legislation to stop Rev. Phelps and his godhatesfags.com crew?

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to a certain extent, at least...

States May Restrict Protests at Soldiers' Funerals,
Anti-Gay Church Threatens First Amendment Lawsuit
By CARRIE SPENCER GHOSE, AP

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Feb. 6) - States are rushing to limit when and where people may protest at funerals - all because of a small Kansas church whose members picket soldiers' burials, arguing that Americans are dying for a country that harbors homosexuals.

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church picket at the funeral of an Iraq War veteran in Marblehead, Mass. Moves by states to limit such protests may lead to a constitutional showdown.

During the 1990s, the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., went around picketing the funerals of AIDS victims with protest signs that read, "God Hates Fags." But politicians began paying more attention recently when church members started showing up at the burials of soldiers and Marines killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Legislation is being considered in at least 14 states, and several of the bills moving quickly, with backing from legislative leaders and governors.

If they pass, the bills could set up a clash between privacy and free speech rights, and court challenges are almost certain.

"We're not proposing to silence the speech of the Westboro Baptist Church, as offensive as most of us find that," said Kansas Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, a Republican. Instead, he said, he is trying to achieve a balance that respects "the rights of families to bury their dead in peace."

The church has about 75 members, most of them belonging to the extended family of Westboro Baptist's pastor, the Rev. Fred Phelps. The church is an independent congregation that preaches a literal reading of the Bible.

Shirley Phelps-Roper, Phelps' daughter and an attorney for the church, said states cannot interfere with their message that the soldiers were struck down by God because they were fighting for a country that harbors homosexuals and adulterers.

Lawmakers are "trying to introduce something that will make them feel better about the holes we're punching in the facade they live under," Phelps-Roper said. "If they pass a law that gets in our way, they will be violating the Constitution, and we will sue them for that."

Among the states considering such measures: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Some of the bills specify noisy, disruptive behavior or signs with "fighting words," as in Wisconsin. Some bar protests within one or two hours before or after a funeral starts; others specify distances ranging from 10 car lengths to five blocks away; some include both.

Violations can bring fines of a few hundred dollars, up to 30 days in jail, or more. Wisconsin is calling for fines of up to $10,000; one of five Oklahoma bills would set a one-year jail sentence.

Missouri's bill was named for Army Spc. Edward Lee Myers, 21, whose wife went to his funeral an hour early to try to avoid protesters. They were already across the road, holding signs that read "God Hates Fags" and "God Made IEDs," a reference to roadside bombs.

"I couldn't even pay my last respects because of everything that was going on," Jean Myers said.

Her 5-year-old son kept asking why "mean people" were outside, undercover agents were in the church, and she worried that angry relatives might start a fight.

Legislation against funeral protests was also introduced in West Virginia last month after a small knot of protesters from Westboro Baptist demonstrated outside a memorial for the 12 men killed in the Sago Mine disaster. The protesters held signs reading, "Thank God for Dead Miners," "God Hates Your Tears" and "Miners in Hell," arguing that the miners' deaths were a sign of God's wrath at America for tolerating gays.

"It's just inhuman for a group that says it's coming in the name of the Lord to protest a funeral," said state Delegate Jeff Eldridge, a co-sponsor of the West Virginia bill.

If such restrictions are challenged, the courts will probably look to rulings on laws governing abortion protests, constitutional scholars said.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Florida ban on peaceful picketing within 300 feet of an abortion clinic, but allowed restrictions on behavior that impedes access to a clinic. However, the courts have allowed restrictions on picketing in front of doctors' houses, saying privacy trumps free speech.

The question is whether a church, funeral home or cemetery is considered private or public during a ceremony, said Eugene Volokh, a law professor at the University of California at Los Angeles.

― gear (gear), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 04:49 (twenty years ago)

It seems one out of every three threads of for some fundie wackjob.

― Freud Junior (Freud Junior), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 05:05 (twenty years ago)

is for.

― Freud Junior (Freud Junior), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 05:06 (twenty years ago)

Some of the bills specify noisy, disruptive behavior or signs with "fighting words," as in Wisconsin.

