Aw, crap. Westboro Baptist Church is coming here

Lol....this is my hometown...if you think the kids at east high are tough, you should meet their parents.
I don't think the DM cops will mind either.
They need to research their target a little better.
This will not end well..I will see if I can get someone to vid this mauling. Yikes!

originally posted by: Mandroid7
Lol....this is my hometown...if you think the kids at east high are tough, you should meet their parents.
I don't think the DM cops will mind either.
They need to research their target a little better.
This will not end well..I will see if I can get someone to vid this mauling. Yikes!

It's about time any omnipotent entity out there spawns a massive lightning strike or tornado over the WBC morons. Too bad it's not storm season yet < sigh >

originally posted by: N3k9Ni

DES MOINES, Iowa -
Westboro Baptist Church members are planning a picket outside East High School in Des Moines next Monday.

The group reports they will be at the school from 12:30-1 p.m.

They will be at the school because "the youth in this nation have absolutely no hope."

On Monday, the group also plans a picket outside the Davenport West High School.

The group reports it will also be at the Bettendorf Christian Church this Saturday from 4:30-5 p.m. The group said they are protesting the church's social club activities like the "Saturday night kid's club", "lots of coffee" and "pastors in jeans."

A protest is also planned at the Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish in Davenport on Sunday in part because the church allows women preachers and at Christ the King Catholic Church in Moline, Illinois on Sunday.

link

I hadn't heard anything from these people in a while and I thought they have decided to clam up and just fade away. But, no, they're coming to Iowa to spew their putrid bigotry across our fair land.

Why? I don't know. Do these cornballs really need an excuse? My guess is that they're running short of cash and looking to stir up some lawsuits. They can't come within 500 feet of a funeral in most places, anymore. I'm sure that made a dent in their "bait and sue" revenues so they had to come up with other revenue sources and Iowa is close enough that they won't have to spend a lot of gas money. Apparently, they're going to protest at a high school in Des Moines and at some churches around the Quad Cities.

It's all happening this weekend, so if you're around the area or planning to visit soon, come on over and watch the circus.

I, for one, wish they'd drop "church" They're no more a church than I am a bridge! Ugh! They make me sick!

They only call themselves a church for the tax status and to shield themselves in certain lawsuits.

originally posted by: Expat888
2015 barely started ..and all the idiots crawling out from under their rocks at once .. going to be an interesting year .. christian loonytoons to the left and islamic extremists to the right .. yep.. the worlds fooked..

If you look up their history, you'll see they're no Christians. They're lawyers.

Worse!

originally posted by: Klassified
a reply to: N3k9Ni
Every self-respecting church in this nation needs to denounce these poor excuses for human beings. Xtians need to openly distance themselves from these fools, so they don't get lumped in with them.

Someone said recently, the silence of other xtians when it comes to speaking out against groups like this is deafening, and that secretly, they agree with Westboro's view and tactics. I don't know if I believe that. I know very few xtians who even resemble these scumbags.

I'm a Christian who IS speaking out. They sicken me. It's not JUST that they make us look bad, but that they do it by impersonating us, fooling other Christians into joining them. Very Sad, IMHO

Yup. They're coming to Davenport West Highschool when they're done with des moins. Us Iowas should put a stop to this.

originally posted by: OpinionatedB
a reply to: SaturnFX

No they aren't. Jesus hung out with the sinners, not the religious folk. These people are like the worst Pharisees and Sadducee of Jesus' day. I imagine HE would have much to say to them and it probably would sound a lot like "You are of your father the devil" when HE spoke to them.

I am talking old testament, not new.

honestly, I think OT and NT need to divorce. its two completely different deities going on there. if the OT god and NT messiah are one in the same, then the OT was god going through his rebellious teen years and NT is him after growing up and calming way down, reflecting on his crazy youth..either way, two completely different "feels".

originally posted by: Mandroid7
Lol....this is my hometown...if you think the kids at east high are tough, you should meet their parents.
I don't think the DM cops will mind either.
They need to research their target a little better.
This will not end well..I will see if I can get someone to vid this mauling. Yikes!

As much as the average joe wants to punch them for being ultra hateful jerk bigots, I am kind of proud of what they represent..not their message, but the fact that we in the west will let even the most enormous jackasses speak their mind without consequence...a society that can express themselves without fear of law or violence is a free society.

If you are there and someone plans to do violence, stop them...instead, get your own signs and parody their protest. you are free to be a jerk back to them in words

originally posted by: aboutface
a reply to: N3k9Ni

I stopped at the 'pastors in jeans' and roared. And what do they wear, Armani?

They never cease to amaze me with their spewing intolerance and fanaticism. But my question is this: Who are their financial backers, and when they come out in force, is it as a distraction to something else going on that we might otherwise miss?

