Goodbye Fred.

Years ago, when first learning about the Westboro Baptist Church while studying Constitutional law in college, I thought to myself “when that dude dies, the whole country will picket his funeral.” I thought that revelation was clever. However, now that I’m older, I know I was wrong. I don’t believe in celebrating death—not even the death of an enemy. I remember being appalled when Americans flooded the gates of the White House cheering over the death of Osama Bin Laden. Why was my first reaction repulsion? Because I remembered seeing footage of people in other countries joyfully taking to the streets to dance and sing while men and women jumped to their deaths from the Twin Towers eleven years before. How were we any different?

One time, I heard someone say this to someone else’s friend, “Good! I’m glad that bitch is dead.” I didn’t know either of the people engaged in conversation but that bothered me, too. Why? Because surely the dead bitch had a mother, father, daughter, or Pomeranian that thought she was just swell. I’m sure at least one person loved her. And all I could think about was the faceless grieving person and hoping he/she was nowhere around to hear someone rejoice that his or her loved one was gone forever.

I see people on Facebook and news articles rejoicing Fred Phelps’ death and it bothers me.

I have gay friends. I have gay relatives. I love them. I admire them. I hug them tight when I see them. I can’t imagine how they feel knowing that people in the world, and even some of our neighbors, want them to die. Some of these people want more than their death—they want them to burn in eternal flame after an excruciating death from AIDS. Yes, that’s pretty sick and I sure as hell don’t like the thought of how much anguish and sorrow that causes my dear friends and family. I wish there was a way to banish the bigotry in an instant, but there isn’t. Change doesn’t happen overnight. It’s so slow that it creeps up on us. Regarding Westboro Baptist Church, though, change has come. Many of its former members have left the church. They abandoned everything they knew and left their families so they could take a deep look at their beliefs and challenge their individual notions of truth. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty fucking brave. These people need our love, prayers, and support.

Kisses and Hugs and Kitties!

As a Catholic (one who swears way too much and probably should cut back on drinking), I have seen and heard many hurtful things from Westboro Baptist regarding the Catholic Faith. They even have sister sites dedicated to uncovering the “evils” of the Church and its followers. Although their condemnation of my church is nothing compared to picketing the funeral of Matthew Sheppard and countless others, it still hurts my feelings. I know it shouldn’t but it does. I have to tell myself that these people are misguided. And because of their misunderstandings, they act on their faith in ways that I could never dream of. But they feel like they are doing right thing. They believe whole-heartedly that their way is right. Their way pleases God. They are so right; there is no room for error in their reasoning and logic.

They see non-members as vile and corrupt. They expect us to be hateful to them. They expect us to rejoice in Fred’s death. I’ve never been one to do what people expect, though (probably because I’m fucking weird and crazy). Instead, I’m going to commit myself to praying for Fred Phelps and his family for the rest of Lent. I hope there is a God, and I hope Fred meets him. I hope that Fred can see how he was wrong, and meet the loving, forgiving God that we all hope exists.

I suppose this is hypocritical coming from a person who tells others to “suck a bag of dicks” all the time. I admit I’m crass and crude, but I do know the world needs more love. And hatred (I know from experience) is pretty much useless as an emotion. It will only fester and make us sicker. We need to heal, from all the hurt this life causes us, and I think the best way to do that is love. Love your neighbors. Love your friends. Love your enemies. And spay and neuter your pets.