Not that I at all mean to make light of the fucking sick shit this church is doing, but "them's fightin' words!" in a senate bill is the best thing I ever heard!

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 05:41 (twenty years ago)

But yeah - so these people are happily laughing and dancing on the graves of any dead person, no matter who they are, because gays exist!?

I wonder if they would protest thusly at their own families funerals?

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 05:50 (twenty years ago)

dammit, i lost the link. What's the name of that veterans biker group that offers security for veterans' funerals? They'll form a line with their bikes between the phelps gang and the funeral, and rev their engines if there's too much shouting.

oh wait, i found an article on them

― kingfish has gene rayburn's mic (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 06:40 (twenty years ago)

here they are:

The Patriot Guard Riders

Patriot Guard Riders Mission Statement
----

The Patriot Guard Riders is a diverse amalgamation of riders from across the nation. We have one thing in common besides motorcycles. We have an unwavering respect for those who risk their very lives for America’s freedom and security. If you share this respect, please join us.

We don’t care what you ride, what your political views are, or whether you’re a "hawk" or a "dove". It is not a requirement that you be a veteran. It doesn't matter where you’re from or what your income is. You don’t even have to ride. The only prerequisite is Respect.

Our main mission is to attend the funeral services of fallen American heroes as invited guests of the family. Each mission we undertake has two basic objectives.

1. Show our sincere respect for our fallen heroes, their families, and their communities.

2. Shield the mourning family and friends from interruptions created by any protestor or group of protestors.

We accomplish the latter through strictly legal and non-violent means.

― kingfish has gene rayburn's mic (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 06:41 (twenty years ago)

this tactic of protesting at soldiers' funerals is the weirdest damn thing. is there any clearer way to just beg for an ass-kicking? the phelpses are so goddamn crazy.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 06:47 (twenty years ago)

not just that, but at the WV miners' funeral, too.

― kingfish has gene rayburn's mic (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 06:48 (twenty years ago)

Super-pathetic of Phelps crew, as usual. Laws concerning it ... kind of depends. It's definitely fair enough -- or at least standard for this country -- to take measures to "organize" protest, like designating the zones at specific distances. Can't stop the protest, though. And in the case of Phelps I totally don't want to see it stopped: dude and family have nothing but anti-persuasive power, and everything they do has the opposite effect as intended.

― nabisco (nabisco), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 06:51 (twenty years ago)

i don't think they should be stopped, although i think it would be fair to impose some distance restrictions, enough that they can't harass the families.

i also think they should get their asses kicked.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 06:53 (twenty years ago)

I dunno... why not outlaw protesting at funerals? I mean, at the funeral itself, in front of the bereaved, that's crossing a line. I can't imagine that anyone other than Phelps would object to that law, first amendment or slippery slope or what have you. No more picketing funerals, you tacky assholes.

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 06:59 (twenty years ago)

yeah, i don't see why funerals can't be considered private property for the duration of the events.

― Maria (Maria), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 07:06 (twenty years ago)

Well, considering a funeral "private property" is basically the same thing as imposing a distance limit -- you're basically saying "okay, you have to stand across the street." Which seems like a pretty fair practical way of letting people have a funeral and letting other people be dicks about it if they really want to.

― nabisco (nabisco), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 07:10 (twenty years ago)

best solution is probably to do what they did to martha burk or they do to people that try to protest anywhere near bush: let em protest as long as it's in a field far the hell away from whatever they're trying to protest. out of earshot, sight from family, funeral attendees. prevents him from being a free speech martyr (even if this practice is decidedly anti-free speech, it's not the kind that people have cared about at all lately and it prevents him from playing that 'they've illegalized speaking out against homosexuality!' card you see in chick comics, etc.), keeps his anti-persuasion out there.

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 07:13 (twenty years ago)

Ok, but when they file a lawsuit with the First Amendment as their ammo, what then?

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 07:17 (twenty years ago)

I'm thinking of some quasi-Constutional "respect for the dead" law.

