Fred Phelps Dead

2014-03-20T15:39:19-04:00

Ok with the passing of this individual how would you feel if one or more of your Soldiers decided to protest his funeral?

Response by SSG Jason Hoadley made Mar 20 at 2014 1:53 PM

2014-03-20T13:53:46-04:00

This Hateful man has passed away..

All we can do is hope that this Church decides to not follow his lead..

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/20/us/westboro-church-founder-dead/

Westboro church founder Fred Phelps dies

Fred Phelps -- the founding pastor of a Kansas church known for its virulently anti-gay protests at public events, including military funerals -- has died..

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 20 at 2014 1:54 PM

2014-03-20T13:54:50-04:00

Good riddance

Response by SSG Chris B. made Mar 20 at 2014 2:00 PM

2014-03-20T14:00:56-04:00

I'd like to dedicate a song to his memory.

http://youtu.be/qF5QSvWG6jQ

Bobaflex - I'm Glad You're Dead (Official Music Video)

Bobaflex "I'm Glad You're Dead" second music video from the band's latest album "Charlatan's Web" that came out on September 10, 2013. I'm Glad You're Dead i...

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 20 at 2014 2:29 PM

2014-03-20T14:29:38-04:00

I hope this asshat gets to meet "his god" in the afterlife; should be a 'warm' welcome. It is also nice to see that at least some of his family saw the light and left this 'church' that preached hate and bigotry. I'd like to buy the land across from the Westboro Baptist Church and install a few choice billboards:

"Judge not that ye be judged." - Matthew 7:1

" . . . thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." - Matthew 22:39

"Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." - 1 John 3:15

I place 'churches' like this in the same catagory as the KKK, white supremicists, and neo-nazis.

Response by 1SG Steven Stankovich made Mar 20 at 2014 3:41 PM

2014-03-20T15:41:59-04:00

As much as I despise what he stood for and what his "church" was responsible for, two wrongs do not make a right...

Response by CW2 C.J. Scheurenbrand made Mar 20 at 2014 3:43 PM

2014-03-20T15:43:37-04:00

As long as they do not show their affiliation with the Military, more power to them.

Response by SGM Matthew Quick made Mar 20 at 2014 3:46 PM

2014-03-20T15:46:51-04:00

I would recommend we NOT protesting...exactly opposite of what he tried to accomplish. He is gone...now let him be forgotten.

Response by 1SG Steven Stankovich made Mar 20 at 2014 3:48 PM

2014-03-20T15:48:28-04:00

This picture was drawn by Mr Randy Bish, Editorial Cartoonist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. I believe the picture with the caption says it all. While this man and what he stood for and the things that his church did towards our fallen comrades and their families is reprehensible, he will now meet his maker and he will be judged.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 20 at 2014 4:00 PM

2014-03-20T16:00:41-04:00

I may get a few hurt feelings over this but here goes; while
I detest what the man did and how he showed the world his beliefs, we as
soldiers know good and well it was within his rights (which we all took an oath
to defend) to express himself in the manner that he did. We don’t get to pick
how people deal with the freedoms soldiers (past and present) fight for, we
just do the job and hope for the best. I wish death upon no man and I am
saddened for his family for their loss. I will never say good riddance or thank
god for the loss of anyone. It will do nothing but lower my values for me to
celebrate his loss. He may not have been a great man in my eyes, but he was an
American none the less.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 20 at 2014 4:08 PM

2014-03-20T16:08:25-04:00

How many are truly happy and ecstatic at his passing? Is society so full of hate against one person (or in this case, a group of people) because of what he believes and does? Don't get me wrong, I do NOT ever condone this man or his beliefs but I would never condone calling for his death or being gleeful for it. That, by its own nature, is the same reprehensible behavior conducted by this man and his vile family.

I am a Patriot Guard rider and have attended several missions to support a fallen service-member's family. My very first one, I was standing no more than 30 feet away from his daughter. Strangely enough, I was NOT angry or hateful but, in fact, I pitied her for the evil she perpetrated. During their "protest", they sang some very disgusting and twisted songs. My friend was literally less than a foot away from her yet he remained composed. I even saw him say something to her, in a very polite manner, and she responded back although I could not hear what was said. He later told me that he told her that she has a very nice voice, and she thanked him. Sadly, he was right. Despite the garbage coming out of her mouth, she DID in fact have a beautiful singing voice.

In the end, the man is gone. Let it be. We need to move on, keep on, to better things than this group of people.

