I agree RevJohn ..... the suffering and demise of this man brings me no joy at all.

The suffering of the prepetrator in no way makes up for the suffering of the victims.

I would much rather see a change of heart..... there has been enough suffering already..

Hopefully the congregation will now dissipate....

Regards

Rita

This is an old, tormented man. Though there are calls to protest at his funeral, the louder atheist voices are saying to simply ignore it. No good can come of picketing his funeral, assuming there is one. If there has been a power struggle between Fred and his daughter Shirley, she has won and she may still be calling the shots on the funeral. There many be nothing to protest.

With the exodus of some of the younger members and heir-apparents like Megan and Grace Phelps-Roper, this is a church in shambles. But, like many Christians, they can point to scripture that says this sort of adversity and opposition is to be expected. Shirley has been the de facto leader for some time now, so not much changes immediately. They'll be circling the wagons around the younger ones even tighter to make sure no outside thoughts get in their heads.

Very eloquently said RitaTG - once again your words are filled with insight - thank you. 

You've got to wonder if he has any regrets, looking back on his life.  He spewed hatred and intolerance and to all appearances never cared about the impact that had on innocent people. Now he's dying, apparently a bitter man, whose family has pretty much been torn apart.

The other option is, he's had a change of heart, and his daughter Shirley had him excommunicated and is keeping him isolated to keep his silence. What if Shirley has lost two of her daughters and one son, and now her father, to a position of greater acceptance and tolerance?

Just a hypothetical. If so, she's possibly more tormented than Fred is.

A reminder that time is short . . . .for all of us.

I am not famous, and while there may be a little obituary in my local newspaper when I pass, there won't be anything nationwide . . .

But, the question remains . . . what is it that I want to be remembered for . . . love and tolerance . . . or hatred and intolerance . . . etc. etc.?

We all leave a mark, or a memory in someone's mind . . . what do we want that to look like?

There are also many voices in the GLBT community calling for a response of love and not returning hate for hate.

I'm glad to see the sides attacked by his church coming to similar conclusions.

And now he's dead.

I just read that, too. Someone commented, "May he find peace in death that he wasn't able to find in life."

I can only hope that the death of this hate-filled man will mean the death of the hate-filled actions of Westboro Baptist Church.

I think there might be some introspection ahead for the remaining Westboro members.

He was not a demon or a monster. He was a man. He was a troubled man who was once a civil rights attorney.
May he rest in peace, a peace that was allusive in so much of his life.

....art is long

and the procession of all manner of firbolg, sidhe, pooka, sprites, aelfs, brownie, kobold, on this Holy Day of Ostara, carries their child, Phelps, back gently under the Hill where he came from, to His father, the Lord of the Hunt, who created his son to further challenge brash & young humanity to be compassionate, for it is easy to be compassionate for beings you like...

I read that he was excommunicated after a power struggle between Shirley and the male elders of the church, (Shirley lost) And Fred was excommunicated becasue he said church members should treat each other with kindness.  

Besides being ironic I am sure there is some kind of moral lessons to be drawn from this.'

On Friday, members of the Westboro Baptist Church steeded up and went to protest a Lorde concert in Kansas City, Mo. Since they announced their plans in advance, KC residents had time to organize a pretty perfect counter-protest.

Nicely done and very classy (the counter-protest that is; picketing Lorde is just typical Westboro nonsense).

Mendalla

Alex wrote:

On Friday, members of the Westboro Baptist Church steeded up and went to protest a Lorde concert in Kansas City, Mo. Since they announced their plans in advance, KC residents had time to organize a pretty perfect counter-protest.

 

that is beautiful.  true agape.

talking aboot engaging with hate