This is Sick!

[Mousey Girl]

A soldier who died in Iraq, leaving a wife and a 5 month old baby is having his funeral services targeted by the Westboro Baptist Church. This group is not from any "church" I would ever want to be part of. They are from Kansas, and have no right to crash anyones funeral.
This is the flier they are putting out for the funeral. (http://www.godhatesfags.com/fliers/aug2005/20050802_ramon-villatoro-funeral.pdf) There is going to be a mass held at Our Lady of Guadalupe here in Bakersfield, they refer to it as Our Lady of Sodom. This is their main website. (http://www.godhatesfags.com) It just burns me that this group can get away with what they are doing all in the name of free speech. There are already veteran groups planning on being at both the mass and the burial to help thwart the attempts of the group. The poor widow is wonderful. She is far more understanding than I could ever be. She has been all over the local news begging people not to confront the "protesters." She actually investigated the group after they contacted her to advise her against the funeral. She found out that this groups main focus is confrontation. They want people to attack them so they can sue. She found out that there are a lot of lawyers involved in the "church" and have won multiple lawsuits.

I just can't believe that they are coming to Bakersfield. This is not exactly the type of place that condones this sort of behavior. Everyone trash talks Bakersfield, but it has an awesome community support structure set up. I don't think they know what they are stepping into.

[Betty]

Apparently they attribute the bombings in London to God too.

Thank God for the bombing of London's subway today - July 7, 2005 - wherein dozens were killed and hundreds seriously injured. Wish it was many more.


Unbelievable! :mad: :(

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Good old Fred Phelps and his followers. :rolleyes:
Even Jerry Fallwell called him a "first-class nut".

Hopefully he will die soon. And if we're lucky, he'll take all his folowers with him in a Jim Jones-esque Kool-Aid party.

[CoasterMatt]

Or maybe the Boy Scouts will ask him and his followers to set up their tents? :evil:

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Hatred is always in season somewhere.

Don't worry, they'll get their karma back.

I don't know what I'd do if I ever saw this kind of hate face to face...thankfully, where I live doesn't see too many protests of this kind.

[Prudence]

In situations like this, I like to think of the First Amendement as a social Early Warning System. As vile and annoying as they are, morons who insist on loud, obnoxious, distasteful public disturbances are more readily tagged as such and cut off from polite society. It's the ones who outwardly appear reasonable that are the biggest threat.

Still, it's a shame they try to benefit from someone else's sorrow. At least the widow is revealed to be a class act and I hope she someday benefits accordingly.

[Not Afraid]

I really an starting to dispise people who stick their noses into places where they don't belong or are not wanted. Live your own life, people!

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Yeah, pretty much the only followers he has are all family members who have been brainwashed by this man's hate and years of abuse. There is a pretty comprehensive history and expose of the family here (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/michael_haggerty/expose3.htm). It is an interesting, if not extremely disturbing, read.

[Name]

These are some sick folks. I'm speechless.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Nothing says, 'I respect God and all of His creation' like crashing a funeral. :rolleyes:

[DisneyDaniel]

Slightly off-topic, but another related news story made me angry as well:
Politicking a Family's Tragedy

U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich of Pittsburgh was killed in Iraq on July 10. Two weeks later, as friends and family gathered at his funeral, an uninvited guest appeared — Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll. Rather than join in honoring the fallen hero, Knoll passed out business cards, politicked, and criticized the Iraq War. "Knoll felt this was an appropriate time to campaign and impose her will on us," said Rhonda Goodrich, Joseph's sister.Regarding Mousey Girl's original post and the incident above: Absolutely no respect. Unbelievable! :mad:

[Scrooge McSam]

:mad:

To say any more wouldn't be a good idea because I promised myself I'd be sweet today.

[Mousey Girl]

Even when he dies his daughter will carry on in his name. She has been talking to all of the local news channels and talk radio on her father's behalf.

[Name]

Such a truly sad group of people, to live life believing everyone else and all other organizations are evil. Takes a special kind of person to live such a life of lies. I feel for them, and especially for their children. I hope the FBI has a file open on these guys, because god knows what they may grow to be capable of. Such hatred for everyone different then their idealized idea of puritism. Even our good friend G.W. isn't good enough for them. There should be a court order preventing these people from teaching their children their brand of hate. Truly saddening.

[tracilicious]

Wow. Whatever happened to Biblical principles like loving your neighbor as yourself, or imitating Jesus' love, or compassion, or a million other things that prove this nut wrong? I'm sure God really approves of his "christian" church. His poor kids.