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 07:19 (twenty years ago)

what what? it's swiped down like it was with burk or with bush protestors, they can protest in a designated area (far the hell away), no rights impeded in theory. obv rights are impeded here, and it's disgusting (and pathetic our president's such a wimp) when it happens with burk or the bush protestors, but if that's how the courts have ruled then thems the breaks for phelps and crew, i'm shedding enough tears for the constitution elsewhere right now. the 'security risk'/'threat of violence' excuse for shutting down protests would seem an easy excuse to move them far the hell away too.

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 07:22 (twenty years ago)

I guess I'm not understanding the protest-ability of a political convention as opposed to a funeral. One seems right and proper, and one seems wrong and awful and pointless. It's not just a matter of taste. We have lots of laws that legislate things like that. If you're going to picket the dead, why not have sex with them?

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 07:27 (twenty years ago)

it's a tricky line kenan. for example - on 316 (hwy between athens and atlanta) at one point there is (or was) a billboard that had a picture of reagan with a big 'THANK YOU MR. REAGAN! THE WORLD OWES YOU A DEBT OF GRATITUDE!' and then a list of his achievements, etc. on an american flag background, and me and my friend always joke that if we had the money we'd rent the next billboard and put saddam and osama on it and 'THANK YOU MR. REAGAN! etc.' on it with a list of the various fuxx he bankrolled and armed. now this arguably would be very tacky, but do i think it should be illegal? god no. to take it further (and something closer to phelps land) if say act up had bumrushed reagan's funeral as one final 'fuck you' to the gipper would i think that was maybe tacky or counterproductive? maybe, but i wouldn't think they should go to prison for it.

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 07:29 (twenty years ago)

i thought godhatesfags.com was a giant satire site?

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 07:31 (twenty years ago)

o no, god really does hate fags

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 07:33 (twenty years ago)

Yo! Bumrush the Funeral

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 07:34 (twenty years ago)

Wow! I'd never read the whole story on Phelps before. It's like he thinks life is just one big contest to try to be the Worst Person Ever.

― Dan I. (Dan I.), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 07:36 (twenty years ago)

http://www.godhatesfags.com/images/2006/20060123_florida3.jpg

wow where can i join this gsa club?

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 07:39 (twenty years ago)

Also, James, what are they protesting at that point? Seems like the right to peaceably assemble at a loved one's funeral far outweighs the right to peaceably assemble in order to protest ANYTHING about the dead person. Or in this case, things well outside of the dead person's control. I'll all for the right to abuse the First Amendment as having been written into the first amendment. But can we make an exception for the dead? For one afternoon? Let them protest his grave. Get a lot less media coverage that way, too.

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 07:39 (twenty years ago)

check out the bubble-butt on that one

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 07:41 (twenty years ago)

That photo above could have come from a Respect party meeting.

― Hello Sunshine (Hello Sunshine), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 08:09 (twenty years ago)

Actually I can think of rare instances in which protesting a funeral could be fairly reasonable -- probably never anything I'd approve of, but very close. These would be instances where the deceased was a big enough public figure that his/her funeral was already a quasi-political event. We don't really see this in America, though.

Anyway, you can't stop him. And to be honest, I don't think of spatial-organization shit as really being a huge infringement on speech. You don't put people across town, obviously -- you just clear a big-ass berth for the event itself to take place without interruption. If assholes want to express themselves on a sidewalk across a four-line highway, fair enough.

― nabisco (nabisco), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 08:31 (twenty years ago)

Also why do I practically hurt myself laughing over their "GOD HATES YOU" signs? There's something incredibly funny about that. It makes me want to sing, man:

Jesus hates me, this I know
For the Reverend tells me so
Jesus hates me, this I know
The Reverend tells me so

― nabisco (nabisco), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 08:34 (twenty years ago)

I'm registering godhatesreagan.com as we speak

― ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!! (ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!!), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 08:36 (twenty years ago)

yeah when they did it with martha burk she was far enough away that if you were going to the masters you'd've had no idea was around at all and apparently bush protestors are commonly kept far away from anywhere there's a chance he might hear them (i know this is definitely the case when he visits the king center, oddly i have no idea if this happened when he went to the coretta scott king funeral). it seems to me affording the families of fallen troops the same rights as tiger woods and george bush won't tear down the republic.

