The Rev. Fred Phelps is Finally Dead. Good.

And they say evil never dies. Image from source, Advocate.

Yeah, I've already run a piece on the previously pending death of Topeka's ironically demonic Reverend Fred Phelps, but now that the bastard is dead, I couldn't let the opportunity pass. Phelps has been antagonizing gay people for a very long time, seemingly forever. He and his cultish family church would protest just about anything gay-related, wielding signs carrying slogans that were even over-the-top in the less-enlightened 80s. Emblazoned with words that I refuse to type here (but which are still seen in arch-right-wing armpits of the internet like FreeRepublic.com), Fred and his family were fearless in their disregard and slander of an entire group of Americans.

Remember, this was during some of the worst of the AIDS crisis, so not only was the LGBT community still reeling from that, they then had to go on defense against these hateful people. Called The Westboro Baptist Church (but disowned by actual Baptists), this demented group owned a block of homes and a plain (ugly, really) church in Topeka, Kansas. I drove by it about 10 years ago when on business in the city, and recall the dumpy neighborhood, cramped one-way street, and on the church, a banner that read GodHatesAmerica.com

I have no idea which Phelps this is, but
helloooo, sister! Image from Huffington Post.

See, after the Phelps family got tired of picketing the funerals of AIDS victims, they branched out. America in total was their new target, because of tolerance for abortion (occasionally) and gay people. So, they started protesting at the drop of a hat, barely even trying to tie a logical thread between the protest and the protestee. They'd release extremely low-tech press releases that looked like third- or fourth-generation mimeographs of bad copies of bad faxes. Their website--which, again, I refuse to type--had the look of absolute insanity, but without the artistic flair you'd expect from the insane.

But it wasn't until they started regularly protesting soldiers' funerals that mainstream America stood up and took notice. Suddenly, these vile people were attacking people who "mattered." Even Right Wing World began to call WBC and the Phelpses out for their wicked, hateful behavior. Of course, the right can't help but point out that Fred himself was at least one time a Democrat, which is almost as relevant to his behavior as the fact that he used to fight Jim Crow laws. Both facts actually go counter to his behavior, especially in the past 25 years or so.

But the most important thing is, this nasty fucker is dead. Dead, dead, dead. Oddly, most mainstream gay organizations, blogs and celebrity types are urging calm, respectful, quiet responses, if any. And they're of course free to do whatever they want. But not me. This man didn't deserve respect, reverence, politeness, or anything resembling common courtesy. He's dead. Good.

Here's hoping that his demented family--minus their lighting-rod patriarch--eventually tires of their pointless hate carnival, and the WBC just peters out. Until then, I hold this cult in exactly the same regard that I hold their former leader.

[Excerpt]
 
Westboro Baptist Church Founder Fred Phelps Dead at 84

. . .The 84-year-old preacher and disbarred lawyer built a hateful name for himself by establishing the WBC in the 1950s, and rose to prominence picketing the funerals of people who died of AIDS complications, then gained international attention when the church picketed slain gay college student Matthew Shepard's funeral in 1998. Under the leadership of Phelps, Sr., his children and grandchildren who comprise the vast majority of the church's congregation made a habit of picketing the funerals of military veterans, carrying inflammatory signs with messages like "Thank God for Dead Soldiers," and claiming that the death of American troops was God's punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality. The WBC regularly picketed funerals and events which they believed were sinful, often "thanking God" for natural disasters, violent massacres, and even the attacks on September 11, 2001. . .

Read more at: The Advocate