Response by CW2 Joseph Evans made Mar 20 at 2014 4:15 PM

2014-03-20T16:15:08-04:00

Just not in uniform... I'm willing to accept that there are a lot of people that would love to be able to take the high road on this, however, some people also need catharsis. The pain he has inflicted over the years will not be satisfied for some until they have closure, and if pissing on a dead man's grave does that for them, who am I to stand in the way of peace of mind.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 20 at 2014 4:24 PM

2014-03-20T16:24:05-04:00

I think this explains how I feel...

http://www.duffelblog.com/2012/09/fred-phelps-dies-westboro-baptist-church-plans-to-protest-funeral/

Fred Phelps’ Death Prompts Westboro Baptist Church To Protest His Funeral

TOPEKA, KS - On the same day that Fred Phelps' body was found rotting in a chair in his upstairs office, members of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church announced that they would be picketing his...

Fred Phelps’ Death Prompts Westboro Baptist Church To Protest His Funeral

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 20 at 2014 4:30 PM

2014-03-20T16:30:31-04:00

That would be completely tasteless. Side note: If any of you were wondering, this guy wasn't even religious and probably didn't really care about homosexuality. He was a bat-crazy former CIVIL RIGHTS lawyer who would sue anyone. He didn't believe 90% of what came out of his own mouth. Not that it excuses him, but he's just a crazy dude who will be forgotten almost immediately.

Response by GySgt Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 20 at 2014 5:12 PM

2014-03-20T17:12:08-04:00

Just like extremists of other religions, I'm glad this Christian extremist can no longer do harm, however you wont see me doing things morally wrong because he did.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 20 at 2014 5:20 PM

2014-03-20T17:20:16-04:00

Who is he again? :)

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 20 at 2014 7:58 PM

2014-03-20T19:58:54-04:00

In a perfect world, I would wish that nobody showed up to his funeral. Protesting his funeral, giving media coverage to his funeral, and giving them any form of publicity only helps their cause. Their whole schtick is based on using anything they can to get media coverage. One of the leaders of their church can simply say they are going to protest a funeral and they get media coverage and a response from the community of the funeral.

The best thing for our country and our communities is to act like this man didn't exist and that we didn't let his hatred cause more hatred.

Response by SFC William Swartz Jr made Mar 20 at 2014 8:18 PM

2014-03-20T20:18:31-04:00

Thank you all for the comments, I just wanted to gauge what a cross section of NCOs felt should someone they are in charge of choose to possibly protest his funeral. I first heard of this individual and his hateful brood in '93 when I was a young SSG at Ft. Riley, they were already spewing their hateful brand of "religion" back then. I for one am glad that he is gone and hopefully his hatred will die as well; however as most of the "congregation" are family I suspect it will continue for a while before it finally dies out. I just hope that he ended up in a very hot environment that totally surprised his ass :-D!!

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 20 at 2014 8:30 PM

2014-03-20T20:30:29-04:00

As much as I have disregard for the acts him and his followers have performed. I would not advise or allow soldiers to protest his funeral. His judgement day has come and IMHO he will be judged by how he lived his life on this earth.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 20 at 2014 8:34 PM

2014-03-20T20:34:19-04:00

As long as they don't do it in uniform and do it peacefully - no issue.

Response by SSG Oliver Mathews made Mar 20 at 2014 9:34 PM

2014-03-20T21:34:35-04:00

Part of our constitution is
the Freedom of Speech (which covers protest), and the Freedom of
Religion, The man spent his life exercising those two basic Rights that
we as American soldiers fight to protect. Do i believe his Beliefs where
correct? No, but then again he didn't agree with mine either. He died
exercising freedom.

If you ever look into the Patriot Guard Riders, you will see
that they respond to the protesters in a Civil Manner. Creating a barrier between them and the funeral. If you want to rally at his
Grave... don't stoop to his level and Disgrace yourselves to be like him.

To answer the OP question

If my soldiers wanted to go to his funeral,
that is there choice. But they would be counseled be it verbally or on paper on the rights and
wrongs and the proper conduct. They would not be allowed to go in Uniform.

Regardless if you dislike someone or not, Their funeral is a time for their family to mourn and I don't believe its right to mess with that time and hurt the family because you hated the man. You could almost equate it to sending Osamas family to Jail for his actions.

Response by SFC James Baber made Mar 20 at 2014 11:06 PM

2014-03-20T23:06:49-04:00

While I never wish any harm to anyone, no matter how hateful and evil I may consider their lives and behavior, I think if anyone does protest or commits to anything derogatory towards him or his funeral, all you will be doing is contributing to him and his beliefs and church remaining relevant, if you have no reaction or even acknowledge his passing or what he's done and been in the past it takes away from his legacy and pushes it to the back burner and doesn't give them more of the publicity that they all seem to love and seek.

Let him go away along with his church with no fanfare or publicity and that would be the worst thing that could ever occur for a media hound such as this church and man, gone and forgotten is the worst punishment and tribute at all.