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 08:37 (twenty years ago)

when phelps kicks it i hope some bright chap organizes a gay rave to throw in his honor, twenty feet from his coffin.

― gear (gear), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 08:38 (twenty years ago)

Sign me up. I have these pants that are plastic and way too small.

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 08:42 (twenty years ago)

Unless it were illegal, in which case I would have a good excuse to never wear these pants again.

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 08:43 (twenty years ago)

If God hates America, and the people holding up the signs are Americans, it means that God hates the people holding up the signs. Which means that in order to avoid going to hell, Phelps and compnay must leave the country and head somewhere where gayness is banned. Iran, perhaps.

― Hello Sunshine (Hello Sunshine), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 08:43 (twenty years ago)

In the Nordic countries we have laws that prohibit "hate speech", i.e. anyone spreading any racist/homophobic/etc. propaganda can theoretically be sued. This happens quite rarely, but I think it's an effective way to keep assholes in check. I guess it is against the principles of free speech, but I think people's right to live their lives without being the targets of irrational hate (which can have severe psychological effects on them) is more important.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 08:48 (twenty years ago)

The priciples of free speech become more important the larger a country is.

Still. Funerals. Nobody is with me on this?

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 08:52 (twenty years ago)

http://www.godhatesfags.com/fliers/feb2006/20060202_coretta-scott-king-funeral.pdf

― gear (gear), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 08:59 (twenty years ago)

"God has mawelously blessed black America."

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 09:17 (twenty years ago)

(um... "marvelously"... I cut and pasted right out of the PDF.)

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 09:20 (twenty years ago)

how come the "rv" in the PDF looks like an "rv" but when you cut and paste it, it turns into a "w"?

― HH, Tuesday, 7 February 2006 13:23 (twenty years ago)

what? "god hates fags"? dems fightin words!

― AaronK (AaronK), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 15:47 (twenty years ago)

yeah that really worked well with that danish newspaper.

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 15:59 (twenty years ago)

I'm not actually sure about the situation in Denmark, they've taken quite a right-wing turn during the recent years.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 16:01 (twenty years ago)

I'm utterly shocked no one has sprayed Phelps's crew with gunfire or beaten one of them into a coma yet. Shocked.

― Alan Conceicao (Alan Conceicao), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 16:01 (twenty years ago)

But there was well-publicized incident where a Swedish preacher was sued for saying homosexuals should die and AIDS is God's punishment on them. The law suit went all the way up to the Council of Europe, which turned down the charges.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 16:04 (twenty years ago)

I'm utterly shocked no one has sprayed Phelps's crew with gunfire or beaten one of them into a coma yet. Shocked.

I think word has gotten around enough that the Phelps crew subsists on lawsuits & settlements. Not that this would necessarily stop a party aggrieved enough from smashing heads, but I think most of the response has been held in check. Plus, with folks like the Patriot Guard Riders on hand, there is a buffer zone.

― kingfish has gene rayburn's mic (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 16:29 (twenty years ago)

I'm registering godhatesreagan.com as we speak

http://www.godhatesamerica.com/html/Reagan.html

― jhoshea (scoopsnoodle), Tuesday, 7 February 2006 17:56 (twenty years ago)

"them's fightin' words!" in a senate bill is the best thing I ever heard!

"Fighting Words" has been something of a term of art in American First Amendment (Constitutional free speech) law. It's unlikely the term would appear in the legislation, but it might appear in the court decision determining whether the legislation is Constitutional.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 8 February 2006 03:43 (twenty years ago)

Skipping 17 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

oh man, that willie wilson clip is hi-larious. "THATS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY OUR WOMEN ARE BECOMING... LEEEESBIAAAAAANS!"

― phil-two (phil-two), Saturday, 25 February 2006 05:56 (twenty years ago)

bet you 10 to 1 phelps is a bossy bottom.