[Mousey Girl]

Supposedly they did show up at the services, but no one saw them. The streets were lined with flags and signs delcaring their support. David ran into a few of our friends (Vietnam and Korean war vets) who went. They said that the fanatics probably took a look at the 2000+ people, the S.W.A.T team with their "paddy wagons" and the Kern County Fire Department with their ladder truck decked out with a huge flag and turned the other way. The threat of the protest only brought out more people in the 106 temps.

[Prudence]

The threat of the protest only brought out more people in the 106 temps.

They say God works in mysterious ways.

[Name]

You can always check their website in a few days and see if there are photo's and an accounting of their "epic" journey and showing the heathens the light.

I still feel for these sad sad people.

[wendybeth]

We've seen what zealotry did to Islamicism, and these idiots are really no different. Thankfully, they are not as well armed, but this is a prime example of why the bible admonishes against zealotry. It only twists the message and drives people away. May we next meet these people on the Darwin Award list.

[MickeyLumbo]

Hatred is always in season somewhere.

Don't worry, they'll get their karma back.

I don't know what I'd do if I ever saw this kind of hate face to face...thankfully, where I live doesn't see too many protests of this kind.

oh but the first five years of the Orange County Gay Pride Festival (at UC Irvine) had these good disciples of God protesting at the parade each year...ironically, the parade is always held at 11:00 am on a sunday... guess God gives them am excused absense from sunday school if they are busy spreading hate at a parade.


umm...does anyone know the date that the fags are supposed to take over America? my notice must have been lost in the mail.

[Not Afraid]

umm...does anyone know the date that the fags are supposed to take over America? my notice must have been lost in the mail.

Well, I think once Act Up toned it down, the fag takeover started in full swing. ;)


(Note: I use to be a part of Act Up activities.)

[flippyshark]

I'm not an Evangelical by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems like a good time to mention that the "God Hates Fags" group are way over at the extreme end of the spectrum as far as American Protestantism goes. My Dad is a highly political, conservative born again Christian, and he completely reviles those hate-mongers. (Even the likes of James Dobson, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, names I type with some distaste, distance themselves from these nuts.) The Christian Right pretty consistently states that they love their gay neighbors and family members, but hate the behavior. That's nice of them and all, though I wish they weren't so hot to amend the Constitution. But that's another topic, and not one I can add anything particularly illuminating to.

Dad and I have had long heated debates about the gay topic. The last time we discussed it, I asked him if he thought that the church as a whole was perhaps investing too much energy on that one issue, at the expense of other things like human suffering. He thought for a moment and then said, "You know, I think you're right." It was an interesting AHA moment for him.

[Mousey Girl]

Flippyshark, even the Southern Baptist Convention does not recognize this "church." The only members they really have are the guy's kids (the 9 that didn't leave) and his grandkids. MotorboatCruiser found a really interesting link, from what I read on that this guy wouldn't qualify as a pastor anywhere but in his own mind. He seems to be using his religion to justify his hatred.

Anyone who uses their religion to judge others irks me. I quit going to church when I heard 3 of my close friends commenting after, "What a wedding," as they rolled their eyes. They didn't approve of David because he wasn't a church goer. The rest of my friends (non-church goers) and both of our families had a blast. The thing these 3 didn't like: the ceremony wasn't religious enough-no prayer or blessing. The pastor was my sister's father-in-law, and he toned down the religous aspect out of respect for my parents. The whole thing was kept short to allow more time for the pool party after. This was our compromise to not run to Vegas.

[dsnylndmom]

So wrong in so many ways. That guy is defintely a nutcase, 100%.

Good to see that so many people came out in support though!

[dramaqueen]

It makes me so sad that there are people like that speaking in "god's" name. Godhatesfags.com? hatemongers.com? I was under the impression that "God is love" Wonder where I read that?

My prayers are with the widow- she is a true example of a Christian. How unfortunate that she had to deal with this at such a terrible time in her life.

[Morrigoon]

OMG, I should have looked at the web address before trying to click the flyer link! I'm at work! (It blocked it, but I'd be moritified if they log this stuff and see THAT address attempted! How embarrassing!)

[Mousey Girl]

OMG, I should have looked at the web address before trying to click the flyer link! I'm at work! (It blocked it, but I'd be moritified if they log this stuff and see THAT address attempted! How embarrassing!)

I'm sorry, I should have placed a disclaimer that it wasn't work safe. :blush:

[Name]

I'm sorry, I should have placed a disclaimer that it wasn't work safe. :blush:
Who'da thunk'd that a church website would not be work safe.

[Mousey Girl]

ummm...not me?