Funeral protest.
Offline Here's one worthy of Atheistextremist
"(CNN) -- A controversial Kansas church says members will picket before the memorial service Wednesday evening for two Florida teenagers allegedly killed by their mother.
In a press release, Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, said it will demonstrate outside the service in Tampa because the mother is a military wife and "the doomed American military declared war on God & His church."
The controversial church and its pastor, Fred Phelps, have made their name picketing near funerals of people who died of AIDS, gay people and soldiers. The church plans to picket beginning at 5:15 p.m.and ending at 6 p.m., when the service is scheduled to start, according to CNN affiliate WFTS-TV in Tampa.
Julie K. Schenecker, 50, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths Friday of her 16-year-old daughter, Calyx, and her 13-year-old son, Beau. She was denied bail at a court appearance Monday, a court spokesman said.
Her husband, Army Col. Parker Schenecker, is with the U.S. Central Command, which is headquartered in Tampa. Police told WFTS that he was in the Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar when his children were... "
This kind of shit makes me sick, these people should be f*cking pissed on, and they bring their children too.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/02/02/florida.children.killed/index.html?hpt=T2
"Don't seek these laws to understand. Only the mad can comprehend..." -- George Cosbuc
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Now I'm totally confused. This church thinks that the American military has declared war on... Christianity?
I thought all of the right wing Christian nutjobs were big fans of our military free-for-all? Or are they mad about the whole "don't ask don't tell" change? Geesh, make up your mind already.
WB Church is not full of crazy religious people, it is just full of crazy people. Their theism is just a method for their psychosis....don't ever expect them to make any sense.
Everything makes more sense now that I've stopped believing.
I now love the Westboro Baptist Church....
not for what they do, or believe... but how they expose the hypocrisy of *all* religion....
I love when I see opponents of Gay Marriage complain about the WBC....The only difference between these psychos, and other forms of Christianity, is they are more devout, and vocal.... OK... and thier nuts... But still...
www.RichWoodsBlog.com
It's the kid in the picture that really gets my proverbial goat. That should be considered child abuse.
"Don't seek these laws to understand. Only the mad can comprehend..." -- George Cosbuc
Preacher Fred Phelps believes that every death that happens to a U.S. soldier is a sign from god that our nation is being severely punished for it's immorality and the fact that we tolerate the rights of gay people in this country.
On the documentary, Fall from Grace, he mentions that it thrills him to no end to hear about hundreds of deaths of soldiers and he only wishes that the numbers of the deaths could rise into the millions.
Oddly enough, when two teenage vandals once planted some explosives on his compound years ago along with the fact that so many soldiers have perished because of explosions was mentioned in one of Phelp's sermons that god was killing his enemies by the same method once tried on his church.
Check this excerpt out :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyCkADmNdNo
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
What a waste of organs.
As an atheist... I just lie in wait for a theist to complain about the WBC... and my reply is always something like , "There just doing what they think god wants them to do... wouldn't *you* protest a soldier's funeral if God told you to"?????
www.RichWoodsBlog.com
Their god seems like a lightweight.
LOL Rich. I am the same way.
I find it funny when these anti-gay Christians wish to act sanctimonious about Westboro Baptist Church when they essentially preach the same type of doctrine.
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
Common law is the only thing our society has that minimizes any chance at a totalitarian state OF ANY KIND.
As vile as their tripe is, as long as they are not violating noise laws or private property laws, or impeding the motion of others, or inciting violence, we have to allow this pricks to do what they do.
The problem with trying to institutionalize thought crime laws, with the intent of getting people to like each other, is that you have the potential LONG TERM, to set up a society of lawmakers, law enforcement, judges and juries that may not agree with your position. It can potentially take away your right to attempt to make a change in the future.
It can become a slippery slope that can be a disadvantage to minorities like atheists and websites like this. We value our right to say "Jesus doesn't exist" and "God is a horrible monster of a literary character". That being the case we should not want a society where we hand a loaded weapon over to a majority that demonizes us.
It is not a matter of protecting their bigotry is as much as it is about protecting our ability to get our message out despite what the majority might think of it.
Their bigotry wont win in an open society, but it is an open society that also allows us to use our voice to counter their bigotry. I do not value handing laws that set up taboos or blasphemy, even when that is aimed at my label.
I would not hand a loaded weapon to a majority that doesn't like me.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
You raise some good points, and I agree with you. The thing that got me emotional is seeing that kid holding a sign. I don't think that kid has a chance to rationalize things for himself. It should be law that people should not indoctrinate their children, and people that attempt to should be charged with child abuse. Of course this is a very emotional and highly subjective thought on my part, but... Let's just say I'm not a violent person but I would smile kicking some of those protesters in the teeth... again highly emotional and not rational response.
"Don't seek these laws to understand. Only the mad can comprehend..." -- George Cosbuc
I think it is the downside of living in a free society with free speech. I simply think the alternative is far more destructive to humanity and can potentially lead to a fascist state, be it "don't blaspheme the state, or don't blaspheme my god".
The upside of it is, although they spew their bullshit bigotry, we also have the right to ridicule and blaspheme their bigotry. I think as long as that is protected, society will progress to being more pluralistic and less hateful. But you cant get rid of human emotions or absurd claims by squashing dissent. It doesn't work on atheists when we are equated to Dahmer and Stalin, and we have to accept their bigotry, not in the sense we shouldn't fight it, but in the sense of allowing it.
And if you look at the progression worldwide, although 7 billion people will not always like or say nice things about each other, there IS a growing awareness that constantly leads younger generations away from the divisions their parents suffer from. I think our smaller world with the age of technology are forcing humans to look in the mirror.
But as far as children, even you and I would not want a Christian saying, "Your atheism is an abuse on your child", and no matter how wrong we know they are, they would still claim it because they truly believe it.
Both you and I know that while we might teach our kids(I don't have one) but in general, to be skeptical and value reason and science, at the same time we ALSO teach that we are not special because of a mere label.
It is a matter of facing reality and taking the good with the bad while working on minimizing the bad. I don't think any kind of oppression of dissent is a long term effective goal. Putting it out in the open where it can be dealt with is far more affective.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
Actually I think the freedom of speech for people like Fred Phelps is ultimately a good thing. It demonstrates very aptly all that is wrong with many of the twisted branches of theism.
Attempting to silence people like this is definitely not the way that I would go, either.
The only thing that actually worries me about people like Phelps and his fanatic followers, is the notion that some of his flock might be encouraged to go out and do violence against innocent people as a result of it.
But I agree, freedom of speech has to apply to everyone, even the people that we do not like.
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
That frightens me too, but incitements to violence are already illegal. You cant say to someone, "go kill my wife". I don't think giving any label, including atheists, taboo status solves any problems. It doesn't make anyone any less dead if they are killed for money, or killed because of a label. There is just as much, if not more crime world wide that is domestic in nature. There are far more people in the world who are killed by their neighbor, or rival gang on a daily basis, than their are people being killed based on label.
Attempting to force a change into someone doesn't work. Living better than they do and using the tools of blasphemy and ridicule do far more good in marginalizing than suppression.
I'd rather have the bigotry out in the open where I can see it and challenge it, than to have it fester in silence. You cant force people to like you are only say nice things about you, but everyone wants laws protecting them from physical harm and everyone wants laws to be able to say what they want without fear.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog