He Ain't in Kansas Anymore

I hate to say “Good Riddance,” but…

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-26669967

Fred Phelps, or possibly better known as The Reverend Fred Phelps Senior, died Wednesday evening at the age of 84. Phelps was the founder and preacher at Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas. Phelps and his church, made mostly of extended family members and friends, were rather infamous for their practice of picketing the funerals of fallen US troops. They claimed that the troops’ deaths were punishment for America’s tolerance of gays and gay marriage.

Phelps was raised a Methodist and ordained a Baptist minister, though Westboro not an official part of any regular denomination. The actions of Westboro Baptist Church have inspired numerous state laws and even a federal law limiting pickets at funerals. However, when taken to the US Supreme Court, it ruled that the church could not be sued for inflicting pain on grieving families.

Phelps was quoted saying, “You’re not going to get nowhere with that slop that ‘God loves you.’” The signature slogan of his congregation was “God hates fags.” It was sayings like this that aimed the Phelps’ church the title of “the most hated family in America.”

Religion is weird. It’ such a big part of a person’s life (or at least, I think it is), but it’s also something people generally keep to themselves. It can bring a person from the valley to the mountaintop in an instant, but can also want to make one jump off a mountain. I don’t know if it’s just our American culture, but people get offended and tired when religion is constantly thrown in their face, and this is what Phelps did with the majority of his life.

I know I’ve said this before. We have freedom of speech. With freedom comes responsibility. Once again, people have not responsible. Sure, this group has the right to protest and to share their opinions. Like we talked about earlier, protests have actually become more common in recent years. However, there is a time and a place to protest. The funeral of a fallen soldier is not the place. These men serve our country and fight for what we stand for. They help ensure our security and freedom—some of the same freedoms that Phelps and his church were arguing against at their funerals. Is anyone else seeing some sort of paradox here?

I get it. Gay marriage seems a little strange now, but I’m sure in the future we will look back at ourselves and realize how stupid we were for being judgmental. Times are changing. I was at a children’s play in Raleigh last weekend and there was a family sitting across from me: two dads and two young children. They were the cutest thing EVER. I’d totally go see that play again, and I’d love to see more of those families. We as humans need to stop putting each other down and have some acceptance for our shortcomings and the flaws of others. We are not perfect, but we are trying. Fred Phelps, not so much.

I also think there’s a reason that the vast majority of Fred’s supporters were his family. Just sayin’.

“God loves you.”