After watching the “Most Hated Family in America” documentary by BBC and watching the news about the Virginia Tech Shootings, I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to use both subjects in the same thread title.
The Phelps family is at it again, and they are going to try and go to as many funerals of the students that died as a result of the Virginia Tech shootings.
What they do is outside of the morals and human decency of the vast majority of people. What they do can cause emotional pain to those they target. But it’s not in the category of hate groups that will cause physical pain or physical intimidation. Westboro Baptist Church isn’t going to cause physical harm or incite others to do physical harm to those they target. Course the emotional pain they cause is real but is not the same as actual physical threats.
I’m not trying to defend them or say that their message should be accepted without protest. But there is real hate out there and the Westboro Baptist Church isn’t it. Don’t get distracted by them. Focus on things that matter.
I heard an interview on the radio today with Shirley Phelps and it was about they believe the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre were at fault because they were not following Gods way. Same rhetoric they use against soldiers who die in Iraq or Afghanistan and against homosexuals. Not a single person listening to that interview wouldn’t see the rhetoric for what it was. It is not a message that will resonate with anyone who is decent. When the Westboro Baptist Church finally does cease there will be noone coming to take their place. They’re preaching a dead end.
Understand what the Westboro Baptist Church is and you can know how to ignore them if they ever come to protest a funeral you are attending.
So are you saying that physical pain is always gauged as more excruciating than emotional pain? It’s very hard to draw the line of what can be defined as more painful, as it is something that will vary from person to person. I know that I can take a massive amount of physical pain, but emotional pain is the thing that will last a lifetime. I have been traumatized by frivolous incidents that wouldn’t affect me if they happened to me now, but they will stay with me as bad memories for the rest of my life. Some of these memories probably affect the way I am as a person today. The physical pain that I’ve experienced is very forgettable; most of it doesn’t affect who I am now.
I obviously understand that physical can always be worse, because death and other lifelong injuries are obviously parts of the equation. The biggest problem with the current situation is that the families might remember their sonss and daughter’s funerals in peace, but they will most likely remember the Phelps family for the rest of their lives. I certainly would rather break a few bones than have the unpleasant memory of my kid’s funeral stuck with me as long as I live.
I’m saying that if you understand what the Westboro Baptist Church believes in and what their twisted logic is you can arm yourself to be able to better ignore them if they happen to protest at a funeral or event you are a part of.
I’m not saying that they are harmless. Having a pleasant and peaceful memory of a funeral is important in the grieving process and the fact that the Westboro Baptist Church doesn’t have the human decency to give people that necessary peace and closure just proves how despicable they are as human beings. But you can try to minimize their impact by understanding their message and methods. You can allow them to get you worked up and ruin any event they protest or you can understand their twisted logic and marginalize them to the point that they are a non-event to the funeral.
You do have a very good point, and I know that I certainly wouldn’t work myself up as much as most people. I highly doubt that anyone though truly be able to not even consider them at an important event, just based on human nature. I also doubt that anyone going to the funerals are going to be thinking about how they should not think about the Phelps family.
There’s a big difference between what people should do and what people will do. I’m simply fighting for the people in the real world.
The Patriot Guard will drown out the WBC by revving their motorcycle engines. I think a more churchy atmosphere would be achieved by drowning out the WBC with amplified pipe organ music, gregorian chants, or choir music. Bring in some big amps and big speakers to the VT funerals and drown out the WBC with churchy music that allows those attending the funeral to focus on the funeral instead of the WBC.
I think part of that message was also about how inflicting physical pain (assault) is easily actionable in a court of law, but inflicting psychological pain is a lot harder to get a conviction on. What they are doing is apparently legal.
Got to love that Patriot Guard group! The Wikipedia article says they will sing patriotic songs or rev their engines. And covering those nasty people up with American flags is a nice touch.
I saw a great program, (not the louis theroux one) some time ago on the WBC. It culminated with the presenter, who was gay, and quite obviously so, protesting with them. They evidently had no idea of this fact. At the end of the program a member of the patriot gaurd rode up, the presenter jumped on the back of the bike, turned to the protesters and yelled, “By the way, I’m gay” before roaring off. The looks of pure confusion on their faces as someone they had regarded as a decent human being turned out to be ‘the enemy’ was worth the licsence fee alone.
The point I’m making is that just because it is legal doesn’t make it ethical. Anyone can easliy do things that are legal but have a much larger impact on other people.
Besides, a few years ago there was a brush fire near my dad’s property caused by two student lighting their school books on fire. No buildings burned down, and their families paid for all the damages in trees that were lost, but our neighbors somehow sued the families $400,000 because their two dogs stopped breeding as a result of psychological trauma from the fire.
I’m not sure where all of the money went, but either way $400,000 was transfered for a pretty ridiculous reason. The family certainly doesn’t deserve to have to pay for any part of it either.
When thinking about a court case such as this one, you have to not only think about who wins the case, but also about who loses. If the Phelps lost a case or two, they might reconsider harassing people that certainly do not deserve it.