care what their ideology is.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

This thread *could* be titled, "The Most Hating Family in America..."

 

[DarkBee]

Therefore it's so funny when they get confronted with their own hate:

Reporter flirting with Fred Phelps jr. (starts at 2:00)

 

[Etoile]

That's Fred Phelps Jr. unfortunately...would be funnier if it was Sr!

 

[DarkBee]

That's Fred Phelps Jr. unfortunately...would be funnier if it was Sr!

True, but still pretty damn funny!

 

[Stella_Omega]

Also, deliberately attacking someone is not cool. Give them the finger, honk your horn, shout insults, fine. But throwing a drink at them is not okay. No contact. I don't care what their ideology is.

Let me play the world's tiniest violin for the poor abused fuckface.

 

[Etoile]

Let me play the world's tiniest violin for the poor abused fuckface.

It's a short journey from drink-throwing to serious violence. Where do you draw the line?

 

[midwestyankee]

It's a short journey from drink-throwing to serious violence. Where do you draw the line?

My line is this: don't waste a drink that cost more than $3. Toss anything more expensive than a happy hour PBR and you've crossed the line.


But seriously, this is a good point. The strength of any movement of civil disobedience is in the error-free discipline of the members. No one ever, ever, screws up and tries to retaliate the authorities bring down violence on them. The same must be true in dealing with haters like the Phelps crowd. Screw up just once and they win the frigging World Series.

 

[Etoile]

There's that, but also...violence begets violence. I'm in line with Gandhian principles. "There is no way to peace...peace is the way."

Yeah, in the grand scheme of things, throwing a drink isn't a big deal. Heck, they do that on Glee just about every week. But if one person throws a drink and we cheer for them, the next person is going to punch the kid in the shoulder, and we'll cheer for them too. The next person after that is going to knock the poor kid unconscious, expecting applause. Where does it stop?

 

[Stella_Omega]

There's that, but also...violence begets violence. I'm in line with Gandhian principles. "There is no way to peace...peace is the way."

Yeah, in the grand scheme of things, throwing a drink isn't a big deal. Heck, they do that on Glee just about every week. But if one person throws a drink and we cheer for them, the next person is going to punch the kid in the shoulder, and we'll cheer for them too. The next person after that is going to knock the poor kid unconscious, expecting applause. Where does it stop?

That's worth thinking about. That poor kid is a genuinely evil person. Unconscious? It's a start.

Gandhi, like MLK, played good cop to other people's bad cops. By the time he showed up India was England's Vietnam. they were damned happy to find a Gandhi available to turn the whole thing over to, before they lost all face.

 

[Etoile]

That's worth thinking about. That poor kid is a genuinely evil person. Unconscious? It's a start.

Gandhi, like MLK, played good cop to other people's bad cops. By the time he showed up India was England's Vietnam. they were damned happy to find a Gandhi available to turn the whole thing over to, before they lost all face.

You and I will just have to agree to disagree. I can't support physical violence against any human being.

Intolerance is not the answer to intolerance, and an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.

 

[Stella_Omega]

You and I will just have to agree to disagree. I can't support physical violence against any human being.

I would never expect you to.

But to decry a thrown drink? In my opinion, you insult the memories of the gay children who have DIED this year because of the violence inherent in the speech of people like these.

No Phelpses have been battered to death. No homophobes have been bullied into suicide. If we tolerate intolerance we are merely enabling our own murderers.

 

[Etoile]

I would never expect you to.

But to decry a thrown drink? In my opinion, you insult the memories of the gay children who have DIED this year because of the violence inherent in the speech of people like these.

No Phelpses have been battered to death. No homophobes have been bullied into suicide. If we tolerate intolerance we are merely enabling our own murderers.

Thank you.

If it helps understand my original statement any, I made it before I realized it was a drink. I was still watching, and I posted something to the effect of "I can't believe they actually hit somebody" thinking that it was physical violence. When I realized it was a drink, I just changed it to that, rather than reformulating the statement entirely.

But I don't see how refusing to accept physical violence insults anyone's memory. It is my ideological standpoint. If I said anything to support the WBC message, then I would agree with you. But I'm not saying anything about them. I'm saying that hitting a person is not okay with me, period, no matter who it is. Do I think there should be other forms of retribution against them? Absolutely. Quite frankly, I'd like to see the "fighting words" statute extended to cover things like this. (Putting them 300ft away from funerals isn't enough; that's why I'm a Patriot's Guard member.) But at no time have I condoned the WBC message. All I am doing is discouraging violence against anyone at all.

Saying "it's not okay to hit people" is not the same thing as saying "it's okay to bully people to the point they cannot see a way out." I'm not saying "tolerate intolerance." I'm saying don't hit people.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I'll use my words.