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 21 at 2014 8:26 AM

2014-03-21T08:26:09-04:00

We as soldier have fought for the rights of the people of the United States. We continue to fight to retain their right to "freedom of speach". If we are going to fight for this why stand and protest what he chose to speak about. There is only one that matters when judgment comes, only your choices will tip the scales of judgment in your favor. I believe his decisions will be judged fairly and I will continue to fight to give him the rights we all enjoy.

Response by SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 21 at 2014 1:39 PM

2014-03-21T13:39:19-04:00

My feelings about the man are much like many others who have already replied. To asnwer on the question on how I would feel if one or more of my Soldiers decided to protest his his funeral I would have to say I would be feel nervous about them doing so.

I am 100 percent FOR freedom of speech and expression, but if one of my Soldiers told me they planned to go protest the Phelps funeral chances are he/she is much angrier at the man than I am. Anger / resentment causes people to do things they wouldn't normally do. That means they might do something that could potentially reflect poorly on themselves and the military. With bad publicity in the media about the military, I would advise my troops to just leave the man be. Better not to get caught up in anything that has the potential of getting out of control.

Response by SPC Charles Brown made Mar 21 at 2014 4:01 PM

2014-03-21T16:01:39-04:00

Fred Phelps Dead

Lets turn the tables on this person and his followers. What would happen if every retired, on leave, or veteran service member and their collective families in the area showed up to protest his funeral? I respect the opinions of others who say we not do this, however, it is our right to show him the same respect or disrespect he and his followers showed our fallen comrades. Yes, know that 2 wrongs do not make a right, but there is another old saying that I believe is more fitting to this situation, "turn about is fair play."

Response by CMDCM Gene Treants made Mar 21 at 2014 8:01 PM

2014-03-21T20:01:16-04:00

Nope. What if they gave a funeral and no one showed up.

I think the biggest we can do to honor our fallen comrades is to ignore the passing of this lunatic entirely. His "church is expecting us to come out and make noise, We need to ignore him now that his presence is not around. Once they realize no one is looking, like any other bad children, they will stop their behavior.

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 21 at 2014 9:23 PM

2014-03-21T21:23:50-04:00

We shouldn't waste our breathe nonetheless waste our time with this.

Response by SGM Matthew Quick made Mar 22 at 2014 12:20 AM

2014-03-22T00:20:39-04:00

After taking another day to think about this, I would recommend this:

All available servicemembers, side-by-side with our gay/lesbian servicemembers, should line the streets from his funeral home to his graveyard...not at attention, parade rest or saluting, just the two things he hated most (service members and especially gay servicemembers), standing side-by-side against hate.

Would be a fitting end to a pathetic, hate-filled life.

Response by SGT James P. Davidson, MSM made Mar 22 at 2014 1:37 PM

2014-03-22T13:37:48-04:00

A matter of personal opinion:

Based on the life he chose to live, I do not see his death or funeral as events that warrant comment, outcry, celebration or media publicity. I imagine should no one but his family, friends and congregation attend his funeral, and should there be no media coverage, maybe his people will see how they have isolated themselves.

I understand self-segregating on the part of the religious, but exclusionary lifestyles such as theirs are of no concern to me. I don't want in.

Response by PFC Nathaniel Culbertson made Mar 22 at 2014 2:01 PM

2014-03-22T14:01:16-04:00

all i can say is i hope its hot enough for him.

Response by SSG Zachery Mitchell made Mar 23 at 2014 9:49 AM

2014-03-23T09:49:22-04:00

The guy was not a good human being in my opinion. The things he got his followers to do where offensive and wrong in the eyes of many Americans. But he didn't break any laws and exercised his rights to do as he pleased. We all fight to defend and protect those rights. I would not be surprised for many people to protest/picket his funeral. However, I personally would not nor would I condone/support any of my Soldiers to protest his funeral. What it comes down to is the guy is dead. His family loved him and I'm sure he will be missed. However, now that he is dead can we just forget about him and continue on with our lives? Let the man rest and stop giving him more attention than he deserves.

Response by LTC Stephen C. made Dec 19 at 2014 5:53 PM

2014-12-19T17:53:27-05:00

SFC William Swartz Jr, my recommendation would be to stay well away from such an enterprise.

Response by SPC(P) Jay Heenan made Dec 19 at 2014 7:03 PM

2014-12-19T19:03:50-05:00

Why stoop to that level? We took an oath, part of that oath is to the First Amendment which allows people to say what they will. I always consider the source of things, West Baptist, KKK, New Black Panthers and the list goes on. I don't have to like or agree with them, but our country protects individuals to say whatever crap is spewing...