― Da Na Not! (donut), Saturday, 25 February 2006 10:30 (twenty years ago)

phelps's wikipedia entry makes for very interesting reading.

not sure how much of it is verifiable, but... very interesting reading.

― amateurist0, Saturday, 25 February 2006 11:16 (twenty years ago)

he's sort of america's very own julius streicher

― amateurist0, Saturday, 25 February 2006 11:18 (twenty years ago)

trife otm & this was discussed upthread - if you restrict Phelps's first amendment rights, he will bring civil suits against that ass. the motorcycle dudes' response is good & obviously one wishes some crazed family member would just take out the whole Phelps clan, but legislating against them = they will get the attention they want, and money, too.

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Saturday, 25 February 2006 13:36 (twenty years ago)

It is amazing that half his own family have walked away and said plainly "the guy's an unbalanced violent loon" and yet no one's tried to stop them. I take the wiki article with some measure of salt but dayum, the guy's bonkers.

― Trayce (trayce), Saturday, 25 February 2006 13:45 (twenty years ago)

Oh and by stop them I meant stop WBC.

― Trayce (trayce), Saturday, 25 February 2006 13:46 (twenty years ago)

I thought that wiki article was fascinating - loaded for sure but jeez how do you write about a guy like Phelps without bias?

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Saturday, 25 February 2006 14:24 (twenty years ago)

I just think it's interesting how long it takes for news of things like the Patriot Guard to get around. I first found out about them from a post on SA:GBS(not from a blog, incidentally), and now word about them has finally reached the wider press folk.

― kingfish has gene rayburn's mic (kingfish 2.0), Saturday, 25 February 2006 16:16 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

new law in Kentucky. They have to keep 300 feet away.

― kingfish ubermensch dishwasher sundae (kingfish 2.0), Monday, 27 March 2006 21:07 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/10/31/funeral.protests.ap/index.html

― Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 23:27 (eighteen years ago)

The judge said the church's financial statements, sealed earlier, could be released to the plaintiffs.

I want to see these!

Who the hell lawyers for PhelpsCo.?

― Abbott, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 23:59 (eighteen years ago)

From WBC's wiki:

In addition, at the outset several other Eastside members joined Westboro, but after Phelps began his activities (most notably his shooting of a dog that was irritating him), those members returned to Eastside or went elsewhere.

He's the anti-Atticus Finch!

― Abbott, Thursday, 1 November 2007 00:01 (eighteen years ago)

~~legislation~~ axe-handles to stop Rev. Phelps and his godhatesfags.com crew?

― Oilyrags, Thursday, 1 November 2007 00:41 (eighteen years ago)

Most of the Phelpses themselveses are lawyers. SEe the louie theroux docu when he hangs out with them for 3 weeks.

― kingfish, Thursday, 1 November 2007 01:18 (eighteen years ago)

Who the hell lawyers for PhelpsCo.?

1. Fellow believers.
2. Lawyers who are concerned about the First Amendment implications.
3. Attention whores who expect to get their names in the media.

Pick any combination.

― j.lu, Thursday, 1 November 2007 01:32 (eighteen years ago)

4. heroes.

― dethkiller, Thursday, 1 November 2007 01:35 (eighteen years ago)

I think category 4 is a mere subset of category 3.

― Fred Nerk, Thursday, 1 November 2007 09:13 (eighteen years ago)

yeah, kingfish otm, they selflawyer.

― StanM, Thursday, 1 November 2007 09:21 (eighteen years ago)

So, anyone going to the courtroom to picket?

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/3772/lolkz0.th.png

― StanM, Thursday, 1 November 2007 09:38 (eighteen years ago)

just in case anyone is going to print that out:

http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/8813/loldj4.png

― StanM, Thursday, 1 November 2007 09:39 (eighteen years ago)

one year passes...

