Sam Harris

How about those nutcases who demonstrate at the funerals of American soldiers, that just goes to show what religion can lead to.

And make no mistake, as Sam Harris says and seems obvious to me the bulk who are the majority of ordinary believers are just as culpable, they allow the whole edifice to exist in the first place that gives these loonies a chance to emerge.

Why there isn't some treason law against such a thing is hard to understand, freedom of expression and speech is one thing but this is outrageous and borders on the criminally insane.

(Sorry, this is a PS, I just saw another topic on this same issue, I should have posted there).

Perhaps the mainstream christians have a problem with the Phellps church because, as crazy as this sounds, the Phellps clan are the true believers. The bible does talk about god’s wrath on nations because of the iniquity of the people. The Phellps clan takes their retorhic straight from the scriptures.

How can your oridinary everyday sane christian not condone what the Phellps clan is doing and at the same time say they believe in the bible and that it is the true word of god?

The very same First Amendment which allows this web site to exist also protects the Phelps’. If we deny them their rights to their twisted beliefs, we also deny you and I those same rights. It cuts both ways. 

I agree with the Purple One that a system powerful enough to deny freedom of expression to some people would be powerful enough to deny those rights to you and me. I’m glad the moderator here does not delete posts just because of trolling but, apparently, only for posts that are purely commercial. I reported another one of those commercial posts just minutes ago.

I really HATE what the phelps are doing—-but as purple said, I have to allow them to express themselves publicly.  Their expression usually just further exposes them for the morons that they are.
I’ve noticed that many states (including mine) have passed local ordinances that keep protests at military funerals some distances away.  They can spew invective to their black little heart’s content and not bother the grieving familly.
Usually, there are a number of people from vairous veterans and/or biker’s groups to help keep the perimeter secure. :wink:

The thing is, as a Kansan, I have watched these people for years. They mainly hate gay people, and have picketed at the funerals of AIDS patients, gay activists, etc. Nobody created a fuss about them, and until they protested the Matthew Shepherd funeral in Wyoming, most people had never even heard of them.

Then comes the Iraq War, and they switch to protesting soldiers’ funerals. Suddenly, everyone comes unglued at the thought. Why are dead soldiers any better than dead gays? Why is dying from a bullet any better than dying from AIDS? {even straight people get AIDS, and they have protested the funerals of straight grandmothers who got AIDS from blood transfusions} It seems that there is more than a hint of hypocracy here, that we hate them for protesting military funerals, but ignore them for protesting AIDS funerals.

[quote author=“PurpleKU77”] The thing is, as a Kansan, I have watched these people for years. They mainly hate gay people, and have picketed at the funerals of AIDS patients, gay activists, etc. Nobody created a fuss about them, and until they protested the Matthew Shepherd funeral in Wyoming, most people had never even heard of them.

Then comes the Iraq War, and they switch to protesting soldiers’ funerals. Suddenly, everyone comes unglued at the thought. Why are dead soldiers any better than dead gays? Why is dying from a bullet any better than dying from AIDS? {even straight people get AIDS, and they have protested the funerals of straight grandmothers who got AIDS from blood transfusions} It seems that there is more than a hint of hypocracy here, that we hate them for protesting military funerals, but ignore them for protesting AIDS funerals.

Hey Purple,
You know, for awhile I lived in Wichita.  From 1st through 4rth grade.  I remember the town quite well.  I lived just off of 19th and West street.

Well, soldier’s funerals get more attention than the funeral’s of AIDS victims.  These people are all about the media exposure. Otherwise they would just be another obscure fundie church from Topeka, nu?

You are right, it is hypocritical of them, but much of what they profess is hypocritical in and of itself.  They didn’t get on CNN protesting Mathew Shepard’s funeral, so protesting the funeral of a dead marine in Dolton, IL should get them more airtime.  It did.  Airtime of a woman complete with requisite babe in arms stating that the Judge that told them to stay 200 yards away would one day answer to “the lord his god” for this.  I mean, how pretentious can you get?  And that is just what they want.
Best to just Ignore them.  They show themselves for the idiots they are whenever they open their mouths.

I would be curious to know how many seriously closeted Homosexuals there are in Mr. Phelps congregation.  There seems to be always a good amount of irony with these types.