Last I heard they get their money from the cities they sue. Usually stupid crap such as "religious freedom". (Now you see why they want religious status and not lawyer status? Can't sue for religious freedom if you're a lawyer, oh but you can if you're a church acting as your own lawyer! Yah, they're not stupid. We are for allowing this crap!

Westboro History

On Sundays, up to 15 churches may receive pickets.

Now come on! What kind of church, does Jesus preach to picket? I'm a Christian and I rally don't remember God saying to hate other churches that worship Him. Do you? Maybe I missed it.

Where the "Church" gets their money. (Remember that part in the Bible where Jesus flipped the money tables? You think H'd be happy with this church making profit and not helping the poor?

The pickets have resulted in several lawsuits. In 1995, Phelps Sr.'s eldest grandson, Benjamin Phelps, was convicted of assault and disorderly conduct after spitting upon the face of a passerby during a picket. In the 1990s the church won a series of lawsuits against the City of Topeka and Shawnee County for efforts taken to prevent or hinder WBC picketing, and was awarded approximately $200,000 in attorney's fees and costs associated with the litigation. In 2004, Phelps Sr.'s daughter Margie Phelps and Margie's son Jacob were arrested for trespassing, disorderly conduct and failure to obey after disregarding a police officer's order during an attempted protest. In response to pickets at funerals, Kansas passed a law prohibiting picketing at such events. In the autumn of 2007, the father of a Marine whose funeral was picketed by the WBC was awarded $5 million in damages. The award was later overturned on appeal by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in a decision upheld by the Supreme Court in Snyder v. Phelps. In June 2007 Shirley Phelps-Roper was arrested in Nebraska and charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The arrest resulted from her allowing her eight-year-old son to step on the American flag during the demonstration, which is illegal under Nebraska law. The defense contends that the child's actions were protected speech, and that the state law is unconstitutional. The prosecution claimed the demonstration was not intended as political speech, but as an incitement to violence, and that Phelps-Roper's conduct might also constitute child abuse. Prosecutors later dropped charges against Phelps-Roper.

How Fred's own family thinks of him and how the "church" fell apart after he died.

Nathan Phelps, estranged son of Fred Phelps, claims he never had a relationship with his abusive father when he was growing up and that the Westboro Baptist Church is an organization for his father to "vent his rage and anger." He alleges that, in addition to hurting others, his father used to physically abuse his wife and children by beating them with his fists and with the handle of a mattock to the point of bleeding. Phelps' brother Mark has supported and repeated Nathan's claims of physical abuse by their father. Since 2004, over 20 members of the church, mostly family members, have left the church and his family.

More info on them, some is rehashed, but some new.

Fred Phelps graduated from Washburn University School of Law in Topeka in 1962 and designed his church/family as a giant law firm used to sue those angry enough to retaliate against the "church" or to bar its offensive activities from their communities. Eleven of Phelps' thirteen children are lawyers. All five of the attorneys for the Phelps Chartered Law Firm, which Fred Phelps founded in 1964, are his children.

"'They scrupulously obeyed the ordinance' that kept them and their 'God hates fags' and 'America is doomed' signs away from the funeral of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, said Mark Potok, who directs Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project. 'They're good at this,' Potok said, noting that the family has successfully sued many communities for monetary damages after they tried to restrict the family's constitutionally protected protests. 'They understand the First Amendment very, very well. They are not stupid people. They are vile people.'" --Andrea Stone, AOL News

"'They have a very well-respected law firm in Topeka,' Sherman says. 'People in town said, Well, we don't like them, but if we want to win a case, we'll go to them.' Church spokeswoman Phelps-Roper says their booming employment and family law practice pays the bills for their travels across the country, when they shout their anti-gay message. They travel in vans to keep down the costs, which she says can add up to $200,000 a year... The protests are in themselves a source of some income, according to Potok. Over the years the Phelpses have filed lawsuits against communities that try to stop them from demonstrating. 'And as a general matter they have won,' he says. 'They know their First Amendment rights very well, and they've been very good at defending them.' When they win, they often receive tens of thousands of dollars in court fees. And their winning streak is likely to continue, now that the Supreme Court has decided that Westboro's right to free speech trumps the right of families to bury their loved ones undisturbed." --Barbara Bradley Hagerty, NPR

a reply to: Anyafaj

Thank you for the excellent explanation.

It's that last sentence that I'm having trouble with. It crawls all over human decency and respect.

originally posted by: aboutface
a reply to: Anyafaj

Thank you for the excellent explanation.

It's that last sentence that I'm having trouble with. It crawls all over human decency and respect.