A novel response to these fuckheads: throw hamburgers

http://www.omaha.com//index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10494164

Published Saturday November 22, 2008
Westboro protest draws student counter protest
BY ANDREW J. NELSON AND KATIE FRETLAND
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITERS
Members of a Kansas church that protests at the funerals of slain service members fled the right-of-way near Omaha Central High School on Friday because police said they could not protect them from hundreds of student counterprotesters.
Students threw hamburgers and bottles of lemonade and milk at several members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., students said after the protest. A video of the protest — recorded by 16-year-old student Mason Hartwell — showed one counterprotester on the ground, seated with his hands behind his back and flanked by two law enforcement officers.
Students chanted "Diversity," "Obama" and "Gay is OK." At one point, they broke into a chant of the Pledge of Allegiance, yelling, "Liberty and justice for all," according to the footage. After students dispersed, a flier remained on the ground reading "Zona libre de odio" — Spanish for "Hate-free zone..."

― Brotherhood of Stealing Shit to Sell to Trader Caravans (kingfish), Sunday, 23 November 2008 20:45 (seventeen years ago)

two months pass...

They're coming to Britain!

Or maybe not - they won't say because...

your nation has tried in many ways, including with draconian laws to shut up the Word of God from OFF your landscape, and to make it a crime to plainly say what the STANDARDS of GOD are, (e.g. THOU SHALT NOT lie with mankind as with womankind, it is abomination or THOU SHALT NOT commit adultery, etc.)...I will not be telling any details of our business

― Ned Trifle II, Tuesday, 17 February 2009 14:37 (seventeen years ago)

You KNOW his word - you had great light in your land in the 1600s with the vast array of John's (Knox, Bunyan, Brown, Gill, Trapp, etc., etc.) and you have Bible's everywhere! But your goofy queen and her adulterous whore of a son - YIKES put their hand and you all put your hands to mischief at every turn.

Funnily enough I was just thinking that the other day - that there are Bible's everywhere - when I was in a hotel room and I found one while I was looking for the instructions on how to get the pay-per-view porn.

― Ned Trifle II, Tuesday, 17 February 2009 14:44 (seventeen years ago)

your goofy queen

I am shocked to the very core of my being by this

― Vitbe Is Good Bread (Tom D.), Tuesday, 17 February 2009 15:06 (seventeen years ago)

http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Pelicula/MirandaRichardson(Blackadder).jpg

― Ned Trifle II, Tuesday, 17 February 2009 15:54 (seventeen years ago)

Thanks for asking!

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 17 February 2009 15:56 (seventeen years ago)

that was a treat and a half

― lex pretend, Tuesday, 17 February 2009 15:56 (seventeen years ago)

not on youtube anymore but.....lest we forget

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/74227/

― Local Garda, Tuesday, 17 February 2009 16:23 (seventeen years ago)

So, if they tried to demonstrate this at military funerals in the UK, would they not get kicked to fuck?

― Mark G, Tuesday, 17 February 2009 16:26 (seventeen years ago)

I don't think they'd last too long

― Vitbe Is Good Bread (Tom D.), Tuesday, 17 February 2009 16:27 (seventeen years ago)

I would most likely applaud anybody obliging enough to send these folks to their beloved creator.

― It is not enough to love mankind – you must be able to stand (Michael White), Tuesday, 17 February 2009 16:39 (seventeen years ago)

Would be fun to see them try and pull this shit in Ayrshire, or somewhere like that

― Vitbe Is Good Bread (Tom D.), Tuesday, 17 February 2009 16:42 (seventeen years ago)

....gets his power grab on,....gets his war on...

Can't read that without Missy Elliot bouncing around my head.

― Shallow Gravy (Billy Dods), Tuesday, 17 February 2009 16:46 (seventeen years ago)

BANNED: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/7898972.stm

― joe, Thursday, 19 February 2009 12:29 (seventeen years ago)

Spoilsport.

― Ned Trifle II, Thursday, 19 February 2009 12:34 (seventeen years ago)

and this was their correspondence two days ago:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/4678943/Westboro-Baptist-Church-justifies-UK-picket.html

― kingfish, Thursday, 19 February 2009 15:49 (seventeen years ago)

duh, already posted, i r smart

― kingfish, Thursday, 19 February 2009 15:51 (seventeen years ago)

two months pass...

A father and daughter from a US church which preaches hatred of homosexuals have been banned from entering the UK.

Fred Phelps and his daughter Shirley Phelps-Roper from the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) had urged protests against a play being put on in Hampshire.

Queen Mary's College in Basingstoke is staging The Laramie Project, a play about a man killed for being gay.

Mrs Phelps-Roper told BBC News the decision would "bring great wrath upon your heads".

She warned that other members of the church, who are not as well known to the authorities, would be trying to get into the UK to protest.

"There are members of WBC that are not named Phelps," she said.

"So they [the authorities] might have their work cut out for them.

"Unless they intend to begin checking the bare backsides of every person coming into that country to find that tattoo that says 'Property of WBC', they will have no way of identifying who is from WBC."

She called the British government "filthy" for thinking they had the power "to keep the word of God from coming into her borders".

The UK Border Agency said it opposed "extremism in all its forms".

A spokesman added: "Both these individuals have engaged in unacceptable behaviour by inciting hatred against a number of communities.

"We will continue to stop those who want to spread extremism, hatred and violent messages in our communities from coming to our country.

"The exclusions policy is targeted at all those who seek to stir up tension and provoke others to violence regardless of their origins and beliefs."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/7898972.stm

― jed_, Thursday, 7 May 2009 12:52 (seventeen years ago)

if you ever needed proof of peoples ability for weird, maniacal, organised hatred then these guys are it

― Local Garda, Thursday, 7 May 2009 13:02 (seventeen years ago)

Queen Mary's College in Basingstoke

Cor, that's where I went to school in the sixth form. Tanita Tikaram was in the year above me. Awful place. Fred Phelps you're welcome to it.

― Enemy Insects (NickB), Thursday, 7 May 2009 13:10 (seventeen years ago)

you had great light in your land in the 1600s with the vast array of John's

― EMPIRE STATE HYMEN (MPx4A), Thursday, 7 May 2009 13:11 (seventeen years ago)

Why did the government publish this list? It just seems to have pointlessly stirred up these idiots. I'm all for banning morons, but it would surely have been much more effective (and amusing) if they had simply been greeted by a gaggle of security services goons when they next tried to enter the country, rather than allowing them all the opportunity to stir up a load of publicity for their hateful causes.

― ears are wounds, Thursday, 7 May 2009 13:12 (seventeen years ago)

one year passes...

i posted this on a thread but it was on i rate everything

anyway...

http://natephelps.com/10801.html

^^absolutely devastating blog by his son, nate. i can't imagine how this dude survived growing up in the phelps family.

highly recommended read

― it's detlef season, you schrempfs (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 29 June 2010 21:39 (fifteen years ago)

wooow

― ripe dink (some dude), Tuesday, 29 June 2010 22:13 (fifteen years ago)

yeah that shit is harrowing

you might not think this is possible but: fred phelps is way worse than you think.

― it's detlef season, you schrempfs (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 29 June 2010 22:16 (fifteen years ago)

wow

he is really kind of... satan.

― pass le corbusier (s1ocki), Tuesday, 29 June 2010 22:20 (fifteen years ago)

a great read. thanks for the link.

― jed_, Tuesday, 29 June 2010 22:56 (fifteen years ago)

It didn’t take us long to figure out that one of the easiest ways to make money was to hit the bars in the evening. Friday and Saturday night would find 10 to 12 year old children working their way through dark taverns, selling their candy while strippers performed a few feet away. More than once, the violence that is inevitable in such places resulted in direct injury to one of us. Yet in spite of this obvious danger, we were required to continue this for over seven years.

o_OOOOOOOOO

― The Reverend, Tuesday, 29 June 2010 23:10 (fifteen years ago)

i've been awake since 2:00 am and that is really long and i am borderline illiterate at the moment but am so bookmarking this for later. some of the details from skimming it are pretty wow and sad and oo_OO and just the idea of that framing your developmental years and informing your 54o4riosjdkladjkl i can't even think right now man the world is so so crazy

― tru oyster kvlt (arby's), Tuesday, 29 June 2010 23:46 (fifteen years ago)

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