That's why I said I wish everyone would just wake up and realize they are lawyers masquerading as a church and remove the church status completely! They impersonate a church because they know churches get tax free status. Therefore all the money they get as lawyers, and the money they get suing the town governments or families of the dead, (and yes, they HAVE done that in the past once or twice), they don't have to pay taxes on it, allowing them more money to go protest someone else. Truly sickening for me, as a Christian. Breaks my heart even more than real Christians buy into this nonsense and think they're legit and join them, not knowing the real Hell they're heading for.

originally posted by: SaturnFX

originally posted by: Mandroid7
Lol....this is my hometown...if you think the kids at east high are tough, you should meet their parents.
I don't think the DM cops will mind either.
They need to research their target a little better.
This will not end well..I will see if I can get someone to vid this mauling. Yikes!

I am kind of proud of what they represent..not their message, but the fact that we in the west will let even the most enormous jackasses speak their mind without consequence...a society that can express themselves without fear of law or violence is a free society.

Had anything like their evil ilk shown up to disturb any of my family funerals, I'm sure my siblings and I would have PTSD from it. How can anyone get that kind of stuff out of their memory at a time when loss makes us so vulnerable? It is the last prime occasion to show respect to someone.

I feel this whole aspect of that situation ought to be revisited. I wish smarter lawyers would take them on once and for all and stop this human filth.

originally posted by: aboutface

originally posted by: SaturnFX

originally posted by: Mandroid7
Lol....this is my hometown...if you think the kids at east high are tough, you should meet their parents.
I don't think the DM cops will mind either.
They need to research their target a little better.
This will not end well..I will see if I can get someone to vid this mauling. Yikes!

I am kind of proud of what they represent..not their message, but the fact that we in the west will let even the most enormous jackasses speak their mind without consequence...a society that can express themselves without fear of law or violence is a free society.

Had anything like their evil ilk shown up to disturb any of my family funerals, I'm sure my siblings and I would have PTSD from it. How can anyone get that kind of stuff out of their memory at a time when loss makes us so vulnerable? It is the last prime occasion to show respect to someone.

I feel this whole aspect of that situation ought to be revisited. I wish smarter lawyers would take them on once and for all and stop this human filth.

Amen! As for it ever happening???? I doubt it will because it would be like going up against a corporation of lawyers. You figure 5 out of 9 of his kids run his law business and make good money doing it, to the point they can do their protests, and PROFIT from the protests, it's a business, in and of itself! You would literally need another corporation to go up against them!

originally posted by: aboutface

originally posted by: SaturnFX

originally posted by: Mandroid7
Lol....this is my hometown...if you think the kids at east high are tough, you should meet their parents.
I don't think the DM cops will mind either.
They need to research their target a little better.
This will not end well..I will see if I can get someone to vid this mauling. Yikes!

I am kind of proud of what they represent..not their message, but the fact that we in the west will let even the most enormous jackasses speak their mind without consequence...a society that can express themselves without fear of law or violence is a free society.

Had anything like their evil ilk shown up to disturb any of my family funerals, I'm sure my siblings and I would have PTSD from it. How can anyone get that kind of stuff out of their memory at a time when loss makes us so vulnerable? It is the last prime occasion to show respect to someone.

I feel this whole aspect of that situation ought to be revisited. I wish smarter lawyers would take them on once and for all and stop this human filth.

Understandable, fully. however, that fully justified reaction would pave the way for "offense" laws in general. today WBC filth gets outlawed, then kkk, black panther, anti-women, anti-feminism, anti-government, etc..slippery slope that definitely happens when you allow just a little thought police

originally posted by: SaturnFX

originally posted by: aboutface

originally posted by: SaturnFX

originally posted by: Mandroid7
Lol....this is my hometown...if you think the kids at east high are tough, you should meet their parents.
I don't think the DM cops will mind either.
They need to research their target a little better.
This will not end well..I will see if I can get someone to vid this mauling. Yikes!

I am kind of proud of what they represent..not their message, but the fact that we in the west will let even the most enormous jackasses speak their mind without consequence...a society that can express themselves without fear of law or violence is a free society.

Had anything like their evil ilk shown up to disturb any of my family funerals, I'm sure my siblings and I would have PTSD from it. How can anyone get that kind of stuff out of their memory at a time when loss makes us so vulnerable? It is the last prime occasion to show respect to someone.

I feel this whole aspect of that situation ought to be revisited. I wish smarter lawyers would take them on once and for all and stop this human filth.

Understandable, fully. however, that fully justified reaction would pave the way for "offense" laws in general. today WBC filth gets outlawed, then kkk, black panther, anti-women, anti-feminism, anti-government, etc..slippery slope that definitely happens when you allow just a little thought police

Heck, even the KKK show up in secret to protest Westboro. You KNOW you're lower than sleaze when the KKK are protesting a "wholesome" group such as them! (Sarc over)

I give up! You tube vid refuses to post in here even though I know I'm putting the right info down, if a mod wants to fix it, have at it. LOL

a reply to: Anyafaj



edit my post to see the magic.